(FILE)

Zhang Liyan, Director of the Nursing Department of the General Hospital of the Chinese People's Armed Police Forces, is among the eight Chinese laureates of the 43rd Florence Nightingale Award given by the International Committee of the Red Cross to honor exceptional nurses and nursing aides.

During her 34-year career, Zhang, who is also the executive director of the Chinese Nursing Association, has in all organized 12 nursing teams to provide medical services in Algeria, Indonesia, Haiti and Pakistan, and in China's Sichuan and Qinghai provinces, in disaster and conflict situations. She has also been active in nursing education.