Finalists announced for 2024 HESTA Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards

HESTA has announced nine finalists for the 2024 HESTA Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards.

Among the finalists are a nurse from the Northern Territory, who opened the first private nurse practitioners’ general practice in her community after the only medical clinic closed; a midwife from Victoria, who created the nation’s first stillbirth support guide for Aboriginal families; and a Queensland-based organisation that developed a new approach to diagnosing and treating Hepatitis C.

HESTA CEO Debby Blakey congratulated the finalists. “We owe a great deal to our nurses, midwives and the organisations whose work makes a meaningful difference for their communities and healthcare industries around Australia. It’s fantastic the HESTA Awards can help showcase their outstanding work,” Blakey said.

The awards, now in their 18th year, acknowledge the outstanding contribution of Australia’s nurses, midwives, nurse educators, researchers and personal care workers and their dedication to improving health outcomes.

Midwife of the Year:

Bonnie Hughes, Armadale Health Service (Mount Nasura, WA)

Bonnie is recognised for using film and photography to advocate on behalf of all women and midwives in her community. Her podcast Making a Midwife enabled midwifery students to share research and tips and helped provide connection for those feeling isolated throughout the pandemic. Bonnie is a strong leader in her workplace, passionately advocating for better treatment, retention and acknowledgement of midwives within the healthcare system.

Skye Stewart, Red Nose Australia (Woomelang, Vic)

Skye is recognised for creating the nation’s first stillbirth support guide for Aboriginal families, having seen the unacceptable gap in stillbirth rates between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians and the impact it left on communities. Skye travelled more than 32,000 kilometres over 20 months to communities across the country to ensure the stillbirth guide was as relevant as possible to the lived experience of Aboriginal families.

Tiffany Cattermole, Maari Ma Health Aboriginal Corporation (Broken Hill, NSW)

Tiffany is recognised for her work as a midwife in the Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Health Service in Broken Hill, supporting more than 40 pregnant women each year. Tiffany provides specialised care to the women in her community and understands the difficulties associated with providing pre- and postnatal care in outback areas. Tiffany’s advocacy helps break down the cultural barriers to women centred on midwifery care.

Nurse of the Year:

Kylie Straube, Remote Territory Healthcare (Berry Springs, NT)

Kylie is recognised for her 20-year career delivering healthcare services in remote communities. After her local community’s only medical clinic closed its doors, Kylie opened the first private nurse practitioners’ general practice in the community, ensuring 7500 residents could receive the medical care they needed.

Cathy Halmarick, Peninsula Health (Frankston, Vic)

Cathy is recognised for her work over 25 years as a nurse and midwife. She helped establish the Sexual and Reproductive Health Hub in Southeastern Victoria which ensured access to sexual health services for the community throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. When she identified that many women were finding the intra-uterine device (IUD) process painful, she initiated the use of a ‘green whistle’ to reduce women’s pain experience with excellent results.

Meaghan Springett, Yooralla (Maroondah, Vic)

For more than 16 years, Meaghan has worked in disability services. Meaghan established the Hospital to Home (H2H) program, which assists people moving out of hospital. Over 18 months, this program has saved 2347 hospital bed days. She also set up the Young Onset Dementia (YOD) service, the first accommodation service in Victoria supporting young people with dementia in a social model setting and not an aged care setting.

Outstanding Organisation:

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia (Collarenebri, NSW)

The Healthy Communities Foundation Australia is recognised for improving access to primary healthcare services in remote and Aboriginal communities. In addition to providing local access to health care, it has established the Dhirri-li Education for Work Centre to train Aboriginal people for entry-level roles in the health and social care system to address lack of employment opportunities, and the social determinants of health.

Pancare Foundation (Heidelberg, Vic)

Pancare contributed successfully in advocating for a $20 million investment into improving the health outcomes of those living with pancreatic cancer. Since then, Pancare has developed the world-first state of the national report into Upper GI cancers, which has been recognised and prioritised by federal government and has triggered funding into the Pancare PanSupport services.

Ipswich AODS, West Moreton Health (Ipswich, Qld)

The Ipswich Alcohol and Other Drug Service (AODS) is recognised for efficient practice in diagnosing and treating consumers with hepatitis C. The testing system produces results within an hour, meaning consumers can be tested and diagnosed for hepatitis C in the same visit. Since March 2022, the team has tested more than 170 people for hepatitis C, resulting in 24 positive diagnoses and eight successful treatments.

Image: Supplied.

Long-time awards supporter ME has contributed $30,000 in prize money to be split equally between the winners, to be used for professional development or to improve delivery of services or processes.

The winners will be announced on Thursday, 16 May.

Top image credit: iStock.com/DNY59