Key nursing clinician and MIT lecturer recognised in King’s Birthday Honours List

Dr Louise Rummel, principal lecturer in our School of Nursing, has been made a Member of the New Zealand Order of Merit in the King’s Birthday Honours List, for her services to nursing education.

Dr Rummel has contributed to nursing as a clinician and educator for more than 60 years.

She began her involvement with the MIT School of Nursing in 1984, where she has held roles from tutor through to Deputy Head of Department and Principal Lecturer. She completed her PhD in Nursing in 2001 and held the first Research Academic Lead position within the MIT School of Nursing. She was the catalyst for the transition of the established MIT nursing diploma programme to become a comprehensive Bachelor of Nursing degree and went on to establish undergraduate research papers for MIT nursing students.

She was lead author of the book ‘What Jan Began’ (2015), a history of the Department of Nursing and Health Studies. She has contributed to the New Zealand Nurses Organisation (NZNO) Kai Tiaki Nursing Research journal and is on the review panel. She was previously on the NZNO Nursing and Midwifery Advisory Committee and Secretary of the Nursing Research Section. She was made an honorary member of the NZNO in 2004 and was the lead investigator of the most recent tranche of the longitudinal Nursing Oral History Project, completed in 2023.

Dr Rummel set up and ran the first Occupational Health clinic for New Zealand railways employees in Whanganui from 1962 to 1967.

She still teaches at MIT and says that it is a privilege to do so.

Commenting on her honour, Louise says,

“It’s very humbling – I consider myself a very ordinary person who has learnt from the greats in the Nursing profession.  As the saying goes, I was standing on the shoulders of giants before learning from them across disciplines and have had the privilege of being a colleague to the finest professional people within the Nursing profession and within other disciplines.

“Our MIT values are very important to me and are my guiding principles. We are real, we are connected, Manaakitanga, we genuinely care for others, we seek Excellence in Education to help people to become the best they can be.

“MIT has been my home away from home and my extended family.  My colleagues have contributed to the honour as much as I have, and I salute each and every one of them.”