March 15, 2019, by Liz Cass
“Another nurse!” Stacy Johnson travels to the Palace to collect her MBE
Her work has shaped nursing around the world and now her efforts have been lauded by Prince Charles.
Associate Professor Stacy Johnson, of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences at the University of Nottingham, has been officially appointed Member of the British Empire (MBE) for services to healthcare and Higher Education.
HRH Prince Charles presided over the investiture ceremony where the inspirational teacher and champion of equality rubbed shoulders with celebrities and other honours recipients.
Dr Johnson said she was proud to say HRH’s first words to her were; ‘Another nurse!’
She added: “He asked me where I worked and I was thrilled to say that I worked across the whole NHS and taught nurses, midwives and other health professionals at the University of Nottingham. This really is my dream job.
“Prince Charles asked about the shortage of men in nursing and we spoke about a nursing cadet scheme he will be involved with and some links he has with the Royal College of Nursing. I thanked him for all the work his family was doing to raise the profile of nursing. It felt like we talked for ages and at no point did I feel rushed. He spoke as if we had all the time in the world.”
Dr Johnson’s mother and father, Kelva and Joel travelled from her native Trinidad for the ceremony and she was also joined by her sisters Michelle and Dyneshia.
She said: “The best part of the whole experience was sharing it with my amazing parents and two talented sisters. We have gone thr
ough so much together as a family and I feel that the MBE is for all of us.”
Another highlight for the award-winning lecturer was meeting the other MBE and OBE recipients. She said that they were an impressive and inspiring group.
“I spoke at length with TV personality David Grant, awarded an MBE for services to music. We discovered that we had a common interest in youth and BME leadership development. We are now following each other on Twitter and I will definitely be in touch with David to see how we can work together. As I walked into the ballroom, I stood between a distinguished nurse and a young stroke survivor honoured for raising money for stroke charities.
“Talking to fellow honourees about their inspiring work reminded me of some of the amazing things we are doing at the University of Nottingham. I was able to tell, a Head Teacher of multi-Academy Trust about Nottingham University Samworth Academy and Nottingham University Academy of Science and Technology. I spoke to Leroy Rosenior, a footballer working to eradicate racism from football through the “Show Racism the Red Card” campaign who was also awarded an MBE. I was so proud to tell him that in November 2018, for the first time, our Trent Building had been lit red in support of this campaign.”
Dr Johnson has been a member of England’s Chief Nursing Officer’s Black and Minority Ethnic Group since 2012, advising on issues affecting BME patients and staff. She also lectures on and researches into the areas of healthcare leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship.
She has developed an exemplary reputation for capacity and capability building in the international Higher Education arena. She leads the School of Health Sciences’ strategy on international leadership and is a visiting lecturer at the Henan University of Science and Technology in China.
She has been involved in advising on curriculum reform, faculty development and leadership development in nurse education in the UK, South Africa, China, the Middle East, India and the Caribbean.
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