Florence Nightingale Medal: Honoring exceptional nurses and nursing aides - 2023 recipients

Thirty-seven outstanding nurses from 22 countries have been awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal, which recognizes exceptional courage and devotion to victims of armed conflict or natural disaster. It also recognizes exemplary service or a pioneering spirit in the areas of public health or nursing education.

The recipients were nominated by their respective National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society and selected by a commission comprised of the ICRC, the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) and the International Council of Nurses.

AUSTRALIAN RED CROSS

Nicholas Prince

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations, notably with the British Red Cross, the Australian Red Cross, the ICRC and the IFRC.

Yvette Spero

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations, notably with the Australian Red Cross, the ICRC and the IFRC.

RED CROSS SOCIETY OF BELARUS

Alena Filipovich

Registered nurse. Nurse-anesthetist of the anesthesia and intensive care unit department of the Health Care Institution "Berestovitsa Central District Hospital and active in nursing education.

RED CROSS SOCIETY OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

Edina Pačuković

Registered nurse. Medical professor at the Secondary Vocational School, Youth Coordinator at the Red Cross City of Orasje. Notably active in disaster situations.

CANADIAN RED CROSS

Candy Kwok

Registered nurse. Senior Manager – Public Health in Emergencies with the Canadian Red Cross Society. Notably active in disaster situations.

RED CROSS SOCIETY OF CHINA

Jing Chen

Registered nurse. Chief Nurse of the Hemodialysis Center and Associate Professor of the Department of Emergency and Critical Care of Shanghai Changzheng Hospital. Active in disaster situations and in the field of nursing education.

Shaoyun Xing

Registered nurse. Head Nurse of the Leprosarium of the Fifth People's Hospital of Hainan Province. Notably transformed traditional leprosy Nursing and introduced Novel leprosy wound treatment in China.

Xiaojuan Liu

Registered nurse. Secretary General of the Chinese Nightingale Nursing Service Volunteer Team. Active in disaster situations and in the field of nursing education.

Xiuni Gan

Registered nurse. Deputy Dean of the School of Nursing of Chongqing Medical University (CQMU), Director of the Nursing Department of the Second Affiliated hospital of CQMU. Active in disaster situations and in the field of nursing education.

Xuehong Zhao

Registered nurse. Deputy Director of the Nursing Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine and Chairperson of the Disaster Nursing Professional Committee, Zhejiang Nursing Association. Notably active in disaster situations. Developed innovative initiatives to improve and promote high-quality nursing.

Yan Jiang

Registered nurse. Director of Nursing Department in the West China Hospital, Sichuan University and Vice Dean of West China School of Nursing, Sichuan University. Notably active in disaster situations and in the field of nursing education. Improved the development of evidence-based nursing in Sichuan.

Yinghui Zhang

Registered nurse. Deputy Director of Nursing Department of the Second Hospital of Shanxi Medical University (Shanxi Red Cross Hospital ), and leader of the Second Hospital Detachment of Shanxi Medical University of China Nightingale Volunteer Nursing Service Corps. Notably active in disaster situations.

CRUZ ROJA COSTARRICENSE

Juan Diego Baruque Villa

Registered nurse. Regional volunteer working in community-based care in the Puntarenas region. Active in disasters situation and in nursing education.

DANISH RED CROSS

Kamma Skaarup

Registered nurse. Recruiter, Development Advisor and HR Field Referent in Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) Denmark. Project Medical Referent in MSF field programmes. Active in conflict and disaster situations and in the area of public pealth.

Mie Ravnemose Terkelsen

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations with MSF.

Rikke Dalsted

Registered nurse. Head of Health Clinics for Undocumented Migrants, Red Cross Denmark; External associate professor, University College Copenhagen, Emergency and Risk Management. Active in conflict and disaster situations, and in the areas of public health and nursing education.

ETHIOPIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY

Meggist Menil Abetew

Posthumous award

He was a volunteer ambulance driver, from the Amhara Red Cross regional branch of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, who was shot dead in October 2022 in the Tigray region.

Amidekrose Aregaw Gebiru

Posthumous award

He was a volunteer ambulance driver, from the Tigray regional branch of the Ethiopian Red Cross Society, who was shot dead in November 2021 in the Tigray region.

CROIX-ROUGE FRANÇAISE

Marie-Esther Rouffet

Infirmière diplômée. Membre de la Commission nationale du recours et de d'arbitrage et du Comité d'orientation prospectif de la Croix-Rouge française. Est à l'initiative d'un projet d'accompagnement psychologique des parents et des enfants lors de situations difficiles.

GERMAN RED CROSS

Susanne Serry

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations, with the German Red Cross and the ICRC.

ICELANDIC RED CROSS

Guðbjörg Sveinsdottir

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations, notably with the IFRC and the ICRC with a strong focus on mental health.

ITALIAN RED CROSS

Franca Caporali Vaglio

Registered nurse. Active in the areas of public health and nursing education. Numerous international deployments with the Italian Red Cross.

JAPANESE RED CROSS SOCIETY

Miki Takahara

Registered nurse. Deputy Nursing Director of the Japanese Red Cross Society Himeji Hospital. Active in conflict and disaster situations.

Tomoko Kusama

Registered nurse. Professor Emeritus of Tokyo Healthcare University and of Oita University of Nursing and Health Sciences. Active in the areas of public health and nursing education.

Setsuko Imamura

Registered nurse. Director of "Setsueikai", a Foundation providing scholarships to nursing students who wish to develop their career in higher education. Active in the areas of public health and nursing education.

NIGERIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY

Chinwe Lawrence-Uchenna

Registered nurse. Senior Staff Nurse with the Royal Berkshire NHS Fondation Trust, formerly Health Coordinator of the Anambra state branch of the Nigerian Red Cross Society.

NORWEGIAN RED CROSS

Åge Bøyum

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations notably with the Norwegian Refugee Council, the IFRC, the ICRC and the Norwegian Red Cross.

Hilde Marie Nilsen

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations notably with the IFRC, the ICRC and the Norwegian Red Cross.

SAUDI RED CRESCENT AUTHORITY

Abdulmajeed Alanazi

Registered nurse. Active in the areas of public health and nursing education.

SLOVAK RED CROSS

Margita Kosturíková

Posthumous award

Registered nurse. Was active in the areas of public health and nursing education.

CROIX-ROUGE SUISSE

Pascal Hundt

Infirmier diplômé. Actif dans des situations de crises et de conflits pour le CICR.

TANZANIA RED CROSS SOCIETY

Wilbroad William Rwenyagira

Registered nurse. Nurse Officer in Charge for Tanzania Red Cross Society – Nduta Camp, Kigoma.

THE THAI RED CROSS SOCIETY

Shalaosri Sangiam

Registered nurse. Director of Nursing, Department of Nursing, King Chulalongkorn Memorial Hospital. Active in public health and crisis situations.

UKRAINIAN RED CROSS SOCIETY

Larysa Kysil

Registered nurse. Active in conflict situations and in the area of public health.

AMERICAN RED CROSS

Brandi Branch

Registered nurse. Active in conflict situations and in the areas of public health and nursing education.

Patricia Chappell

Registered nurse. Active in disaster situations and in the areas of public health and nursing education.

Carlos Mendoza

Registered nurse. Active in conflict and disaster situations.