HEE’s Regional Head of Nursing and Midwifery receives an International Nursing Award

Congratulations to Laura Serrant, HEE’s Regional Head of Nursing and Midwifery in the north east and Yorkshire, who has been inducted as a Fellow to the American Academy of Nursing (AAN). The invitation to be a Fellow is more than recognition of one's accomplishments within the nursing profession. Academy Fellows have a responsibility to contribute their time and energies to the Academy, and to engage with other health leaders outside the Academy in transforming America's health system.

Laura has an extensive experience in national and international health policy development with particular specialist input on racial and ethnic inequalities and cultural safety. She is one of the BBC panel of Expert women, a Florence Nightingale Scholar, an ambassador of the Mary Seacole Memorial Statue and the Equality Challenge Unit Race Equality Charter for Higher Education. 

Her work has been recognised with a number of awards and prizes, including Queens Nurse status and Fellowship of the Queens Nursing Institute. She was listed as the 8th most influential Black person in the UK by the Powerlist 2018. In the 2018 Queen's Birthday Honours, she was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to Nursing and Health policy. More recently, she was named in the Health Service Journal 2020 list of the 50 most influential BAME leaders in healthcare.  

Laura said “I am honoured to be made a Fellow by the American Academy of Nursing. Nursing is a global profession and one thing we have learned through this last 18 months is the importance of working internationally to address health needs. As a Fellow of the AAN and Regional Lead Nurse in HEE, I look forward to working with nurse leaders in the USA and across the world to enhance the quality of Nursing education and health care.”