Southern Cross University’s Professor Marianne Wallis has been honoured for her contribution to nursing, research and tertiary education by being made a Member of the Order of Australia (OAM) in this week’s 2022 Australia Day Honours List.

Associate Dean of Research at Southern Cross University’s Faculty of Health, Professor Wallis has been a chief investigator in numerous research projects aimed at improving the nursing care of hospitalised patients with impaired skin integrity, and improving health service delivery, especially for frail elderly in emergency departments.

“My whole career has been at the forefront of bringing science and evidence into nursing,” Professor Wallis said.

“For 30 years I’ve been working in academia to not only prepare the next generation of nursing professionals, but also to do the research that underpins practice and really provides an evidence-base for practice, which is all about improving the care of the health and wellbeing of our patients.”

Professor Wallis was winding down her career in nursing academia when the COVID-19 pandemic compelled her to come out of retirement.

“This was a worldwide pandemic and I really felt that I should be contributing, so I reversed my retirement and came back to work at Southern Cross University as the Associate Dean of Research for the health faculty,” she recalled.

Professor Wallis described receiving the Order of Australia Medal as an acknowledgment for the entire nursing profession and, especially, nursing academics such as herself.

“I was the person to receive this award, which is very humbling, but it’s really not about me. It’s about the great teams, the doctors, the nurses, the physios, and the dieticians that I’ve worked with for years and years and years to improve the care of our patients.”

LIST OF OTHER NURSES AND MIDWIVES HONOURED

MEDAL OF THE ORDER (OAM)

Valerie Fay Fewster: For service to community health.

Sandra Louise Grieve: For service to community health.

Alice Guay Kang: For service to veterans, and to community health.

Lesley Murphy: For service to community health.

Carmel O’Brien: For service to nursing.

Heather Spence: For service to nursing.

Merridy Gaye Thompson: For service to youth through the Australian Air Force Cadets.

MEMBER OF THE ORDER (AM)

Helen Rosemary Crowe: For significant service to urology and oncology nursing, and to professional societies.

Mary Duffy: For significant service to medicine in the field of lung cancer.

Maxine Duke: For significant service to education, to nursing, and to professional associations.

Jill Iliffe: For significant service to nursing through leadership roles with professional organisations.

Pamela Hope Mam: For significant service to the Indigenous community of Queensland through nursing.

Maxine Veronica Morand: For significant service to the Parliament of Victoria, and to community health.

Jan Phillips: For significant service to palliative care and oncology nursing.

Marianne Wallis: For significant service to tertiary education, to nursing, and to research.