Page 1865 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 May 2013
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More than 500 nurses and midwives from across the ACT will attend the ACT nurses and midwives award night at the Hellenic Club, Woden, tonight. On this night the ACT nurse of the year, midwife of the year, public and private sector teams of the year and several other award recipients are announced. This year almost 100 nurses and midwives were nominated from across the ACT, a testimony that they are very valuable members of the ACT community.
It is important to emphasise the role that nurses and midwives play in the health and wellbeing of the ACT community and that it is constantly evolving as the professions respond to changes and pressures within the health needs of our community. Since their inception, the nursing and midwifery professions have promoted public health, eased pain and suffering, advocated for the weak and the vulnerable and educated the community to achieve a better quality of life.
An ageing population, the complexities of chronic illness, a better informed community with higher expectations about the appropriate level of health care and the use of new technologies and interventions require nurses and midwives to constantly revise, refresh and update their knowledge and skills.
When we think about this in its entirety, the complexity and range of the requirements of these professions is daunting. Nurses and midwives work in collaborative partnerships with other health professionals, which requires skills in the handling of interpersonal and intergroup relations. They require a sufficient knowledge of the principles and concepts of the social sciences, such as economics, social psychology, psychiatry, sociology, as well as political science, plus administration to enable them to handle the complicated demands of their roles.
Nurses and midwives work in every type of health setting, in widely dispersed geographical locations and in every kind of clinical practice area, caring for the health and wellbeing of people for their whole lives, from gestation through to death. They often work unsociable shifts, night duty, weekends, long hours, and with a short turnaround between these shifts. It is both physically and mentally challenging work and it is relentless. But they are uniquely positioned to have a profound impact on the health and wellbeing of the people to whom they provide services because they are at the front line of healthcare delivery.
Almost 5,000 nurses and midwives work in the ACT in nearly all areas where care is delivered. Many work in our large public hospitals in challenging areas like the emergency department, intensive care, operating theatres and in the busy medical and surgical wards.
In private healthcare facilities, nurses and midwives are often asked to maintain skills in several specialty areas to allow for deployment during times when ward occupancy may vary. In the aged-care sector, nurses develop their skills in managing patients with challenging behaviours and are required to display great empathy for the needs of the elderly. In all fields, they also require an in-depth knowledge of complex pharmacology.
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