• Paediatric nursing
• Scholarships
• Nursing and Midwifery Award finalists

• FWLHD visit
• HNELHD visit
• Important dates

A key focus for the Nursing and Midwifery Office (NaMO) is to support meaningful, ongoing professional development opportunities for nurses and midwives.

We all know the value of professional development - it’s essential for maintaining clinical currency, building expertise and refreshing skills. It can open doors to the huge range of clinical contexts and roles available to our professions.

NSW Health is committed to investing in long-term in career development. One of our strategies is the nursing and midwifery Pathways in Practice (PiP) concept.

The PiPs are customised, state-wide suites of professional development opportunities supporting nurses and midwives to use all their skills and reach their full potential at every career stage.

Two PiPs have been launched already – Mental Health Pathways in Practice (MHPiP) and Rural Nursing Pathway in Practice (RNPiP).

Midwifery Pathways in Practice (MidPiP) is in its final design stage of development, and we will bring you more news as this PiP progresses.

Our next PiP is Paediatric Pathways in Practice (PaedPiP), which is in the scoping stage of development. You can read more about PaedPiP in the newsletter below.

While each PiP is created for specific groups of clinicians, the PiPs also have common elements:

• bite-sized e-learning modules to refresh and reinforce clinical expertise and communication,
• scholarships for specialised postgraduate study, and
• workplace learning opportunities.

And, like all good and worthwhile things, it takes a village to make them happen.

The PiPs are co-created and evidence-based, developed by clinical and education experts from across NSW Health. NaMO is grateful to the colleagues, clinicians, experts and partners who have brought creativity, insight, passion and generosity to the PiPs.

The PiPs acknowledge that we flourish when our skills are supported and enhanced. Being empowered to grow professionally can enhance our experience and satisfaction at work. I encourage you to explore the PiPs and other development opportunities and see how you could fast track your ideal role.

For the past few weeks, the Nursing and Midwifery office (NaMO) has been filming interviews with the 29 finalists in the 2023 Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards and is now busily putting them together in preparation for the Awards ceremony in November.

This year’s finalists hail from across the state, and they showcase the outstanding breadth of skill and diversity of the nurses and midwives providing care for the people of NSW. 

NSW Health Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Jacqui Cross, said the Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards are an important occasion to recognise and celebrate commitment, compassion, innovation and exceptional care for the people of NSW.

“For the first time since 2019, the Awards will make a comeback as a live event, and I cannot wait to mark the incredible achievements of our nurses and midwives and celebrate with them in person,” Ms Cross said.

Finalists and winners will be celebrated at the Awards ceremony at NSW Parliament House on 16 November.

Following the event at Parliament House, NSW Health will produce an on-line show version of the ceremony that will be available for all to watch in the days following the event.

"This will allow colleagues, family and friends far and wide to join the celebrations of the finalists and winners," Ms Cross said.

Keep an eye on the Award web page for information on how to access the show closer to the date.

Paediatric nursing can be a rich and rewarding career path that also demands its own unique set of skills to best care for children from infancy to adolescence and everything in between.

The Nursing and Midwifery Office is leading a Paediatric Pathway in Practice (PaedPiP) project which is a collection of professional development resources designed for all nurses, whether new or experienced, working in the Paediatric environment.

PaedPiP will be developed in partnership with clinicians with a focus on a generalist education

and training pathway including access to fully funded paediatric graduate certificates and enhancing workplace learning through practice. PaedPiP is in the project development phase. It will be state-wide, supporting paediatric services in Local Health Districts.

NaMO has already released the Mental Health Pathways in Practice (MHPiP) and the Rural Nursing Pathways in Practice (RNPiP) and is in the final stages of designing Midwifery Pathways in Practice (MidPiP), which will launch early next year.

NaMO’s newest PiP is at the scoping stage, and similar to the other PiPs will also share three vital elements to enable clinicians to work to their full scope of practice,

• Education and resources
• Scholarships and financial support
• Workplace learning and context

“The scoping phase will very much focus on these three elements, and looking at what’s already available,” said Jason Viney, Principal Advisor Nursing and Midwifery Professional Practice.

“It’s an important mapping exercise that will highlight what is needed, and how to best to provide that.”

As with all the PiPs, there will be broad consultation to design and curate PaedPiP.

“We know from NaMO’s established PiPs, that building a flexible program to allow learning in local environments and context is a key element in the success of workplace learning and skill development," Jason said.

“We want to curate and populate a program that delivers guidance and learning in a model that provides meaningful and relevant local context.”

An important part of the Nursing and Midwifery Office’s role is supporting the professional development and the attraction and retention of nurses and midwives in NSW Health.

Access to scholarships and contracted postgraduate courses are two initiatives that aim to advance skills and enhance career opportunities and career fulfilment.

Contracted postgraduate courses are fully funded Graduate Certificate online courses in the following range of targeted clinical specialties:

• Acute Care
• Addiction studies
• Aged Care

• Cancer Care

• Child and Family Health*

• Critical care
• Neonatal
• Paediatrics
• Perioperative
• Rural
• Special Care Nursery

Applications open Monday 25 September and will be coordinated through the Health and Education Institute (HETI).

*Child and Family Health has a clinical placement requirement.

Jacqui Cross, the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer NSW Health, visited the Hunter New England Local Health District recently, and was able to tour the new Inverell Hospital, including the expanded ED and the 

maternity and birthing facilities.

The Inverell Hospital redevelopment has created a state-of-the-art heath precinct for the Inverell community.

As Health Service Manager, Katharine Randall, explained, the new hospital provides acute and community health services for around  20,000 people - all in the one location.

"It's always very satisfying to meet with nurses and midwives in their clinical environments, to hear about their experiences and receive their feedback," Jacqui Cross said.

On a visit to the Far West LHD, Jacqui Cross was able to spend time with the 2023 new graduate nurses and midwives as part of their pilot Career Pathways Planning Day.

The day included presentations from nursing and midwifery staff at various career stages, discussing their career pathways and all the things they’ve learnt along the way. There were also sessions on wellbeing, mentoring and dealing with challenges.

Wendy Gleeson, Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery for Far West LHD, and Jacqui Cross were pleased to be able to contribute by sharing their pathway stories and answering questions.

In coming years, the study day will be open to the whole nursing and midwifery workforce as part of the recently released Far West LHD Nursing and Midwifery Career Pathways Guideline.

OCTOBER: Mental Health Month Mental Health Month | WayAhead 

11 OCTOBER: Emergency Nurses Day

NOVEMBER: Changing the face of men's health - Movember

12-18 NOVEMBER: Perioperative Nurses' Week 

13 NOVEMBER:  World Kindness Day

16 NOVEMBER: EINMA 2023 Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards (nsw.gov.au)