• Charles Sturt partners with NSW Nurses and Midwives Association for regional professional development seminar
• The seminar will discuss issues such as virtual care, the health workforce and maternity services
• The professional development seminar will be held at Charles Sturt in Port Macquarie on Thursday 30 March

Charles Sturt University is a partner in a professional development seminar this month that will discuss the issues and gaps in the rural, regional and remote nursing and midwifery workforce.

Charles Sturt and NSW Nurses and Midwives Association will host the Progressing Rural, Regional and Remote Nursing and Midwifery Careers Conference. The seminar is being held at the University in Port Macquarie.

The seminar will discuss issues such as providing virtual care via tele-health facilities, the need for more resources to assist the health workforce - which comprises 14.5 per cent of the regional workforce - and boosting the staff shortage in rural, regional and remote maternity services.

Head of Charles Sturt’s School of Nursing, Paramedicine and Healthcare Sciences Associate Professor Linda Deravin said these factors present opportunities for Charles Sturt as it continues to educate the next generation of nurses and midwives.

Professor Deravin said the University’s postgraduate program helps prepare nurses and midwives for rural, regional and remote practice.

“Charles Sturt University is excited to co-host this seminar, recognising that access to an education day like this helps to support regional and rural nurses and midwives in meeting their continual professional development needs,” she said.

“As a regional university, we are committed to providing postgraduate education in nursing and midwifery for our rural workforce by offering other opportunities for higher qualifications, such as the Graduate Certificate in Rural Nursing.”

The Mid North Coast Health District’s Trauma Clinical Nurse Consultant Trish Lemin is the keynote speaker. Ms Lemin has experience in emergency departments, in Wuhan, China at the start of the pandemic and as a nursing lecturer and researcher.

Mid North Coast Cancer Institute Cancer Services Nurse Practitioner Kirsty Baxter will also speak at the seminar while Midwifery Manager Jenni Doust from Coffs Harbour will talk about Midwifery Group Practice models of care.

The full-day seminar provides six points in Continuing Professional Development for participating nurses. Undergraduate nursing and midwifery students can attend for free.

The Progressing Rural, Regional and Remote Nursing and Midwifery Careers Seminar will be held at Charles Sturt in Port Macquarie on Thursday 30 March from 9am to 4pm.

Nurses and midwives who want to attend can register online.