South West nurses receive award for 60 years of service to nursing

Published: 07 January 2013

Four nurses in the South West have received a special award from the Royal College of Nursing (RCN) for their long standing contribution to nursing over the past 60 years.

All four ‘diamond nurses’ in the South west joined the RCN in 1952 and received their awards as part of the Queens Jubilee year celebrations, to honour ‘diamond nurses’ that had faithfully contributed 60 years to the nursing profession.

Miss Edna Bird from Chippenham in Wiltshire, Miss Mary Bonner from Sidmouth in Devon, Miss Haywood CBE from Bruton in Somerset and Miss Sykes from Redruth in Cornwall, all received a special commemorative paperweight and a letter from the RCN president, thanking them for their contribution to nursing over the past six decades.

The Director for the South West region, Jeannett Martin, visited each of the Diamond nurses personally to give them their award and a gift of a commemorative paperweight to thank them for their contribution to the industry.

Miss Sykes said: "I began nursing before antibiotics and the National Health Service.  The last 30 years of my career were in Nurse Education in London. This was a period of great change in which the Royal College of Nursing was actively involved. I was fortunate to be part of this movement and am honoured to become a Diamond Nurse."

Miss Haywood CBE, said: “Thank you so much for coming to visit me and for giving me my award in person. Such a beautiful gift, it was much appreciated.”

Miss Bird said: “I have belonged to the Royal College of Nursing for many years and didn't really think about receiving such an honour; the award was a lovely surprise.”

Jeannett Martin said: “It was a real pleasure for me to be able to meet each of the diamond nurses to give them their award and thank them personally for 60 years of dedicated service to nursing. It was really inspiring to listen to their stories from their nursing years. It was abundantly clear to me that during their careers they had made a significant contribution to nursing and patient care, and they continue to be inspiration to nurses all over the South West”.