Three nurses working in research, emergency nursing and rural health were honoured in the New Year’s honours list.
Kirsty Murrell-McMillan, the immediate past chair of the New Zealand Rural General Practice Network received the MNZM (Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit) for services to nursing.
Associate Professor Annette Huntington, director of nursing programmes at Massey University also received the MNZM for her services to nursing research.
The third nurse honoured was Hawke’s Bay emergency nurse practitioner Sharon Payne who was awarded a QSM (Queen’s Service Medal) for her services to nursing.
Southland-based rural nurse specialist Murrell-McMillan said she was overwhelmed by the honour and said if winning the honour promoted the “quiet hard workers in rural health”, especially her many rural nursing colleagues, than that was good.
Huntington said she was delighted her honour recognised nursing research as she saw it as an area that had been undervalued in the past. The former Nursing Council chair’s research has focused on health, retention and recruitment issues for nurses.
Payne also won in 2010 the College of Emergency Nursing Australasia “Emergency Nurse of the Year”.
