Lifetime Achievement Award

The Lifetime Achievement (formerly the Distinguished Professional Service) Award recognizes an AWHONN member who has made a significant contribution to the specialties of women’s health, obstetric and/or neonatal nursing. The Award is the organization’s highest honor.

Criteria

Attributes: Candidates are evaluated based on evidence of the following leadership qualities

Professional/Clinical Expertise

  • Expertise or depth of knowledge in specialties of women’s health, obstetric and/or neonatal nursing
  • Exceptional performance in area of specialty
  • Application or integration of original research into practice

Contributions to Professional Nursing

  • Professional presentations at conferences or meetings
  • Contributions to professional medical or nursing publications
  • Participation in civic and /or community programs
  • Commitment to the professional development and/or mentorship of colleagues and/or other individuals
  • Advancement of practice for the well-being of women’s health, obstetric and/or neonatal nurses such as:
  • New or improved system for delivering nursing care
  • Staff education, patient education, or quality improvement programs
  • Expanding nursing’s role, resulting in the improvement of nursing practice and patient care.
  • Health or administrative policy to promote the profession of nursing and/or improve the well-being of women or newborns.

Advancement of AWHONN’s Mission and Programs including involvement at the Chapter, Section, and National and/or International Level

Eligibility

  • All candidates must have held voting membership for a cumulative minimum of ten (10) years, though not necessarily consecutively, prior to the year of their nomination.
    • Candidates must have maintained voting membership status for at least five (5) consecutive years preceding the year of nomination.
    • The total duration of non-membership periods between active voting membership years cannot exceed one (1) year/12 months in aggregate.
  • Candidates can be nominated for multiple awards but will only be considered for one. Candidates can either specify their chosen award when submitting materials or if they submit applications for multiple awards, they will be asked to choose one award for which they would like to be considered before judging commences.
  • Recipients of the Lifetime Achievement Award can only be honored once for this specific award but remain eligible for other AWHONN awards.
  • Following selection as an honoree, an awardee is ineligible to receive any further awards for a minimum period of three years.
  • The AWHONN Board of Directors, National Committee Chairs, Awards Committee members and AWHONN Staff are ineligible to be considered for any AWHONN award for the duration of their tenure in said position, as well as for two years post-position.

Components Necessary for Completion of Application

  • Nomination from an AWHONN member by midnight on Sunday, September 29, 2024
  • Application form completed by the candidate by Sunday, October 27, 2024
  • Uploaded current resume/curriculum vitae of the candidate
  • Documentation of support; format to be specified in application to be submitted by Sunday, November 3, 2024
  • If selected, a headshot of at least 300 dpi to be utilized if the candidate is choosen
  • The honoree selected must be available to be a member of the 2026 Awards Committee
  • Please note, AWHONN prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, such as text generators, paraphrasers, summarizers, or translators, in the preparation and submission of any award applications. To ensure the integrity and authenticity of applications, we may use various methods to detect the use of AI tools, such as human review and requiring applicants to sign a declaration stating that they have not used any AI tools in their applications and that they are solely responsible for the content and quality. By applying for any AWHONN Award, the applicant agrees to abide by this policy and to submit only their own original work.

Nominating a nurse takes minutes! Use the button below to find out more and get started on this easy process. The deadline to submit your nomination is midnight (EST) on Sunday, September 29, 2024. Those nominated will have additional time to complete their application. Submitted nominations are automatically sent to awards@awhonn.org.