Dr Wendy Norton, a senior lecturer in nursing at De Montfort University, is one of only eight recipients of the RCN’s Fellowship award this year, an honour that recognises outstanding contributions to advancing the art and science of nursing and improving health care.
The RCN often calls on the expertise and experience of its Fellows to help shape its policy positions, practice standards and services.
Dr Norton is a senior lecturer at the Leicester School of Nursing and Midwifery at the city’s De Montfort University. Her area of nursing expertise covers fertility, gynaecology and sexual health. Her path-breaking research on surrogacy, including her PhD on surrogacy and gay men’s use of surrogacy to become parents, has expanded understanding of the changing nature of human reproduction in the 21st century.
Dr Norton was also instrumental in leading a working group on menstrual awareness and developing a national skills and knowledge framework for nurses specialising in endometriosis. Her research in these areas has attracted considerable attention from policy-makers and practice leaders nationally.
Educate
Not only does she work to educate nursing students and the nursing workforce, she has also contributed significantly to raising public awareness of women’s health issues. For example, the Square Mile Project involved Dr Norton offering sexual health education to people with learning disabilities, and she has spearheaded initiatives for children to enhance their confidence in body image, anatomy and physiology.
Dr Norton was a member of the RCN Women’s Health Forum steering committee for eight years in which time she played a key role in developing strategic plans, which led to the delivery of widely-used guidance, training events and highly-acclaimed annual conferences.
She said: “I am delighted and honoured to be a recipient of this award. It is a particular privilege to be receiving this Fellowship given the challenges currently faced by nurses working on the front line who all deserve recognition for their incredible work. I would like to express my appreciation to those who contributed to my nomination.”
Dr Sheila Marriott, Regional Director of the RCN for the East Midlands, said: “The Fellowship awarded to Dr Norton is a credit to her impressive track record of achievement and innovation in nursing, nurse education and health care policy and practice. She is a worthy winner of the award in this, the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife.”
