Porangahau nurse and midwife Andrew Cameron has been awarded the medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Queen's Birthday list for services to nursing.
The medal was awarded for Mr Cameron's range of roles with the International Committee of the Red Cross.
While Queen's Birthday was celebrated a week later in Australia than in New Zealand, Mr Cameron told Hawke's Bay Today he was "very pleased" with the award. "It is not such a common honour for a Kiwi nurse, and a midwife - especially a male one - to receive," Mr Cameron said.
Mr Cameron, who now has dual citizenship, spent "a few years" as a midwife in the Arohaina Labour Ward of the old Napier Hospital, and tipped his hat to former mentor Wendy Pullen, who currently works in Hawke's Bay Hospital as a "great teacher of that art".
During his 37 years in the nursing profession he has picked up the Australian Nurse of the Year award in 2004 for work in Aboriginal health, and the Florence Nightingale Medal in 2011 for his efforts during the wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, the Caucasus and other conflict areas. "I see this particular award as a testament to the high level of regard New Zealand nurses are seen to have internationally."