Irene Sandvold, CNM, DrPH, FACNM, a nurse-consultant in the Division of Nursing in HRSA’s Bureau of Health Professions, recently was awarded the 2004 Hattie Hemschemeyer Award, nurse-midwifery’s highest honor.
The award was presented to Sandvold by the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) at their 49th Annual Meeting & Exhibit in New Orleans. Established in 1977, the Hattie Hemschemeyer Award is named after ACNM’s first president and recognizes members who have made outstanding contributions to midwifery and maternal and child health.
Sandvold’s career in nursing, nurse-midwifery and public health spans more than 40 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1960 and in 1968 she received her master’s degree in nursing and her nurse-midwifery certificate from Catholic University in conjunction with the Catholic Maternity Institute in Santa Fe, N.M. She received both her MPH and DrPH from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health in 1975 and 1982, respectively.
Sandvold worked for the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) as a public health nurse-midwife advisor to the Republic of Vietnam from 1968-1970. From 1977-80, she worked for the Pan American Health Organization/Regional Office of the World Health Organization, and from 1982-1983 she was acting health, population and nutrition officer for USAID in Ghana and worked for the Peace Corps there. She has been a nurse-consultant at HRSA since 1987.
