These awards, now in their fourth year, celebrate the very best in Scottish nursing.
Lanarkshire is well represented in the 2026 RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year Awards with a number of deserving finalists.
These awards, now in their fourth year, celebrate the very best in Scottish nursing, shining a spotlight on excellence and honouring the unwavering dedication and outstanding care delivered by the nation’s nursing professionals.
The categories reflect the breadth of nursing practice, recognising the vital contribution of nursing staff and the teams they work in. They also highlight innovation, leadership, and a commitment to continuous learning across the nursing community.
From hospitals to care homes, prisons to the military, these registered nurses, nursing support workers, nursing students, and nursing teams, are finalists who truly represent the #BestOfNursing across Scotland’s health and social care services.
And the nominations for the Lanarkshire finalists are powerful testaments to the passion, skill, and dedication that drives nursing excellence across the nation.
There are a number of categories, but the nominations for Lanarkshire are:
■ Learning Disability Nursing Award – Hannah Clark, staff nurse, The State Hospital, Lanark.
■ Nursing Support Worker of the Year – Lynn Melville, health care support worker, Health Visiting Team, Airdrie Health Centre, NHS Lanarkshire.
■ People’s Choice Award – Margaret McLean, community staff nurse, Airdrie Community Health Centre, NHS Lanarkshire.
Hannah is described as “an exceptional learning disability nurse whose practice is defined by compassion, equality, and empowerment”. She has introduced innovative strategies such as easy-read health information, personalised care plans and digital communication tools, significantly improving communication, engagement and health outcomes. It is said that she delivers impactful training, mentors colleagues, and “builds effective partnerships across multidisciplinary teams and community services, driving a more inclusive and equitable culture of care”.
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Lynn is said to be an outstanding health care support worker “whose compassion, dedication, and innovation have profoundly transformed the lives of vulnerable families and strengthened the health visiting service over more than a decade”. One of Lynn’s signature areas of impact has been as the team’s ‘Sleep Guru’, where she completed additional Sleep Action training and provides expert guidance and practical strategies that help families improve children’s sleep, reduce parental stress and enhance overall family wellbeing.
Margaret has devoted nearly six decades to the NHS and continues to work part-time administering flu and Covid vaccinations to older and vulnerable patients. Beginning her nursing career in 1967 as a student on the Nightingale wards of the former Law Hospital in Lanarkshire, she “has dedicated her life to preventing illness, particularly cardiovascular disease, and has consistently gone above and beyond in caring for her patients, using her experience to spot early signs of serious conditions such as sepsis and stroke”. Her passion for healthcare remains undiminished, inspiring her daughter and granddaughter to pursue medical careers.
Julie Lamberth, RCN Scotland board chair, said: “Our awards are a defining moment in the nursing calendar — a time to celebrate everything that makes our profession extraordinary in Scotland. The incredible volume and quality of nominations speak to the nursing excellence Scotland has, even if they made the judges’ task of selecting finalists a formidable challenge. Every one of our finalists stands as a shining example of the dedication, compassion, and commitment that drive the very best of nursing care for the people of Scotland.”
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Colin Poolman, RCN Scotland executive director, added: “This is our opportunity to acknowledge the excellence, innovation, and unwavering commitment of Scotland’s nursing community. Reading the nominations and hearing the stories of exceptional care fills me with immense pride, in not only the profession I love, but also in every remarkable nominee. I hope every finalist — and everyone who was nominated — feels the deep gratitude and admiration we all share for the incredible work they do to improve lives across Scotland. Together, you are shaping the future of nursing and setting a standard of care that will inspire generations to come.”
The winners of each category will be unveiled at a grand awards ceremony on April 30 at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh. The highly-coveted overall RCN Scotland Nurse of the Year 2026 will be selected from the registered nurse winners across the eligible categories.
For further insights into the remarkable individuals who have been shortlisted as exemplary representatives of nursing in Scotland, please visit www.rcn.org.uk/ScotAwards
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