AWHONN Lifetime Achievement Award

The AWHONN Lifetime Achievement Award is the Association's highest honor, recognizing an AWHONN member whose career has made extraordinary and lasting contributions to women’s health, obstetric, and neonatal nursing. This award celebrates sustained excellence in professional practice, leadership, scholarship, advocacy, mentorship, and service to both the profession and AWHONN.

Nominations are encouraged for members whose lifelong achievements have advanced nursing, improved the health of women and newborns, and left a lasting legacy on the profession. AWHONN members are encouraged to nominate colleagues whose achievements have made a meaningful impact on patients, the nursing profession, and the communities they serve. Nominations must be submitted by Tuesday, September 1, 2026. Selected nominees will then be invited to and have additional time to complete a full award application.

All Lifetime Achievement Award candidates should demonstrate:

  • A distinguished career with sustained contributions to women’s health, obstetric, or neonatal nursing.
  • Exceptional professional expertise and leadership that has advanced nursing practice.
  • Meaningful contributions to the profession through scholarship, education, advocacy, mentorship, or innovation.
  •  Lasting impact on patient care, healthcare systems, public policy, or professional practice.
  • Significant service to AWHONN through leadership, volunteerism, or advancement of the Association's mission.
  • A career that reflects the highest standards of professionalism, integrity, and commitment to improving the health of women and newborns.

Eligibility Requirements

  • All applicants must be a registered nurse; current or retired.
  • 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.
    •  They 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.

Additional Information

  • Candidates can be nominated for multiple awards but will only be considered for one. They 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.
  • Current AWHONN Board members, National Committee Chairs, Awards Committee members, and AWHONN staff are not eligible during their term of service and for two (2) years following the completion of their service.
  • Following selection as an honoree, an awardee is ineligible to receive any further awards for a minimum period of three (3) years.
  • Once a recipient has been honored with the Lifetime Achievement Award, they are ineligible to receive the award for a second time. This recognition is limited to a single occurrence per individual.
  • Award recipients may be invited to serve on a future Award Workgroup.
  • The number of applicants in each category will not be disclosed to any candidate to maintain fairness.
  • AWHONN prohibits the use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools, including text generators, paraphrasers, summarizers, and translators, in the preparation or submission of award applications. Applicants must submit original work and may be required to certify that AI tools were not used. AWHONN reserves the right to use appropriate review methods to verify compliance with this policy. Failure to adhere to this policy will result in disqualification of the application.

Recognition & Benefits

  • Award recipients are recognized during the AWHONN Convention
  • All travel-related expenses will be reimbursed to award honorees following the Convention in accordance with AWHONN reimbursement procedures. If an honoree requires advance arrangements for travel-related expenses, AWHONN will work with the individual to make appropriate accommodation whenever possible.

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 September 1. Those nominated will have additional time to complete their application. Submitted nominations are automatically sent to awards@awhonn.org.