Queen Silvia Nursing Award

What is the University of Washington Queen Silvia Nursing Award?

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Dementia is a profoundly challenging health care issue that affects an estimated 5 million people in the US who are cared for by 15 million family and/or friend caregivers. There is no known cure. The impact of dementia is personal, emotional, economic, and systemic.

Recognizing that nurses could play a key role in developing and implementing solutions that provide compassionate and innovative dementia care options, Swedish Care International established the award as a birthday gift for Her Majesty Queen Silvia of Sweden in 2013 in recognition of her long-term commitment and dedication to elder care and the quality of nursing for people with dementia. This award focuses on ideas, solutions, and innovations that lead to improved care and a better quality of care for older adults and people living with dementia. The scholarship is awarded annually in Sweden, Finland, Poland, Germany, Lithuania, and Brazil. The UW School of Nursing was the first academic partner in the United States to bestow the Queen Silvia Nursing Award for dementia care and research.

The recipients were awarded scholarships of 6000 euros (about USD $6,500). The award certificates were presented personally by Queen Silvia at the Royal Palace in Stockholm each fall. The U.S. award recipients also receive support and mentoring from the UW School of Nursing faculty in applying for additional funding to develop and/or implement their winning idea.

From 2020 to 2024, the UW School of Nursing gave four nurses and students this esteemed award. In May 2024, DPEN hosted the final UW QSNA Stewardship Event to honor the award’s supporters, QSNA winners, and our visiting scholar from Karolinska Institute. This collage shows some of the highlights.

Collage of pictures form the QSNA stewardship event