By Pauline Belleville-Taylor

Each year the MNA offers its members the opportunity to recognize their peers who have made significant contributions to nursing and the populations they serve.

If you are interested in nominating a fellow nurse for a prestigious MNA award, this article will assist in describing how to nominate a candidate, and the awards selection process.

If you are interested in nominating someone, call MNA and obtain a copy of the award criteria. Each award has very specific criteria that needs to be followed by the nominators and the awards committee. Read through the criteria for the award. Once you are assured your nomination can fit the criteria, talk to the person you want to nominate. You must secure permission from the nominee to submit the application.

The nomination must be made by a member of MNA. There needs to be two letters of recommendation to support the nomination. When you write the nomination letter, keep the award criteria in front of you. For each criteria listed, your letter should contain a description or example of how your nominee meets this criteria. Remember, the purpose of this letter is to specify examples of the nominee's qualifications, not to tell the Awards Committee what a great person your nominee is! The Awards Committee members can only consider material that has been submitted as part of the nomination. If your letter cites examples of the nominee's accomplishments that have no bearing on the award criteria, they can not be considered. Make sure all the information is complete on the nomination form and the nomination meets the established deadline: No late nominations can be processed:

The Awards Committee members meet to review all the nomination materials and to select awards recipients. The Awards Committee members are appointed by the Board of Directors of MNA. All nominating information and the nomination process itself is kept confidential. Once the nominees have been selected, the Awards Committee make the recommendations to the Board of Directors. The final approval of awards nominees is given by the Board of Directors of MNA.

Once the Board of Directors completes their approval process, letters are sent to all award nominees and nominators informing them of the final award selections.

The Frank Hynes Award and the Awards for Clinical Excellence in Nursing Practice are presented during Nurses week in May at an Awards Luncheon at the State House. All other MNA Awards are presented at the awards banquet during the annual MNA Convention in the fall.
The recognition of our Nursing peers is both a privilege and a professional responsibility. We urge all members to take the opportunity to give recognition to their nursing colleagues.

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