Empowering an imprisoned population to improve their heart health  

As  a new cohort of community nurses are due to begin their journey on the Queen’s Nursing Development Programme, we caught up with Rosie Crighton, Health Visitor and School Nurse Team Leader, from NHS Grampian, who completed the programme in 2023.

Rosie was one of four community clinical nurse experts supported by QNIS to become Queen’s Nurses and to deliver lasting change in the health of local people to prevent CVD.

With funding support from the Burdett Trust for Nursing they embarked on the Queen’s Nurse Development Programme, a 9-month programme for community nurses and midwives that is designed to develop the skills of those who are deeply committed to making a difference in their communities, particularly to the lives of those who live in areas of deprivation or are marginalised by society.

As part of the programme each nurse works on an issue for development which makes a difference to their community. They listen to the voices of those receiving care, to understand the challenges and barriers they face. Each project has a focus on health inequalities, exploring ways to reduce risks of cardiovascular disease.

Rosie held focus groups with prisoners to understand what extra support may be offered in relation to heart health. The groups developed ideas including more information on diet, colour coding menu choices, information posters, and creating a coaster with heart health information to be used throughout the prison, designed by prisoners. Prisoners have shared how much a listening ear and the opportunity to discuss heart health was valued.

Inspired by the suggestions from those Rosie supports, she has also worked to create an animation to help share information on heart health throughout the prison. Her animation can be viewed here.

Emma Legge, QNIS Professional Nurse Lead, said: “It’s fantastic to see the progress Rosie has made on her issue for development. She should be incredibly proud of what she has achieved and I am sure that her animation will have a positive impact on prisoners’ heart health.”