NSW nurse wins Remote Area Health Corps award

Christine Burrows, an RN from the New South Wales Central Coast, has been awarded the Remote Area Health Corps Annette Walker Award for 2016. This award honours health professionals who exceed the requirement of their role, demonstrate resilience and inspire their team to generate a positive outcome for remote health in the Northern Territory.

Since 2012, Burrows has worked with Indigenous communities through 14 separate placements in the Northern Territory.

“The Northern Territory’s remote Indigenous communities provide unique opportunities and challenges for our health professionals in a clinical and cultural sense," Remote Area Health Corps GM Philip Roberts said. "The working environment is significantly different to what a health professional may face in an urban-based setting. Christine has shown a 'can do' attitude that personifies what so many of our health professionals demonstrate in a remote setting. Christine was gracious enough to recognise that she was only doing what so many of her colleagues, especially the permanent ones, achieve day in, day out.”

In conferring the award, the judges noted Burrows' extensive clinical knowledge and ability to quickly adapt to challenging situations as key reasons for her win.