Sheila Quinn


Dame Sheila Margaret Imelda Quinn, DBE, FRCN, RGN, RM, RNT was a British nurse and Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing. She was president of the Royal College of Nursing from 1982-86. She was awarded an RCN Fellowship in 1978.
Born in Blackpool, England, she was educated at the Convent of the Holy Child, Jesus, now known as St Mary's Catholic High School.

International work and honours

From 1961-70, Quinn served on the administrative staff of the International Council of Nurses, of which she was Executive Director from 1967-70. She was an ICN representative to the International Labour Organization.
She also acted as a consultant to the World Health Organization. Throughout her career she was Chief Nursing Officer to the Southampton University Hospitals NHS Trust, Regional Nursing Officer for the Wessex Regional Health Authority, and Chief Nursing Advisor for the British Red Cross.
She was appointed Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire and later elevated to Dame Commander by Queen Elizabeth II. In 1993, the ICN awarded her the Christiane Reimann Prize, which is given every four years for outstanding contribution to the profession. Dame Sheila has contributed significantly to the Problem Solving for Better Health program at the Dreyfus Health Foundation since 1995.
She helped found for Total Care of the Elderly in the mid-1980s.
, which was named in her honour, was established in 2002 to respond to the training and information needs of the domiciliary care sector.

Death

She died on 8 December 2016 at the age of 96. at Southampton General hospital.