May 12, 2021

Member Stories

NSW nurse practitioner takes out Nurse of the Year award 

by Leave a Comment

NSW nurse practitioner Shannon Philp has been named as the 2021 Nurse of the Year during the HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards for her leadership and work with improving care for women with gynaecological cancers. 

Ms Philp has developed new and innovative models of patient-centred care that have increased access to support and improved the care of women with gynaecological cancers. Her work has resulted in improved models of care for consumers, and has been adopted in other specialities. 

Ms Philp said she was “speechless and honoured” to be named 2021 Nurse of the Year. 

“I hope to see many more cancer nurses follow in my footsteps because we can make a difference to patient outcomes and that’s why we love our jobs”. 

HESTA CEO Debby Blakey congratulated Ms Philp, and acknowledged the incredible impact that nurses and midwives as a cohort have had in delivering improved health outcomes and care for Australians. 

“This year’s winners prove our nurses and midwives are the backbone of our healthcare system”.  

The HESTA Australian Nursing and Midwifery Awards pay tribute to the contributions of Australia’s nurses, midwives, nurse educators, and researchers to improving our country’s health outcomes. 

 

Don’t forget! April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month

by Leave a Comment

Cumberland Branch NSWNMA member and Willow Sexual Safety Champion Marcela Scarpenti wrote to The Lamp to remind our community about Sexual Assault Awareness Month this April.

Meet Marcela Scarpenti, Benjamin Clarke, Dorota Rodzen and Goran Otomancek. Together we are here to remind our consumers in Willow Rehabilitation Unit and everyone reading this article that April is Sexual Assault awareness month. Sexual Assault is the legal term given to describe a collective range of sexual offences committed against a person without their consent, making them feel uncomfortable and/or afraid.

Sexual Assault is most often reported as being committed by men against women. However, we need to remember that men too can be the victims of sexual offenders, as are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, intersex and queer (LGBTIQ+) persons in our communities.

Trauma of sexual assault is a strong predictor of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and has been associated with increased rates of other mental health disorders including depression, anxiety, substance dependence and suicide. This gives high importance to the need for Domestic Violence screening and Sexual Assault History on admission to facilities. It is important to be aware sometimes, a consumer in a mental health facility may not know how to make a complaint about sexual assault, and in some cases, may not fully understand what constitutes sexual assault.

Through increased knowledge, staff are able to provide gender sensitive and evidence-based practice, confidently implementing sexual safety policy and procedures in the prevention and management of sexual assault.

You can find out more about sexual assault awareness and our work here.

Help create a safer space for consumers and staff.

Acknowledgements

This piece has drawn on existing policies and procedures from Australia, in particular the NSW and QLD Sexual Safety Guidelines and VIC Chief Psychiatrist’s guidelines.  

NSW nurse named as Nurse of the Year award finalist 

by Leave a Comment

NSW nurse Shannon Philp has been selected as one of four finalists for the Hesta Nurse of the Year award. 

A gynae-oncology nurse practitioner at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, Shannon’s work and research has been critical to the development of patient-centred care models for women living with gynaecological cancers. 

The success of her work has led to the rollout of similar models to other specialties. 

Shannon joins Queensland nurse Professor Raymond Chan, and Victoria’s Nicole Cummins and Simone Sheridan, as finalists for the award. 

The Lamp congratulates Shannon on her nomination, and wishes her all the best for this award. 

Shannon’s citation for her nomination is as below. 

Shannon Philp is recognised for her contribution to nursing education and patient-centred care, particularly for women with gynaecological cancers. 

As the first nurse practitioner in gynae-oncology in Australia, Shannon has developed new and innovative models of patient-centred care that have increased access to support and improved the care of women with gynaecological cancers. One of these programs aims to ensure women recover quickly after surgery with minimal complications. As a result of their success, these models have been adopted by other specialties. 

Shannon has worked to improve post-surgery recovery for women and provide support on the physical, psychological, emotional and social impacts of the disease, including through sexual intimacy counselling. 

Underpinned by research, her patient-centred model of care has led to important changes in practice and demonstrably better outcomes for women. She is dedicated to passing on her skills and knowledge and has published extensively, sharing the outcomes of her work to improve care of women with gynaecological cancer. 

 

Big safety win at Campbelltown Hospital Mental Health

by Leave a Comment

Mental health nurse Mark Hardacre lauds the incredible work of the Campbelltown Hospital Mental Health branch in securing safer working conditions for staff.

NSWNMA members at the Campbelltown Hospital Mental Health Branch have had a major safety issue win at the Birunji Acute Mental Health Unit, which involved the Association, SafeWork and the committed determination of the staff at the unit.

In August 1999, an aggressive patient destroyed the protective barrier around the main access door to the nurses’ station. This removal now allowed patients to directly approach the main door and presented a real safety risk to staff who opened the door to deal directly with patients. Despite the easy solution of replacing the barrier, management chose to ignore the requests of the members and refused to replace it.

Negotiations continued with management, who stated that it was more therapeutic to allow patients to have direct access to staff with the barrier gone. However, members were concerned was that this easier access also allowed patients to assault staff.

Despite many meetings called by management to assuage staff concerns, members stuck together.

Finally, SafeWork were called in and not only did they acknowledge the safety concerns raised by the staff, they were also concerned over the poor working conditions at the ward.

As a result of SafeWork’s intervention, the ward’s nurses’ station has also been upgraded to have a window through which patients can now freely communicate with staff without exposing the nursing staff 
to a possible physical assault.

This is a major safety win for Campbelltown Hospital Mental Health Staff!

People living in parallel universes

by Leave a Comment

L. Jamie Loutides calls out the Berejiklian Government’s hypocrisy.

The 0.3 per cent pay rise offered to health staff this year was absolutely insulting. That worked out to be about $250 for a year.

In contrast, the police commissioner received an $87,000 annual pay rise! That works out to be the pay rise total for 348 nurses.

What exactly has the police commissioner done to earn 348 times the pay rise of any nurse in the state?

The NSW Liberal government is so out of touch with the reality of frontline workers’ lives.

And still we wait …

by Leave a Comment

Aged Care nurse Jocelyn Hofman criticises government inaction when it comes to fixing the issues in the aged care sector.

Why is the fight for the care, dignity and respect for our older Australians in residential aged care facilities so painfully hard?

There have been 20 years’ worth of reviews and inquiries, and now two years for the royal commission to uncover harrowing personal stories and chronic understaffing. And still we wait.

I find it heart-breaking that it took a global pandemic and a two-year royal commission for the federal government to take notice.

The final report acknowledged the direct link between dangerous levels of understaffing in privately run nursing homes and residents’ neglect. The report recommended that ratios be introduced.

If only the government listened to nurses, who have been campaigning for mandated ratios in the aged care sector long before the COVID pandemic hit our shores.

It is now in the hands of our prime minister to address this chronic understaffing in residential aged care facilities.

Every day we delay, our older Australians will be suffering from neglect. Our older Australians have the right to safe, quality care, just like you and me.