| | Nursing and Midwifery
Every person. Every time. Exceptional care. |
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2023 Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Award winners and finalists |
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Welcome to the Nursing and Midwifery Office newsletter |
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Aboriginal Nursing and Midwifery cadets
- Midwifery Models of Care ToolKit launch
- Nursing and Midwifery Awards
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Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer column
- Question Time
- Important dates
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| | As we bid farewell to 2023 to make room for 2024, time for one more edition of the Nursing and Midwifery Office newsletter - NaMOnews for short. For my last column of the year, I’ll let the video opposite do most of the talking. Below you can read more about the 2023 Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards. It was an event full of inspiration and celebration, and I encourage you to watch the online version. |
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For me, it helps explain how the nurses and midwives of NSW Health fuel innovation, drive collaboration and help enable the public health system to be the best it can be for the people and communities of NSW.
Speaking of innovation and collaboration, there’s also a feature on the new Midwifery Models of Care tool kit, produced by the Nursing and Midwifery Office, and a story on the Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) Regional Conference on Bundjalung Country in Kingscliff NSW.
I hope you have the opportunity to reflect on all you’ve achieved this year, the things you are professionally most grateful for and proud of, and the things you’re most looking forward to in the new year. Stay safe over the summer season, and I look forward to sharing more NaMO news and reviews in 2024. |
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Jacqui Cross Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, NSW Health |
Congratulations to the Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards 2023 finalists and winners |
In November the Nursing and Midwifery Office hosted the 11th annual NSW Health Excellence in Nursing and Midwifery Awards at NSW Parliament House.
It was wonderful to be back face to face for the Awards - for the first time since 2019. Trophies were presented to the finalists and winners for 2023 with special guests Susan Pearce, AM, Secretary NSW Health and Phil Minns, Deputy Secretary People Culture and Governance NSW Health.
This year’s finalists and winners showcased the outstanding breadth of skill and diversity of the nurses and midwives providing care for the people of NSW. |
Below are images of the finalists and winner in each Award category. Congratulations! And remember nominations for the 2024 Awards open early in May 2024 - save the date to nominate! |
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| New to Practice Nurse/Midwife |
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Continuity of Care midwifery toolkit released |
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| The Nursing and Midwifery Office has released a revised, expanded toolkit that aims to provide a consistent approach for implementing midwifery continuity of care models in NSW.
It’s a practical resource to support midwifery leaders to develop, implement and maintain a variety of midwifery continuity of care models to best align with community and workforce expectations. “Just like no two pregnant women are the same, or have exactly the same experience, there isn’t a one size fits all model of care,” said Kelley Lennon, the Nursing and Midwifery Office’s Principal Advisor, Midwifery.
“Having a variety of models better meets the diverse needs of pregnancy, birth and postnatal experiences for women, as well as supporting |
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the workforce to be able to work in a variety of ways.”
The Nursing and Midwifery Office has released a revised, expanded toolkit that aims to provide a consistent approach for implementing midwifery continuity of care models in NSW.
It’s a practical resource to support midwifery leaders to develop, implement and maintain a variety of midwifery continuity of care models to best align with community and workforce expectations.
“Just like no two pregnant women are the same, or have exactly the same experience, there isn’t a one size fits all model of care,” said Kelley Lennon, the Nursing and Midwifery Office’s Principal Advisor, Midwifery.
“Having a variety of models better meets the diverse needs of pregnancy, birth and postnatal experiences for women, as well as supporting the midwifery workforce to be able to work in a variety of ways.”
The new toolkit will support maternity services to offer women a variety of models of care, including full midwifery continuity of care across the continuum, continuity for the antenatal and postnatal periods, and collaborative models inclusive of our medical colleagues. The toolkit supports the development of flexible models based on the needs of the women, the workforce, and service capabilities. The toolkit has been expanded to include the many important partnerships that are required when designing and implementing these models, including Child and Family Health Services, and also acknowledging the strong benefits of these models for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and babies. “My hope is that the toolkit increases the confidence for midwives to work in Continuity of Care and give structured guidance for health services to be able to offer more models of care for women and families,” Kelley said. It’s all about choices for women and their families and choices for midwives. The Nursing and Midwifery Office would like to thank the committed midwives from across NSW who contributed to the review and redesign of the toolkit. “It has been a true labour of love and our working group maintained their commitment to see the new tool kit to fruition,” said Kelley.
“I am convinced it will add enormous value to women, the health system and our community.” |
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NSW Health: Blueprint for maternity care |
The Continuity of Care Models toolkit has been designed and developed alongside Connecting, listening and responding: A Blueprint for Action – Maternity Care in NSW (the Blueprint).
The Blueprint and the toolkit complement one another and demonstrate NSW Health’s commitment to providing continuity of care models for the women and their families in NSW.
The Blueprint was released in March 2023 and outlines 10 goals focused on ensuring all women in NSW receive respectful, evidence-based and equitable maternity care.
