Nurse Lynn Jackson may see herself as a behind the scenes kind of person, but she has made great strides in improving the overall health of the community.

That is why she was chosen as this year's Nurse of the Year at a special ceremony at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess.

Miss Jackson is Child Health Coordinator for the Department of Health and also Expanded Immunisation Programme (EPI) Manager for Bermuda. The Pan American Health organisation requires each country to have an EPI manager.

She is also responsible for four sub-programmes at the Department of Health including child health, immunisation, travel health and school health.

"I was surprised when I got the award," said Miss Jackson. "I was very honoured to be honoured for my contribution, but I didn't do it all by myself. I work with a team of people."

She received the award in recognition of her involvement with a number of public health initiatives both locally, and abroad.

Three years ago she was instrumental in setting up the 'flu express', a project that, at certain times of the year, allowed Bermudians to drive-through designated areas around the Island to get their seasonal flu shots. People can still get their shot in the doctor's office or clinic if they wished.

Each year since then, the programme has grown with the last one immunising almost 2,000 people. In the past, it took months for the Department of Health to distribute the influenza vaccine each year, the new programme had the vaccine distributed to those who needed or wanted it within two weeks.

Miss Jackson told The Royal Gazette she always wanted to be a nurse even as a small child.

"As an adolescent I wanted to be a nurse, but I didn't think I was bright enough," she said. "So at the age of 19, I decided to be a medical secretary. I found it really boring. I knew I had to try and give myself a chance.

"I went to England and did a pre-nursing course at North Oxfordshire Technical College in Banbury, Oxfordshire.

I did very well in my 'O' and 'A' level exams, so I knew I was bright enough. I really haven't looked back. I don't know what other career I would have if I wasn't a nurse.

"Nursing has such broad areas in which to work. You can choose to do direct patient care, health education, public health nursing, midwifery, wellness programmes, learning disabilities, mental health, prisons, teaching nursing.

There are so many different areas to choose from."

She initially trained as a nurse and midwife and then earned a diploma in public health nursing which is the equivalent of a Bachelors degree in public health administration.

"The bulk of my career has been in public health," she said. "To that end I have worked in this position since 1992.

"Part of the reason I was nominated for Nurse of the Year was for some of the successes we have had in developing a database with information to monitor the health trends of children."

She also implemented a database to record adult travel immunisation records.

"Travel immunisation has significantly expanded in the last ten years," she said. "Today, people travel all over the world. We needed it because often people don't keep their hand-held records.

"If there was an outbreak of a disease that can be prevented by a vaccine, the database helps you to determine who has already been protected by the vaccine. You then move your resources to the people who need to be protected."

Miss Jackson said she was also nominated for the award because of her international contributions to public health.

"I had the opportunity to work with the Pan-American Health Organization, evaluating immunization programmes in several countries," she said. "That was a significant learning experience to me.

"I went to the Netherland Antilles, Bahamas, Grenada, Guyana, Trinidad and Tobago and other places."

She said it was being part of the organisation that had been an opportunity for personal and professional growth.

Part of the organisation's goals is to strengthen the immunisation programmes in the countries they work with. This helps to strengthen the region, and by extension, Bermuda.

"When we talk about elimination of vaccination preventable diseases, Bermuda plays a part of that," said Miss Jackson.

Her group also does a comprehensive review of the child health offerings for the purposes of strengthening their programmes and strengthening surveillance.

"Surveillance basically means knowing there is a system in place to identify outbreaks of vaccine preventable diseases," said Miss Jackson.

Outside of her job, she is involved with St. Peter's Church and sits on the St. Peter's Church Council.

She has also been an executive member of the Bermuda Nurses Association, and has had several roles with it including president, and vice president, among other things.