Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to explore the history of the Florence Nightingale Medal
and in particular its New Zealand recipients. New Zealand nurses have, over many
years, contributed to international nursing by providing service during conflicts and
disasters. Several have worked with the Red Cross and, of these nurses, twenty-two
have been awarded its highest honour, the Florence Nightingale Medal.
This thesis related the history of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement, and its
place in humanitarian and international nursing. It traces New Zealand nursing's
involvement in this, and offers a history of the New Zealand recipients of the Florence
Nightingale Medal, 1920-1999. The personal and professional stories of five New
Zealand nurses who were awarded the medal between 1969 and 1999 were gathered
through oral history interviews. Their stories are used to consider in more detail the
motivations and experiences of nurses who work in these circumstances, and the way in
which humanitarian nursing practice and Red Cross principles shaped and challenged
their practice.
The thesis therefore documents the work of five New Zealand nurses who have
demonstrated exceptional courage, dedication, and commitment to humanitarian causes
and international nursing practice. As an exploratory and descriptive study which has
drawn on both historical and contemporary sources of information, it raises awareness
about the Red Cross and its nurses, humanitarian nursing practice in particular, and
international nursing in general.
