Nurses Can Now Be Named TIME’s Healthcare Champion of the Year, Thanks to J&J

Johnson & Johnson and TIME have launched the TIME Healthcare Champion of the Year award, a branded recognition honoring U.S. healthcare professionals whose grit, innovation, and patient care are driving change in the health system. Nurses are among those eligible to be nominated, and nominations are open through August 28, 2026.

The award is designed to spotlight the people at the point of care, and nurses are explicitly named among those eligible to be nominated. It arrives at a moment when healthcare workers are, in the companies’ words, navigating some of the most consequential moments in modern healthcare.

For nurses who have spent years absorbing pressure at the bedside with little public credit, the message is direct: this recognition is built for you, too.

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Nominations for the inaugural TIME Healthcare Champion of the Year award opened July 16, 2026, and close at 5:00 p.m. ET on August 28, 2026. The honoree, selected by Johnson & Johnson and a panel of industry experts, is expected to be announced in late November or early December 2026, ahead of TIME’s ‘A Year in TIME’ celebration on December 9, 2026, in New York City.

Eligible nominees include physicians, nurses, advanced practice clinicians, surgeons, community health workers, care coordinators, patient navigators, and other healthcare professionals actively involved in clinical care or care delivery in the United States. Nominees may be at any career stage and should demonstrate real‑world impact aligned with the program’s core themes.

Nominations should reflect at least one of the program’s three core themes: grit, innovation, or patient care. Candidates can self‑nominate or be nominated by someone else with their consent through the official portal at jnj.com/healthcare-champion-of-the-year.

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Johnson & Johnson says the award extends its long-standing focus on the nursing workforce. “Healthcare professionals bring skill, compassion and resolve to some of the most important moments in people’s lives,” said Vanessa Broadhurst, Executive Vice President, Global Corporate Affairs at Johnson & Johnson. “With the Healthcare Champion of the Year Award, we proudly recognize those whose compassion, innovation, and grit are transforming patient care today and building a healthier tomorrow.”

The recognition builds on the company’s CareCommunity platform, which Johnson & Johnson reports has helped upskill more than 2.25 million health workers globally over the past two years through education, training, and leadership programs. In South Africa’s Unjani Clinic network alone, the company says 92 nurses have been equipped to own and lead clinics—a model J&J highlights as an example of what nurses can do when supported to lead. 

The company says gaps in access to quality care persist even as healthcare advances rapidly, and that the award is meant to show what becomes possible when clinicians are empowered to lead change where it matters most.

Nurses are frequently the largest group on any care team but are often the least publicly recognized. An award that names nurses alongside physicians and surgeons as eligible for a national-level recognition, and that judges impact by grit and patient care rather than title or credential, is a meaningful signal for the profession.

Practically, it also creates an opening. If you know a colleague—a charge nurse, school nurse, nurse navigator, or community health worker—who has quietly changed how patients experience care, the nomination window is open now and closes August 28, 2026. Nominations are free, open to clinicians at any career stage, and can come from a peer. For a workforce that regularly reports feeling undervalued, a visible national platform is worth knowing about, even if it doesn’t change staffing ratios or pay overnight.

🤔 If you could nominate one nurse you have worked with for a national Healthcare Champion award, who would it be and what did they do that stuck with you? Tell us in the comments.