Human Rights and Nursing Awards recipients announced

Friday 2 October 2009

The Human Rights and Nursing Award is presented to any nurse in recognition of their outstanding commitment to human rights and exemplification of the essence of nursing’s philosophy of humanity. The contributions and accomplishments of the nominee must be of international significance to human rights and must have influenced health care and/or nursing practice.

Kathy Mellor is a neonatal nurse practitioner who works tirelessly to support maternal and neonatal healthcare in other countries, focusing on regions where healthcare is severely compromised by lack of education and limited resources. For over 20 years, Kathy’s selfless and inspirational work has taken her around the world, to countries as diverse as Nagorno-Karabakh, Armenia, Colombia, Mongolia, Russia, Nigeria and Vietnam, working with UNICEF and the WHO.

Since 2000, Kathy has devoted much of her time and expertise to Nagorno-Karabakh, a small region which neighbours Armenia and which was badly damaged by prolonged war in the early 1990s. She worked with an aid programme to refurbish the only maternity hospital in the region and improve care and facilities on the neonatal department, successfully implementing a programme that had a significant effect on the outcomes of sick newborn babies. After the project finished, Kathy funded her own trips to the hospital and in 2006 founded BirthLink, a charity whose aim is to provide support and education to all health care professionals involved in maternal and newborn care.

Kathy was awarded a Medal of Gratitude by the President of Nagorno-Karabakh in 2008 as a testimony to how highly she is regarded by the people of the country. The medal recognised that many babies and mothers would not have survived without the contribution made by her total devotion and passionate desire to help others.

Branka Rimac is a senior nurse and President of the Croatian Nurses’ Association. She has devoted herself to working in the countries of the former Yugoslavia, often at great personal risk, providing leadership and developing nursing associations in Montenegro, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Macedonia, Slovenia and Serbia, as well as in her native Croatia.

In 1995, Branka was the senior nurse member in a convoy that travelled to a Croatian community in Nova Bila, Bosnia, an area that had been cut off from a range of services, including healthcare. Although the convoy was in considerable danger, they established a hospital that treated people of all religious and political backgrounds, with the specific aim of ensuring that further scars would not settle on the national consciousness.

As President of the Croatian Nurses Association, Branka has had numerous achievements including: negotiating membership of the International Council of Nurses and European Nurses’ Association; developing firm links with the Croatian Trade Union of Nurses and Medical Technicians to enable joint working on staff development and representation; collaboration with the American Organization of Nurse Executives which has resulted in yearly conferences to help in the development of nurse and midwifery leadership in Croatia; and establishment of the Technical Assistance Information Exchange Office workshops in Croatia in order to address the development needs of nurses and midwives in preparation for Croatia’s entry into the European Union.

Branka’s work has focused on working across boundaries in countries divided by ethnic and religious differences. She has demonstrated the highest standards of ethical awareness in pursuit of social goals, encouraging development and leadership to provide strong foundations for the future.

Media Enquiries

Peter La, Press Office at the University of Surrey, Tel: +44 (0)1483 689191, or Email mediarelations@surrey.ac.uk