A NURSE from Bournemouth was among a select few chosen to attend a Royal Garden Party earlier this month.

Karen Bowers, clinical site matron at the Royal Bournemouth Hospital (RBH), received the invitation from officials at the Royal College of Nursing in recognition of her contributions to nursing.

A hundred places at the party, held at Buckingham Palace earlier this month, were reserved for nurses by the Queen, who is the patron of the college, in recognition of National Nurses Day.

The event also marked the centenary of the college, which is the world's largest nursing union.

"I was so privileged to represent my nursing colleagues at Buckingham Palace," said Karen.

"I have quite an old fashioned view of nursing in that patients must absolutely come first and I think that has helped me to achieve my goals.

"I’m also a passionate believer in the NHS and the critical role nurses have to play in its success.

"In the next 30 years we will be seeing some dramatic changes and nurses are going to play a huge role in how the NHS develops."

Nurses from across the country were invited to apply for one of the places at the royal party, and Karen was selected to attend after RCN judges were impressed with her nursing achievements, which include being the first nurse working in medicine in Bournemouth to complete a practitioner degree.

Karen was also recognised for her contributions to staff development - helping fellow nurses to ‘up-skill’ in order to support consultants and doctors by performing specialist tasks out of hours.

The trust said her work had dramatically improved out-of-hours patient care.

Guests were also provided with lunch at the college's headquarters in Cavendish Square, London.