(XINHUA)

Zou Defeng, a nurse from Nanchang, Jiangxi Province, was awarded the Florence Nightingale Medal for her outstanding contribution to healthcare together with five other nurses from across the country on August 24.

Zou, 57, has been a nurse for 41 years. In 1993, to make up for a weak point in domestic community healthcare, she created a series of models in her province that provide medical care to the elderly and dying at their homes and solve disputes between doctors and patients. In 2002, she established a medical volunteer team under the guidance of the provincial Red Cross Society, absorbing over 1,600 people to take part in voluntary community service.

Introduced in 1912, the Florence Nightingale Medal is the highest international honor for nurses. Altogether 68 Chinese nurses have won it since 1983.