A leading academic and global influencer has been appointed as the new permanent chief nursing officer for Scotland, Nursing Times can reveal.
The next CNO for Scotland will be Aisha Holloway, professor of nursing studies at the University of Edinburgh and co-director of the Edinburgh Global Nursing Initiative.
She is currently chair of nursing studies at Edinburgh University, programme director for the Nursing Now Challenge global initiative and adjunct professor at Johns Hopkins School of Nursing in the US.
Professor Holloway is also a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland.
Nursing Times understands that she will take up the national CNO role later this year. At present, it is held on an interim basis by Anne Armstrong.
Ms Armstong was appointed interim chief nursing officer for Scotland in April last year, having previously been deputy chief nursing officer.
Like the rest of the UK, high among the challenges facing Professor Holloway when she becomes CNO will be Scotland’s nursing workforce shortages and Agenda for Change pay negotiations.
Previous incumbent, Professor Alex McMahon, retired from the CNO role in the same month, having served in the national post since December 2021.
Professor Holloway is a highly respected nursing academic with influence and experience spanning both national and international levels of the profession.
In her current role, she co-founded and is co-director of the Edinburgh Global Nursing Initiative and has previously held government and non-government advisory and board positions.
At Edinburgh, she has also built a strong research programme spanning 30 years in public health and alcohol and workforce with a strong focus on health policy and political nurse leadership.
In particular, her research has focused on clinical trials, intervention development and theoretical elements of health behaviour change.
She has a reputation for working at the interface between nurse-led research and policy influence, and has worked for the World Health Organization with a specific focus on the nursing workforce.
Meanwhile, her recent success with the Nursing Now Challenge network has brought her fresh plaudits for supporting early career nurses’ leadership development and policy influencing globally.
