In recognition of the valuable role that nurses play in primary care, COORDINARE is offering two nurse scholarships to attend the Festival of Nursing in Adelaide from 25-27 July 2024. Applicants must be practice nurses working in general practice in the South Eastern NSW region.

APNA’s Festival of Nursing provides valuable insights into the latest developments and changes in the nursing field via well-renowned speakers, interactive workshops, and engaging discussions. The 2024 Festival of Nursing will cover topics such as patient-centred care, the use of technology in nursing, the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration in healthcare and a vast range of clinical topics.

Four nurses received COORDINARE scholarships to attend the 2023 conference and have since implemented quality improvement (QI) patient care initiatives including; chronic kidney disease, cervical and skin cancer screening. Implementation has involved reviewing and analysing practice data, identifying areas of need and working with practice teams to implement these models of care.

Ann Packham, a solo practice nurse at EM Medical, Wollongong valued the opportunity to attend last year's conference to meet with more experienced nurses and to review their quality improvement activities.

Ann said, “Since the conference I’ve reviewed our processes to see where we can make further changes. I can still access the learnings, it has been so helpful."

Krisha Guinea is one of four practice nurses at Goulburn Health Hub and said having an opportunity to go to the conference was important and helped consolidate her own learnings as a nurse.

"We are required to do our own CPD as part of our practice nurse registration so it was a good way to consolidate learning and collaborate with other nurses who work in the same area who are outside of our own team. It is good to have fresh ideas and important to keep learning and evolving. The organisers of the Festival of Nursing ‘put their heart and soul’ into the event,” said Krisha.

Brittany Mitchell has worked in general practice for one year as one of three practice nurses at Surf Beach Surgery, near Batemans Bay. She has worked in the hospital system and the conference helped to hone her skills in the wholistic approach to health care, to keep people well and out of hospital.

“There are so many options to attend different courses, you can even get your BLS (Basic Life Support training) done while you are there. I learnt a lot about different types of health assessments and how we can get information out of people to improve their care. Also, the sessions on skin care management and biopsies were good,” said Brittany.

Shayne Mook is one of four practice nurses at King Street Medical Centre, Warrawong and previously worked in Aboriginal Health and the hospital system.

“Nursing is always evolving and going from acute to preventative care has been a learning curve. I find general practice nursing inspiring, it is really wholistic, not just about fixing the problem now. It’s about trying to break cycles as well as providing that preventative care,” said Shayne.

"Training is important to develop your skills and to stay up-to-date with the most current knowledge. It is a time to network and talk with other nurses and get ideas to overcome issues. I only attended two days and that was information gold. Being able to attend the third day would have been even more enriching,” said Shayne.

 

 

How to apply

Applications must be emailed as an attachment to events@coordinareuat.undev.com.au by 5:00pm Friday 24 May 2024.

Selection criteria - click here

Application Form - click here to download

COORDINARE news, Illawarra Shoalhaven, Learning and workforce development, Quality in general practice, Southern NSW,