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Karen Orr Immunisation Nurse Education Scholarship – 2020 winners announced

NCIRS is pleased to announce the joint winners of the Karen Orr 2020 Nurse Immunisation Education Scholarship dedicated to the late Karen Orr who was a highly valued staff member of the centre.  

In 2020, the International Year of the Nurse, there are two winners of this scholarship - Bethany Wilson and Anne Allen.

Bethany is an Immunisation Nurse working in Central Australia Health Service for the Northern Territory Government. Anne Allen is the Immunisation Coordinator at the South Eastern Sydney Public Health Unit providing clinical advice and support across the district . 

Karen OrrThroughout her career, Karen Orr was an exemplary role model for nurses and a passionate advocate for vaccination, who made significant contributions to the fields of paediatric nursing and immunisation.  

Karen Orr recognised the importance of research through her active role in a national NHMRC-funded research project on febrile seizures post vaccination and provided valuable input to the Australian Government Department of Health publication, ‘Questions about Vaccination’. She contributed to NCIRS publications on vaccine coverage and evaluation of measles-mumps-rubella-varicella vaccines in Australia and shared her knowledge at public health and primary health conferences, where she was an inspiring speaker.

In her role as a clinical nurse consultant at NCIRS, Karen was instrumental in providing an expert phone advice line for clinicians and a specialist immunisation clinic for children and their families. 

This annual scholarship is offered to a nurse or a midwife to the maximum value of $1,000 in funding for further education by attending a conference or a course to enhance immunisation practice.

We would like to thank all those who were involved in the planning of the scholarship, including the Orr family.