The NSW Ministry of Health is working with key stakeholders to develop an implementation plan for the Blueprint. The implementation plan will focus on the first phase of priorities to strengthen maternity care in NSW, including in regional and rural areas.
To learn about how you can help strengthen maternity care services and give the very best start to life for all children in NSW, read Connecting, listening and responding: A Blueprint for Action – Maternity Care in NSW. |
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Support for Aboriginal nursing and midwifery cadets |
The Nursing and Midwifery Office supported 12 Aboriginal nursing and midwifery cadets to attend the 2023 Regional Congress of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurses and Midwives (CATSINaM) Conference to enhance their professional development opportunities.
Last week, the student nurses and midwives from across NSW, spent time on Bunjalung Country in Kingscliff NSW, connecting with First Nations nurses and midwives from all over Australia.
“They got to listen to change-makers and cultural trailblazers talk about leadership, models of care and nursing and midwifery specialities, and interact with mob who show up every day just to make a difference for their patients, staff and community,” said the Nursing and Midwifery Office’s Principal Advisor for Aboriginal Nursing and Midwifery Strategy (ANMS), Elise McCarthy-McPhan. “It’s such an important and meaningful way to support our upcoming nurses and midwives, and they relished the opportunity to hear from others and contribute to the collective story of Aboriginal nurses and midwives in NSW Health,” she said.
The theme for this year’s conference was Healing and Leadership Equals Strong Elders. Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Jacqui Cross, gave a keynote speech at the conference. “It’s so important we look to the future for Aboriginal nurses and midwives, because without them we won’t be able to offer the kind of culturally safe and quality care First Nations people need and deserve,” Jacqui Cross said.
“We know the key to providing the best possible care for Aboriginal patients, consumers and their families is to have as many Aboriginal nurses and midwives as possible in the system.” Elise and the ANMS Project Officer, Kayla Potter, facilitated a focus group with the cadets at the Conference. “Seeing the cadets grow in confidence during the conference was so gratifying,” said Jacqui Cross.
“For them to know what opportunities lie ahead for them, and how much of a difference they can and will make for their communities is exactly why we have the ANMS strategy.” |
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Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Jacqui Cross (fourth from right) with Elise McCarthy-McPhan and Kayla Potter (third and second from right) with the Aboriginal student nurses and midwives at CATSINaM |
Question Time with Mary Ryan |
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Tell us about yourself
I’m a registered nurse and former registered midwife. I worked for more than 20 years as a clinical nurse consultant in the field of gynaecological oncology, a role that provided me with wonderful opportunities to remain hands on at the point of care as well as leading and being involved in research projects.
In 2006 I was awarded a PhD in nursing for a qualitative piece of research which used narrative analysis to help understand the experiences of women living with a recurrent ovarian cancer. I'm also an invited lecturer to undergraduate and post |
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graduate nursing students on areas such as transitions of patient care and its relationship to patient safety as well as team effectiveness relative to patient and staff safety. How would you describe your role at the Clinical Excellence Commission?
I have the privilege of going out to different work environments, meeting with staff and hearing from them what keeps them in their role despite the challenges and the things they’d love to change and improve. Whatever aspect of my CEC role that I’m engaged in I draw on my years of experience as a nurse and midwife and aim to make the work that we produce practical and useful to make it easier for teams to do their work. I work with staff at the point of patient care and support them to find ways to enhance teamwork, communication and staff wellbeing as a foundation for a sustainable safety culture. What is Safety Culture? Safety culture can be described as the values and behaviours, relative to risk, of individuals that make up a team. For example, a safety culture is one where people feel ‘psychologically safe’ and feel empowered to speak out without judgement to identify and address safety issues together.
Some of the behaviours I’ve observed when I work with teams with a positive safety culture, are visible teamwork practices such as a regular forum to recognise staff achievements, a focus on initiatives to enhance staff wellbeing and established communication processes where staff feel safe to speak up when they have concerns about their own or a patient’s safety.
What three easy and meaningful ways nurses and midwives can contribute safety culture? Make the going home checklist a regular practice, where staff take a pause before leaving work and reflect on their shift, in particular on what went well and why, and taking the time to check in on your colleagues. Use safety huddles daily and support a questioning attitude on safety issues. Increase inclusive learning and improvement using patient and staff stories. |
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Happy Nurse Practitioner Day! |
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On 12 December every year we pay special tribute to all nurse practitioners, and acknowledge the leadership, professionalism and expert care they provide every day for our communities. NPs work as key members of the healthcare team and collaborate with other nurses and a wide range of other healthcare professionals. |
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This year’s theme for NPs Day is Leading, Shaping, Strengthening Healthcare, and our Nurse Practitioners make a huge difference to the health outcomes of patients and communities. Happy Nurse Practitioner Day for 2023! |
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Important dates // December, January, February |
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