Linda Nazarko

FRCN, MSc, PGDip, BSc(Hons), RN, OBE

Linda Nazarko was awarded Fellowship of the Royal College of Nursing in 2001 for her outstanding contribution to raising the profile of nurses working in nursing homes.

Linda is nurse consultant at Ealing Primary Care Trust. She is a visiting research fellow at London South Bank University and visiting lecturer at King's College London, lecturing on leadership, management and clinical practice. Linda has led the way in raising the profile of nursing homes, championing higher standards of care and introducing innovative practice in the care of older people.

Linda’s career working with older people began after she returned from a period nursing in Saudi Arabia in 1983 and went to work at a nursing home. She set up and managed a nursing home in Surrey between 1986 and 1997, gaining broad experience and establishing her own philosophy of enablement in caring for older people. In particular, she introduced continence care and infection control programmes, and has promoted a greater focus on the fundamentals of care such as nutrition and mobility. Rehabilitation in older people formed the basis of her MSc thesis.

Since 1988, Linda has spoken at conferences and written regularly in the nursing press. As an educator, manager and practitioner, she is constantly contributing to the knowledge base and disseminating her ideas and good practice in caring for older people – a group whose needs were often marginalised in the past. It is a testament to her work that nursing homes across the UK have adopted her methods and her philosophy of helping their clients live life to their full capacity.

Many influential committees and bodies have called on Linda's expertise in the care of older people. She gave evidence to the Royal Commission on Long Term Care and was a member of the working group that produced ‘No secrets’ aimed at reducing the risks of elder abuse. She is a member of a number of working groups producing continence standards at national level. Her knowledge of the independent sector has contributed to the UKCC group examining the future regulation of registered nurses, the Department of Health Independent Sector Rapid Response Group and the RCN's Strategy for Nursing Group, among others. In 2000, Nursing Times nominated her as Best Elderly Care Nurse.

Linda was Director of Nursing at the Registered Nursing Home Association from 1998 to 2000, where she advised and represented 1,500 nursing homes. She has also provided consistent leadership and inspiration to nurses who work in nursing homes, raising their profile and organising the first conferences in the UK for them. Linda's leadership has not been confined to nursing, and she was a committee member of the Working Mother's Association in 1989-1994 and was awarded the Kate Garlic Award by She Magazine and Reed Employment for outstanding support of working mothers.

In 2006, Linda was awarded an OBE for services to nursing and older people.

Publications

Linda has written several books on education and good practice, including ‘Nursing in nursing homes’, which was the first book on this specialist area. She is a member of a number of editorial boards for nursing journals and has written extensively in the nursing press.

The following books are among her many publications: