Nurse-led projects are one of the most direct ways in which the Queen’s Institute of Community Nursing (QICN) helps nurses improve patient care. Since 1990, the QICN has funded around 350 innovative projects across the whole range of community nursing specialisms in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, through its Community Nursing Innovation Programme (CNIP). Nurses are given the time, support and confidence to develop ideas rooted in the realities of the communities they serve and often the projects become part of mainstream services.