Finalists for the 2023 WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards (WANMEA) were announced today.
The annual awards are a celebration of Western Australia’s highly skilled nursing and midwifery workforce which, with more than 41,000 people, is the State’s largest health workforce.
The Department of Health’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Dr Robina Redknap, said this year’s 42 finalists – nominated by colleagues and patients – had made a remarkable contribution to the WA health care system.
“Through exceptional leadership, professionalism and collaboration, each finalist has worked tirelessly to improve health outcomes for all Western Australians.
“Nurses and midwives perform a critical role in our State’s health system and work tirelessly to improve health outcomes for the people of Western Australia.
“I congratulate this year’s finalists – some of the best in their fields – and am thrilled to see them recognised for the excellent job they do.”
Award finalists include a nurse unit manager who has worked with spinal injury patients for more than 30 years and who led the development of an app to assist patients and their health care teams; and a first nations midwife passionate about providing culturally appropriate maternity care to her fellow first nations women and their babies.
In the mix is a clinical nurse consultant from WA’s busiest renal transplant service, which provides lifesaving workups for kidney donors and recipients; and a nursing educator at Murdoch University heading up a team of staff to guide 1,500 enthusiastic undergraduate nursing students through their studies.
A hospital-based home birth midwife who, for the past decade, has worked on-call for women wishing to have their babies at home; and a clinical nurse working in Geraldton Hospital’s busy emergency department (ED) who created a mentoring program to assist newly qualified nurses are also finalists.
Group finalists include a team of nurses who travel the State to help deliver lifesaving treatment for cancer patients living in rural areas, and the nurses and midwives of King Edward Memorial Hospital’s Diabetes Service who care for more than 1,400 women each year.
Coordinated by the Department of Health on behalf of all public, private and non-government health sites, this is the 19th year of the WANMEA.
Winners across each category, the 2023 WA Nurse or Midwife of the Year and the 2023 Lifetime Achievement Honour recipient, will be announced at a gala event on October 6.
Visit www.wanmea.com.au (external site) for the full list of finalists.
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