Spotlight on Quality Improvement: Margaret Macleod’s journey as a Quality Improvement Nurse

At NHS Western Isles, we’re proud to shine a light on the staff who are helping shape safer, more effective, and person-centred care. One of those people is Margaret Macleod, our Quality Improvement (QI) Coordinator Nurse, whose journey from Staff Nurse to Quality Improvement Nurse is a story of commitment and change to making a difference.

Margaret has been a registered nurse for 38 years, with experience spanning midwifery, infection control, and acute care. In 2022, she took a leap into a secondment with the QI team—and hasn’t looked back. By 2024, she had successfully secured the substantive QI Coordinator Nurse post, bringing her clinical insight and passion for improvement into a new and rewarding chapter.

“I’ll be honest— moving away from the ward was daunting,” Margaret shares. “When I first stepped away from my staff nurse role to become a Quality Improvement Nurse, I felt apprehensive. The shift in my day-to-day work was significant, and I wondered how I’d adapt. But I quickly discovered that my years as a staff nurse had equipped me with exactly what I needed—clinical insight, confidence, and a deep understanding of patient care. These strengths are core to my new role, and it’s been rewarding to see how I am able to use my experience to improve patient care and services in a new way to me."

So, what does a QI Nurse do?

QI Nurses facilitate improvement and change. Collaborating with clinical teams, they work together to identify areas where care could continue to be improved, test new ideas, and embed improvements that last. Whether it’s refining handover processes, improving documentation, or reviewing case notes to learn from real experiences, their work is all about making care safer and improving the patient journey.

Margaret’s role is varied and flexible. She’s not ward-based, but she’s still very much part of the patient journey – supporting staff, influencing care, and helping shape services that work better for everyone.

Talking about her role, Margaret said: “I work with a fantastic, supportive team of registered nurses and QI staff. Together, we look at everything from falls prevention to paediatric care improvements. It’s about listening, learning, and leading change that matters.”

A great QI Nurse will have:

• Curiosity and compassion – a drive to ask, “how can we do this better?”
• Strong communication – engaging with staff across all levels.
• Data-savvy thinking – using tools like the CAIR dashboard to guide decisions.
• Teamwork and leadership – working with senior colleagues, frontline staff, and national bodies like Healthcare Improvement Scotland.

Margaret’s work supports key initiatives like:

• Excellence in Care (EiC) – Scotland’s national care assurance programme.
• Scottish Patient Safety Programme – reducing harm and variation in care.
• NHS Education for Scotland’s QI Zone – building improvement skills across the workforce.

Margaret has an open-door policy – literally and virtually. She’s always happy to chat with colleagues, whether it’s a quick catch-up in person or a Teams call to talk through an idea.

If you’re a nurse who’s passionate about making care better—not just for individual patients, but across whole services—Margaret’s story might inspire your next step.

Margaret added: “I’d encourage any nurse who’s curious about improvement to explore this path. It’s incredibly rewarding to know you’re helping shape care that’s safer, kinder, and more effective.”

We’re currently recruiting for a one-year, 37-hour post in the QI Team (Fixed Term or Secondment). If you’re ready to make a difference, we’d love to hear from you. Apply here: https://apply.jobs.scot.nhs.uk/Job/JobDetail?isPreview=Yes&jobid=227431&advert=external

For more information or an informal chat, contact Louise Sullivan, Head of Clinical Governance and Professional Practice by emailing louise.sullivan1@nhs.scot.