Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards

Ms COOK (Fisher) (15:13): At the Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards Gala Dinner on Friday 6 May, which I attended with the member for Elder and the Minister for Health, six individual nurses, one midwife and a nursing team were acknowledged and celebrated for their exceptional contribution to their profession, to their patients and to the South Australian community more broadly. With more than 30,000 nurses and midwives in South Australia, these individuals stand out as exemplars of excellence in practice and leadership.

All nurses and midwives play a vital role in the delivery of high standards of health care, responding to the changing needs of our communities and looking at new and innovative ways to provide the quality of health care South Australians expect and deserve. Nurses and midwives make a difference on a daily basis in an extraordinary range of settings. This year 19 individual nurses and midwives and three nursing teams were shortlisted by the selection panel as finalists in the eight award categories. Winners of the awards were as follows:

Jane Keeley—Excellence in Practice: Registered Nurse. Jane is the Aboriginal Primary Health Care Manager, Mid North Community Health at Port Pirie, Country Health SA Local Health Network. Jane's role includes planning and implementing primary health care services to achieve continuity and quality of care across the Mid North. Jane is an inclusive practitioner.

Alexander Stewart—Excellence in Practice: Enrolled Nurse. Alex works in the Noarlunga Hospital, Southern Adelaide Local Health Network. He and his family have been close friends of mine for about the past 25 years, so this win was really sweet. Alex completed a TAFE course as a mature age student in 2003, following 30 years as a boilermaker—a fantastic transition which sees him now as a highly regarded resource person, role model and educator.

Merridee Seiboth—Excellence in Practice: Registered Midwife. She is the Director of Nursing and Midwifery at the Loxton Hospital Complex, Country Health SALHN.

Vanessa Browne—Excellence in Practice: Aboriginal Nurse/Midwife. She is the rural and remote pathways coordinator at the Glenside campus for Country Health SA Local Health Network. Vanessa is currently working in the position of pathways coordinator for the rural and remote mental health services responsible for allocating Country Health SA patients to the most appropriate bedded surface on a priority basis. The successful outcomes for ATSI mental health patients depends, in large part, on this coordination with the 'right' family members and the seamless journey into and out of metro services, dispelling fear and enabling voluntary admission. It is such a vital role.

Elisa Gardiner—Excellence in Leadership. She is the clinical services coordinator at the Royal Adelaide, Central Adelaide Local Health Network, and she is currently in the neurosurgery team.

Vanessa Tilbrook—Excellence in Innovation in Education. She is a midwifery education facilitator at the Women's and Children's. She uses puppets to achieve a positive learning environment, where she challenges her learners to 'feel' the experience and develop lifelong learning strategies and knowledge and skills, a really interesting concept.

Pamela Taylor—Excellence in Innovation in Clinical Research. She is the clinical research manager and nurse practitioner at the Repat in the Southern Adelaide Diabetes and Endocrine Services. She has been there for over 20 years and is a real leader in her field.

The one award that really struck me was given to the Hamley Bridge Memorial Hospital nursing staff team. They won the Excellence in Person Centred Care: Team Award. On 25 November 2016, when Hamley Bridge was directly hit by the Pinery bushfires, the courageous nursing staff and other staff at the hospital, who were at work on that catastrophic day, achieved the most remarkable feats. In doing so, they ensured the safety and wellbeing of the elderly residents and visitors. They single-handedly saved the whole facility by fighting the fires. They should be commended.

Five Premier's Nursing and Midwifery Scholarships were won. It is far too much information for me to read out, but I just want to read out the names and congratulate them: Louise Dewolf, David Hains, Liz Rankin, Suzanne Sharrad and Dana Wright.

Today, I met a few of the award winners at the function that we hosted for International Nurses Day. I can tell you that everybody who received awards and scholarships is extremely excited to be able to travel overseas with some of these scholarships and bring back some best practice models from elsewhere, but also to export their ideas to other countries and set up a really collaborative approach to developing our healthcare system in South Australia.

All the finalists should be congratulated for excelling in their field. I am so proud to be a nurse and represent them here in Parliament House. Congratulations to all recipients.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Hear, hear! Member for Hartley.