Honor Society of Nursing bestows prestigious Audrey Hepburn Award to prison nursery advocate Dr. Mary Byrne

BALTIMORE. The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International presented its Audrey Hepburn Award for Contributions to the Health and Welfare of Children to Mary W. Byrne, PhD, CPNP, MPH, FAAN, for her career devotion to improving the lives of vulnerable children. Byrne received the award at the honor society's biennial convention, held 3-7 November in Baltimore. Byrne is the Stone-Fish Professor for Clinical Health Care of the Underserved at Columbia University in New York City. Funded consistently by the National Institutes of Health and others, her work has focused on improving the lives of vulnerable populations, including HIV sero-reverter infants, children raised in prison, children receiving primary care in low-income neighborhoods and seriously ill children. Dr. Byrne participates generously in interdisciplinary work groups, is lauded as a doctoral student advisor and recognized as a mentor nationally and internationally. Dr. Byrne has been a member of the honor society since 1968, serving as a charter member of the honor society's Cornell University chapter, Alpha Upsilon. Byrne is considered a national expert on implementing prison nurseries. She is the first nurse to assess maternal-infant attachment, parent-child interaction, parenting competency and child development over time in a sample drawn from prisons. Several prison systems have contacted her to discuss implementation of prison nurseries. Mary's passion has been her life's work "the health promotion of children and the relationship between children and parents," said honor society Past-President Carol Picard, RN, PhD, CS. "We are so pleased to present a long-time member of the honor society with the Audrey Hepburn Award for Contributions to the Health and Welfare of Children." The Audrey Hepburn Award for Contributions to the Health and Welfare of Children was created in 1993 as a tribute to Hepburn?s dedication and tireless work on behalf of children worldwide.

The Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International is a not-for-profit organization whose mission is to improve the health of people worldwide through leadership and scholarship in practice, education and research. Founded in 1922, the Honor Society of Nursing has inducted more than 345,000 members. Members are active in 119 countries and include practicing nurses, instructors, researchers, policymakers, entrepreneurs and others. The honor society's 451 chapters are located at 535 institutions of higher education throughout the United States, as well as Australia, Botswana, Brazil, Canada, Ghana, Hong Kong, Japan, Kenya, Malawi, Mexico, the Netherlands, Pakistan, Singapore, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Swaziland, Sweden, Taiwan and Tanzania.