Weekly Update

Dear CRANAplus Members,

Today we have reached a milestone in CRANAplus membership by welcoming our 900th member! At a time when many associations are experiencing declines in membership, CRANAplus continues to enjoy growth, demonstrating the relevance of this ‘grass roots’ organisation.

The Centre for Remote Health and CRANAplus are asking for remote nurses to take the time to complete the "Back form the Edge" survey questionnaire and send it in. To encourage participation, three prizes of $500 will be awarded in a random drawing of nurses who have returned completed surveys.

'Back From the Edge' is a comprehensive survey of nurses investigating the stressors resulting from their work in the very remote regions of Australia. This four-year project compares and contrasts the occurrence of occupational stress of remote nursing with that of nurses working in other contexts. The primary objective is to develop and implement interventions that prevent or reduce the impact of occupational stressors in the remote workplace. If you haven’t received your questionnaire or would like to participate, please email Sue.lenthall@flinders.edu.au . Please participate and encourage your colleagues to do so as well - It’s your story we need to better understand.

Each year CRANAplus in partnership with Your Nursing Agency (YNA) offers a total of six $1000 scholarships. These scholarships are available to undergraduate students enrolled in a course of study in any health discipline at an Australian university. The scholarships are designed to assist students with the cost of a remote location placement. The scholarship provides financial assistance of up to $1000 per applicant, per remote placement. Applications close on 31st August 2010. For more details, visit the CRANAplus website.

The CRANAplus Conference is a time when we celebrate remote health practice. It also offers the opportunity to recognize those individuals who have made a special contribution that improves health outcomes, or have made a special contribution to their profession in general. There are seven categories in the CRANAplus Awards. Nomination forms are available on the website.

The Aurora Award is presented annually to one person whose outstanding contribution stands out as 'A Shining Light' in delivery of remote health care. Nominating a mentor, colleague or co-workers is an excellent way to show your respect and admiration for their contributions to remote health. Nominations close September 1. Awards will be presented at the CRANAplus Conference Dinner in Adelaide on Saturday October 16th. Nomination forms are available on the website.

The next edition of the CRANAplus Magazine will be to your letterboxes by the middle of June. Our circulation has doubled since the December edition and our thanks to those of you that have told us how much you enjoy the new style and convenient format.

Regards,

Anne-Marie Borchers
Business Manager

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Meetings & Conferences

The 28th CRANAplus Conference
13-16 October 2010
Adelaide, SA

Indigenous Health Forum
1June  2010
Sydney, NSW

"What is Palliative Care?" Forum
4-5 June 2010
Katherine, NT

Australia's Health 2010 Conference- The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare
23 June 2010
Canberra, ACT

2010 Primary Health Care Research Conference
30 June - 2 July 2010
Darwin, NT

SNAICC National Conference
27-29 July 2010
Alice Springs, NT

Australian Diabetes Society & Australian Diabetes Educators Association Annual Scientific Meeting
1-3 September 2010
Sydney, NSW

2nd Rural & Remote Mental Health Symposium
29-30 September 2010
Sydney, NSW

The 4th Asia Pacific Regional Conference of the International Association of Suicide Prevention‘Suicide Prevention: A Dialogue Across Disciplines and Cultures’
17- 20 November 2010
Brisbane, QLD

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Educational Opportunities & Scholarships

‘Tucker in the Territory: Supporting Families through Challenging Mealtimes’
25-26 June 2010
Charles Darwin University
This exciting and uniquely Territory-focused two-day interactive workshop brings together health, education and care-giving professionals who are passionate about understanding the complexities of mealtime challenges for infants and children, and learning a more sensitive approach to supporting families at mealtimes. We will explore how the latest research in neuroscience, sensory processing, attachment, co-regulation and early trauma can support understanding of communication cues and making sense of behaviours impacting on mealtimes.

CRANAplus/YNA Undergraduate Scholarships
Deadline - 31st August 2010
Each year CRANAplus in partnership with Your Nursing Agency (YNA) offer a total of six $1000 scholarships. These scholarships are available to students who as part of their undergraduate course of study in a health discipline at any Australian university, undertakes a remote location placement.

PHC: Making a difference
25-26 October 2010
This short course has been developed to strengthen health professionals understanding of the social, environmental, structural, political and philosophical issues that impact upon health care provision in remote Australia. The workshop will explore primary health care, its current status and potential in Australian health care as well as the recognition of the importance of integrating health promotion and prevention strategies in remote health settings.

ASISTApplied suicide intervention skills training
15-16 July 2010
Melbourne, Vic
Phone: 8841 3000 - Email: mchs@mannchs.org.au

EdCaN  (National Cancer Nursing Education Project) has developed a National Professional Development Framework for Cancer Nursing  and a suite of Learning Resources  targeted at building capacity of the nursing workforce in cancer control, with the ultimate aim of improving health outcomes for people affected by cancer.

Live Strong: Closing the Gap on Chronic Disease
DVD available to order
Live Strong is the latest of the half hour documentary style programs in the Rural Health Education Foundation’s Strong Series.

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Articles of Interest

THE AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF SOCIAL WORKERS REVIEWS CODE OF ETHICS
Like most other professional associations, the social work profession in Australia has a code of ethics.

LIFE SKILLS SCHEME TO TARGET INDIGENOUS GIRLS
A program designed to improve the lives of disadvantaged Indigenous youth in central western Queensland has received new federal funding to ensure that girls can participate.

QLD HEALTH ORDERED TO STOP BUNGLED PAY DEDUCTIONS
The QNU says it is 12 weeks since the pay fiasco started and it is still not fixed.

WHOOPING COUGH EPIDEMIC WORRIES HEALTH EXPERTS
Queensland Health says whooping cough has reached epidemic proportions in parts of Queensland.

FEDERAL BUDGET 2010: THE “BIG WINNER” IN RELATION TO HEALTH IS THE COMMUNITY
It is very pleasing to note that after last week’s Budget, the “big winner” in relation to health is the community.

AUSTRALIA TO IMPROVE INDIGENOUS HEALTH CARE SERVICES
Workshops held across Australia supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health organizations to improve the quality of their health care services wrapped up this week.

VICTORIA HIGHLIGHTS 2010 DARDI ABORIGINAL BUSINESS EXCELLENCE AWARDS
Alphington business Too Deadly Cleaning Services has taken out the Outstanding Victorian Aboriginal Small Business Award at this evening’s 2010 Dardi Victorian Aboriginal Business Excellence Awards.

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