| | Nursing and Midwifery
Every person. Every time. Exceptional care. |
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Welcome to the Nursing and Midwifery Office newsletter |
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- Jacqui Cross message
- Fact sheets launch
- Mental Health Pathways in Practice
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| - Sneak peek
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Celebrating
- Important dates
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| Welcome to our newsletter! |
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| Nursing and midwifery are rich and rewarding careers.
Whether you’re a new graduate just starting out, or a senior nurse or midwife leading teams, I hope you are all settling in to 2023 and looking forward to a year delivering skilled, compassionate care for patients, women and families, and carers across NSW. |
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As the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, I look forward to seeing as many of you as I can on site visits. After a few years of not being able to move about as freely, I am hoping to cover many kilometres and speak with as many nurses and midwives as I can this year.
I also look forward to continuing to work with the Local Health District and facility Directors of Nursing and Midwifery across the state, supporting the work in our local health districts and speciality networks, and collaborating on projects and initiatives.
There are a number of new programs and projects underway in the NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Office (NaMO) and I look forward to sharing them with you through 2023. Everything we do at NaMO is inspired by the primary objective to support the workforce by investing in the professionalism and career development of NSW Health nurses and midwives. It’s one of the reasons we’ve started this newsletter. Four times a year we’ll be sharing nursing and midwifery opportunities, career support, news, views and reviews and more with you all. I hope you enjoy finding out about the new career fact sheets, the Mental Health Pathways in Practice program and the Mentoring in Midwifery program. The newsletter is also a forum to acknowledge, celebrate and recognise our professions and for me to update you on what’s happening in the Ministry.
Most of all, it’s a way for us to connect with each other. So, if someone or something in your area is worth a shout out, let us know at MOH-namonews@health.nsw.gov.au |
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And that’s a fact (sheet) |
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NAMO has released a set of fact sheets to make it easy to find and explore the programs and supports offered to new and existing nurses and midwives.
The short, easy to read fact sheets outline the programs, scholarships and professional development initiatives offered by NAMO for nurses and midwives in all specialties, and in all parts of NSW. Whether you’re just starting out or you want to enhance and progress, you’ll find an opportunity. There are eight fact sheets:
The fact sheets are on NSW Health - Careers in nursing and midwifery. They can be read online or on your phone and can be printed.
We hope you find them useful and invite you to explore what’s possible for your career. They can be shared with your teams and used at career expos or conferences. |
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Mental health pathway to success |
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Clinical Nurse Educator Denise Peyton might not be overly competitive by nature, but she does hold the title of ‘first to finish’ NSW Health’s Mental Health Pathways in Practice program (MHPiP).
Continuing the theme, MHPiP is the first state-wide program for mental health professional development. However, the motivation for completing MHPiP wasn’t about firsts for Denise. Rather, it was her interest in continuing education and how it can increase and enhance skills. |
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It was an achievement to complete the course,” Denise concedes. “but when facilitating MHPiP now, I’m still continually learning from other clinicians’ experiences. “I don’t believe it’s a course that once completed, the learning also finishes.”
Denise, a Clinical Nurse Educator (CNE) with the Hunter New England Mental Health Service, pictured above with fellow CNE, Scott Oliver, says the program helps clinicians to focus on why they do what they do. “I thought the program’s combination of online and practical learning was easy to follow, and I loved that it is a work-based learning program,” she said.
“The modules can be completed at your own pace and support is available from facilitators, CNEs and colleagues,” she said. Denise says MHPiP helps clinicians put the patient perspective at the forefront of their care and enhances self-reflective practice. “It’s an invaluable tool for mental health clinicians,” she said. Denise’s top three take outs from MHPiP? “Learning from other clinician’s experience. It’s very patient, family and carer focussed. And it’s designed to include all mental health clinicians, regardless of level or years of experience.” We hope that during 2023 many more mental health clinicians follow Denise’s lead. |
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To celebrate the 2023 NSW Health intake of 3600 new graduate nurses and midwives across the state, NaMO filmed with some of the Prince of Wales Hospital GradStart nurses. We'll be putting together a feature video that looks in detail at the GradStart program and shares the experiences of the POW new grads later this year. In the meantime, here’s a sneak peek. |
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A committed group of midwifery leaders filming content for the about-to-be-launched NaMO Mentoring in Midwifery (MiM) program that utilises the Appreciative Inquiry (AI) methodology as a learning and mentoring resource.
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The filming was facilitated by internationally acclaimed AI expert, Professor Belinda Dewar and colleague Dr Edel Roddy, of Wee Culture in Scotland, who were visiting NSW Health. You can listen to Professor Dewar in the video, and we can’t wait to see all the results of the filming and hear more about MiM. We promise to keep you updated. |
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Courtney James for her triple whammy awards season in late 2022. Courtney, a proud Wiradjuri woman and a talented midwife in the new Aboriginal caseload model at Westmead Hospital, known as Dragonfly, won midwife of the year in the Western Sydney LHD awards, was a finalist in the Nursing and Midwifery |
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Awards and one of the winners of the NSW Premier’s Awards. “It’s great that Dragonfly is catching on and it’s great that people are recognising me as one of the midwives there,” Courtney says. We hope she’s got a big enough trophy cabinet. Congratulations Courtney! |
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Value based healthcare? Priceless |
In NSW Health, value based healthcare means continually striving to deliver care that improves health outcomes and experiences that matter to patients and the community. It’s all about how care is provided and received and its effectiveness and efficiency. To share some of the exciting work that’s happening across the state there will be a Value Based Healthcare Event Series with regular sessions throughout 2023.
The series was launched on 14 February by Deb Willcox, Deputy Secretary, Health System Strategy and Planning, and George Leipnik, Director Strategy and System Priorities at NSW Health. Its theme was Value based healthcare and Future Health.
NSW Health staff can view a recording of that launch session. As Deb Willcox remarked about value in NSW:
“Not being wasteful, that we're doing evidence based practice. That’s the stuff that you guys are doing intuitively that’s fundamental to value. But value also has to be something that is meaningful for us, particularly for you guys delivering care. It’s what a patient experiences and the physical and holistic outcomes that they have from the care that you have provided.”
As nurses and midwives, value based healthcare matters. It’s part of how and why we’re here to make a difference. |
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Important dates // March, April, May |
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7 APRIL: World Health Day |
1-12 MAY: Healing Hearts Campaign |
💜 5 MAY: International Day of the Midwife |
💙 12 MAY: International Nurses Day |
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23 MAY-5 JUNE: MidStart recruitment for 2024 open. |
26 MAY: National Sorry Day |
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