Ms Sayers, a former restaurant manager, was a new mother herself, with a three-month-old son, when she decided to switch careers and study midwifery at the University of Canberra.

"I really wanted to do it," she said, with a laugh, acknowledging it was a huge commitment.

"I put in my application when I was about 30 weeks' pregnant and I couldn't sleep for about a week I was so excited."

Now a registered midwife at the Calvary Hospital, Ms Sayers said being with parents as they welcomed their child into the world was "an honour and a privilege".

"Coming into my own experience of motherhood, I just realised how much of a transformative time and a rite of passage it is," she said.

"So to be involved with that with other people and to help support them and have the best journey they can, it's amazing."

Ms Sayers, 31, has only been a midwife for a little over three years but has worked to increase breastfeeding rates for women who have a caesarean section and promote skin-to-skin contact in the first hour of birth.

She also independently raised money to purchase a "cuddle cot", a cooling device, to hold a stillborn baby so their parents could stay close to the child and spend time with them, even for days.

Ms Sayers said her family had access to a similar device when her own father died and it allowed them precious days with him to say goodbye.

"Parents have got to know their babies for nine months as they have grown and they have planned a future for that baby so it's very important, if the baby is stillborn, for the parents to have that time with them," she said.

Ms Corney, meanwhile, is the clinical nurse consultant on Ward 9A, the medical gastroenterology ward at the Canberra Hospital.

The ward opened in late 2014 to treat patients with disorders of the gastrointestinal system, separate from surgical patients, and Ms Corney has been leading its team.

A nurse for 11 years, Ms Corney was passionate about the speciality of gastroenterology, not least because she was often caring for people on the margins. She said some patients, such as those with liver diseases, were often blamed for causing their own health problems.

"When people hear gastro, they think of viral gastro bug, but it's not actually like that, all of the time," she said.

"It can be very rewarding when we have patients who are acutely unwell with a life-threatening bleed and we can manage them and keep them safe in the ward until they can get to the procedure they need.

"A lot of gastroenterology patients, especially those with liver disease are somewhat marginalised, they may have a background of alcohol or other drugs.

"I guess I take a lot of pride and job satisfaction in trying to mend some of the barriers that may have been broken in their trust, not just in health, but public institutions.

"I think just in very small interactions where you're kind and honest, you can slowly try to rebuild some of that quite legitimate mistrust because there is a lot of discrimination out there.

"The very simple phrase that a lot of nurses in this area use is, 'there but for the grace of God go I'."

Also a busy mum to a five-year-old and two-year-old, Ms Corney said she loved nursing.

"It's very lovely to receive the award because you get caught up in the day to day and think, 'am I making a difference? Am I achieving here'? And it's nice to think that we are."

Other winners in the the ACT nursing and midwifery excellence awards this week were: