TWO professors from Edinburgh have been honoured as two of the UK's most inspirational nursing leaders of 2015.

Professor Brendan McCormack, Head of Division of Nursing, and Professor Jan Dewing, the Sue Pembrey Chair in Nursing, both from Queen Margaret University (QMU), received the accolade at an event held by nursing magazine Nursing Times, a leading source of nursing news.

They were among 48 honoured from all areas of the nursing profession, including frontline patient care, management, research, academia and national organisations or charities, as well as nurses and midwives of all career stages.

Those included were nominated by Nursing Times readers, and were then selected by a panel of expert judges.

They were judged on the impact of their work on nursing policy, practice or care and their understanding and influence on how health and social care fit together. The sustainability of their achievement and the extent to which they act as role models were also factors in the judging process.

Jenni Middleton, editor of Nursing Times, said: "Nursing Times Leaders are the most influential, intelligent and impactful nurses in the profession, and demonstrate the huge contribution nurses and midwives make to defining and implementing excellent patient care.

"I hope they will inspire others in the profession to have the confidence to achieve their full potential, and highlight to the wider public just how far nursing has come in the past two decades.

"Nurses are no longer junior partners in healthcare – they influence all levels of healthcare from clinical practice to government policy, and patients benefit from their skills and insight."