Australian Nurse of the Year explained

The Australian Nurse of the Year Award was created to honour and showcase excellence in the nursing profession throughout Australia. It has become recognised as the highest civilian accolade for a nurse in Australia. There were 437,516 nurses registered to practice in Australia in 2021.^[1]

The award was established in 2003 to 2004 to recognise the exceptional contributions the recipient has made to improving care and outcomes for patients, providing excellent care in the face of adversity or other challenges, or for an outstanding act of kindness, understanding, compassion or courage, above and beyond the normal role as a nurse anywhere in Australia.

A judging panel of nationally recognised nursing experts assesses the top individual nominees and selects a nurse from each of Australia's states and territories. Each state or territory finalist is flown to a state capital (the place of ceremony is changed each year), where the winner is announced at a formal ceremony. In recent years, other categories of awards have been added. These are for an Outstanding Graduate and another is for Team Innovation.

Although the award is not associated with the Australian government-run Australian of the Year awards, it has been sponsored by various organisations and companies each year, including the Australian Department of Health and Ageing, The College of Nursing (Australia), Elsevier Medical Publications, the Australian Nursing Federation, Nursing Review, Laerdal, ME Bank, and other businesses. From their inception in 2004 the awards were hosted by Healthstaff Recruitment, and since 2007 by HESTA Superannuation Fund.

The awards attract wide coverage from media, culminating in a national presentation held each year, usually on or close to, 12 May, International Nurses' Day.

Past winners

• 2004 Andrew Cameron of Cue, Western Australia^[2]
• 2005 Catriona Chardon of Lismore, New South Wales (posthumously)^[3]
• 2006 Rosanne Squire of McLeans Ridge, New South Wales^[4]
• 2007 Robyn Williams of Wynnum, Queensland^[5]
• 2008 Sam Gibson of Subiaco, Western Australia^[6]
• 2009 Lyn Olsen of Dandenong, Victoria^[7]
• 2010 Charlotte Collins of Trigg, Western Australia^[8]
• 2011 Paul Esplin of Sydney^[9]
• 2012 Jenny Anderson of Rockhampton, Queensland^[10]
• 2013 Sara Lohmeyer of Perth, Western Australia^[11]
• 2014 Steve Brown of Melbourne^[12]
• 2015 Catrin Dittmar of Lake Macquarie, New South Wales^[13]
• 2016 Angie Monk of Joondalup, Western Australia^[14]
• 2017 Sarah Brown of Alice Springs, Northern Territory^[15]
• 2018 Gail Yarran of East Perth, Western Australia^[16]
• 2019 Professor Kate Curtis of Wollongong, New South Wales^[17]
• 2020 Tania Green of Monash, Victoria^[18]
• 2021 Shannon Philp of Sydney^[19]
• 2022 Sue Hegarty of Melbourne^[20]
• 2023 Caitlin Clayer of Ti Tree, Northern Territory^[21]

Notes and References

1. Web site: Nurse and Midwife – Registration Data – March 2021.
2. Web site: Australian Nursing Awards 2005 – 2004 Awards . Healthstaffrecruitment.com.au . 12 May 2004 . 4 April 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091001230110/http://www.healthstaffrecruitment.com.au/australian-nursing-awards/2004awards.html . 1 October 2009 .
3. Web site: Australian Nursing Awards 2005 Winners . Healthstaffrecruitment.com.au . 11 May 2005 . 4 April 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20091001213001/http://www.healthstaffrecruitment.com.au/australian-nursing-awards/winners.html . 1 October 2009 .
4. Web site: Australian Nursing Awards 2006 . Healthstaffrecruitment.com.au . 8 May 2006 . 4 April 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20090930225829/http://www.healthstaffrecruitment.com.au/australiannursingawards06/winners.html . 30 September 2009 .
5. Web site: Awards seek our brightest, best nurses . https://archive.today/20131130050216/http://www.blacktownsun.com.au/news/local/news/general/awards-seek-our-brightest-best-nurses/228027.aspx . dead . 30 November 2013 . 22 January 2008 . 22 January 2008 .
6. Web site: National "Hesta Nurse of the Year" . https://archive.today/20121230121201/http://www.medicalhub.com.au/wa-news/beneath-the-drapes/3051-july-2008 . dead . 30 December 2012 . 1 July 2008 . 1 July 2008 .
7. Web site: Midwife "simply the best" . 18 May 2009 . 18 May 2009 .
8. Web site: Australia's top nurses named in 2010 HESTA Awards . 14 May 2010 . 14 May 2010 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20111008073355/http://www.hesta.com.au/Members/News/HESTA-News/HANA2010winners.html . 8 October 2011 .
9. Web site: Missionbeat nurse wins Nurse of the Year Award – Mission Australia . 13 May 2011 . 13 May 2011 .
10. Web site: Nurse of the Year: Jenny Anderson from Rockhampton . 14 May 2012 . 14 May 2012 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20130423114157/http://www.hospitalandagedcare.com.au/news/regional-nurses-scoop-hesta-prizes . 23 April 2013 .
11. Web site: NoY-Winner-MR-Sara-Lohmeyer . 10 May 2013 . 10 May 2013.
12. Web site: Victorian mental health nurse receives top national nursing award . 10 May 2013 . 12 May 2014.
13. Web site: Local nurse named 2015 Australian nurse of the year after April super storm . 16 October 2015 . . 16 October 2015.
14. Web site: Winners of National Nursing Wards Announced . 13 May 2016 . 13 May 2016 .
15. Web site: Central Australian Head of Renal Dialysis Service named Australia's top nurse . 11 May 2017 . . 11 May 2017 .
16. Web site: Trailblazing Gail is the nation's top nurse . 16 May 2018 . 16 May 2018.
17. Web site: Prof Kate Curtis takes out top honour . 13 May 2019 . 13 May 2019.
18. Web site: Victorian Nurse crowned Nurse of the Year . 7 May 2020 . 7 May 2020.
19. Web site: Winners crowned in a celebration of Australia's nurses and midwives for 2021 HESTA Awards . 7 May 2021 . 7 May 2021.
20. Web site: Winners crowned in a celebration of Australia's nurses and midwives for 2022 HESTA Awards . 20 May 2022 . 20 May 2022.
21. Web site: 2023 HESTA Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards — winners announced . 17 May 2023 . 17 May 2023.