Zhang Jinyuan, retired nurse/volunteer, Jiangxi province

Zhang Jinyuan graduated from a nursing college in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, and started practicing nursing at a local hospital around the same time the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

During her 45 years as a practicing clinical nurse, Zhang was committed to exploring and developing innovative nursing care tools and techniques, including changing bedsheets in a way that prevents raising dust, using a strap to help move heavy patients and creating a prototype device for sending alerts when intravenous infusions malfunction.

Zhang, now 95, still volunteers to visit and care for the elderly after her retirement and has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

"I want to keep working hard in my 100th year, and being able to work through to the age of 110 would be a dream come true for me," she said.

Last year, she received the 2023 International Achievement Award from the International Council of Nurses and the Florence Nightingale International Foundation, making her the first Chinese nurse to win the prestigious global award.