Dinner Highlights
Winners of the 2007 Leadership in Nursing Awards
Award winners: (From left) Ms Stedman, The Alfred Hospital; Ms Crellin
The Royal Children's Hospital; Ms Tyers, East Ivanhoe Ophthalmic Nurse
See also Keynote by Professor Alan Pearson (5 MB), Dinner photos (3 MB)
Winner of the Deakin University Special Recognition Award ($8000)
Ms Hilary Stedman, Nurse Manager of a Cardiothoracic Surgical Ward at The Alfred Hospital
Ms Stedman said she was honoured and humbled by the award win. "The award, whilst in my name, is really an acknowledgement of all the support, encouragement and opportunities I have been given by my many colleagues, both past and present, whilst being a nurse at The Alfred Hospital….The award also means a lot to my nursing team. Who is a leader without a team to support them and challenge them? I couldn't ask for better teams and members than those that I have had the privilege of working with."
Ms Stedman will use the award to investigate satisfaction with nursing and perceptions of nursing care from a patients' point of view. "I believe that the process for improving the quality of nursing care lies in transforming the culture and context of care to one that puts the patients' needs first…While much of the evidence needed to evaluate quality of care already exists, little is known about the relationship between a person-centred approach to nursing and the resulting outcomes for patients and nurses."
Winner of a Deakin University Merit Award ($4000)
Ms Dianne Crellin, Nurse Practitioner in the Emergency Department of the Royal Children's Hospital
Ms Crellin led the introduction of nurse practitioners* into the Emergency Department at the Royal Children's Hospital (RCH). She said it was an honour to receive an award in recognition of her contribution to nursing. "The award is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge nurses striving to progress the profession of nursing…..….Realising my vision for the role and achieving my professional goals has required substantial motivation, commitment and personal belief in the work that I was doing. This has culminated in a full nurse practitioner service in the emergency department, my endorsement as a nurse practitioner and considerable professional growth…..This is in many ways reward in itself. However, it is reaffirming to have nurse leaders acknowledge and support my vision for nursing and my efforts to establish a role aimed at promoting expert clinical practice, professionalism and leadership in nursing."
Ms Crellin will use the award to fund further evaluation of the RCH nurse practitioner service. "The evaluation will look at the efficiency, effectiveness, quality and safety of the nurse practitioner service as compared with the traditional emergency department care for children. Waiting and treatment times, diagnostic accuracy, management plans and clinical outcomes will be measured and compared," Ms Crellin said. "It is important to demonstrate the value of the service in practice to ensure continued commitment by the RCH and to be able to promote the service as a model for other health organisations and the community."
Winner of a Deakin University Merit Award ($4000)
Ms Julie Tyers, Ophthalmic Nurse
Ms Tyers realises her dream of providing the gift of sight to hundreds of cataract sufferers in Ethopia. Her award money will be put towards providing no-cost surgery to cataract sufferers in the remote regions of Buta Jira and Omo Valley. This project follows on from the successful completion of a similar initiative undertaken in Tanzania last year, where Ms Tyers helped to restore sight to 70 people.
Ms Tyers said she was honoured to receive the award. "The award recognises my leadership abilities and gives me confidence to achieve my goals," she said. "It will also help create awareness of the need to restore sight to people who don't have the means in remotest Africa….The $4000 award is a wonderful contribution to the funds I need to facilitate cataract surgery to people living below the poverty line in rural Ethiopia," Ms Tyers said.
