From the Chief Executive Officer

Although the end of the year is in sight, things are not slowing down for us at RCNA.

Although the end of the year is in sight, things are not slowing down for us at RCNA! By the time this edition of Nursing Review reaches your doorstep, our second Community and Primary Health Care Nursing Conference will have taken place.

This year, delegates headed to Alice Springs to discuss the theme Nursing innovation and leadership in primary health care: directions for the future.

Innovation and leadership are key to progressing the nursing role in community and primary health care and the conference program was packed with presentations from inspirational nurses who are really driving the nursing role forward.

The presenters had a range of diverse nursing experience between them, in areas such as refugee health, child and family health, health and homelessness, domestic violence and much more. I look forward to sharing with you all the news and photos from the conference in the next edition.

Also in October, I had the privilege of meeting with The Hon. Katy Gallagher, Minister for Health, ACT, and The Hon. John Hill MP, Minister for Health, SA.

It was a great opportunity to present some of RCNA’s policy priorities, including those outlined in the RCNA 2010 Nursing Accord and especially the need for a national nursing and midwifery workforce strategy.

I reminded the ministers about the importance of supporting nurses with continuing professional development opportunities, the need to provide incentives for specialist nursing roles across aged care and to invest in the community and primary health care sector by funding and expanding the roles of nurses and midwives and infrastructure outside the general practice environment.

RCNA is always looking for opportunities to remind our governments at local, state and federal levels of the professional requirements of the nursing and midwifery workforces and I look forward to informing you of our progress!

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