Publish date: 12 May 2022
The theme for this year’s International nurse’s day, is the #Bestofnursing. Linda Nazarko, a physical healthcare nurse consultant is one of our trust’s very own #BestofNursing. Linda trained at King’s College, London and began practicing in 1978. Linda said “those were the days of nursing when nurses wore hats and had starched uniforms. Over the years the practice has evolved and along with it the role of nurses. In the early days, nurses did not prescribe and the nursing consultant role did not exist. Fast forward on 40 plus years to 2022 and nurses are now able to take on much more senior and specialised roles.
Linda’s exceptional contribution and commitment to nursing was officially recognised by the Royal College of Nursing in 2001, being awarded a Fellowship, only 200 recipients have been awarded in the 106-year-old history of the college.
In 2003, Linda was awarded an OBE at Buckingham palace in recognition for her services to nursing.
Over the years as nursing has evolved and advanced as a practice so has Linda’s role. She has been working throughout the pandemic like many of our incredible nurses at the trust, as a clinical lead at a mass vaccination centre in Ealing. Linda was proud to be part of a team that went onto vaccinate 100,000 people as part of the vaccination rollout.
We asked Linda what her advice would be for the future generation of nurses, she said “there are many opportunities for today’s youth, specialised opportunities such as theatre, paediatrics, further education and lots of choice so go for it. Linda was asked to sum up her experience of nursing over the last forty plus years in a few words and she said “It has been a blast.”
Wishing Linda and all of our fantastic nurses at every level a very ‘Happy International Nurses’ Day. Thank you for all that you do.