NHIVNA is the leading UK professional association representing nurses in HIV care. This recognition celebrates David's services to HIV and sexual health in nurse education.
Professor Evans is a registered nurse with clinical experience in HIV client care. A former Roman Catholic priest, he first worked with people living with HIV in Wales in the mid-1980s. After moving to St Mary’s Paddington HIV In-Patient Services as a Staff Nurse, he moved into teaching in the 1990s.
Since then, David has been facilitating sexual health and HIV learning at various universities, colleges of nursing and departments of health and social care.
A large part of Professor Evans’ career has been researching and publishing both on HIV and sexual health in nurse education (MPhil and EdD) and he co-founded the European HIV Nursing Network.
He joined the university as a professor in 2018 after designing the biggest ever distance learning course for the Royal College of Nursing (credit-rated by University of Greenwich).
Reflecting on his award, Professor David Evans said:
“Being asked by such a prestigious organisation is an absolute honour indeed and the request was totally out of the blue. Providing excellence in education for nurses and other health and social care professionals who work alongside people living with HIV - through prevention, treatment and care - has been an active goal of mine since I first started teaching in 1990.
“This appointment brings me full circle with nursing and HIV. I look forward to promoting NHIVNA and advancing their great work of education, research and care, in as many ways as possible.”
As well as being appointed a Patron, Professor Evans has a string of accolades to his name. He was appointed an OBE in 2017 by the late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II for his services to nursing and sexual health education and achieved the Queen’s Nurse title in 2022. He became a National Teaching Fellow in 2014 (first in sexual health), a Principal Fellow of the Higher Education Academy in 2018 and was honoured with a Fellowship ad eundem of the Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery of the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland in 2023.
