Nurse-midwife

A catalyst in contributing to build community resilience following a disaster

The 7th Asia Pacific Emergency Disaster Nursing Network (APEDNN) meeting was held in September 2013 in Bangkok, Thailand with 89 participants from 29 countries. Michele Rumsey and Stephanie Fletcher from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development at UTS conducted a workshop on ‘Priority activities in strengthening nursing and midwifery in emergencies and disasters’ at the meeting. The nurse/midwife plays a key role in increasing the ability of communities to prevent, prepare and respond to events. As a trained health professional the nurse/midwife also has the ability to assess and use tools to measure community resilience and help to build the community’s capacity.

The APEDNN meets annually to network with colleagues from across the region, share ideas and further the work of emergency and disaster nursing. This year the aims were to update areas of education, training, research and publication. The main outputs were a checklist on the role of nurse-midwives in building community resilience in disaster; and a list of priority activities in strengthening nursing and midwifery in emergencies such as facilitating working group clusters to increase active participation and formalize membership and partnerships. The book ‘Nurses and midwives in action during emergencies and disasters: case studies from the Western Pacific Region’, a collaborative effort involving the network, was also launched during the meeting.

This year’s gathering also celebrated the breadth and depth of work of WHO Nurse Advisor Kathleen Fritsch in the Western Pacific Region, who established the APEDNN in 2007. She has worked tirelessly in support of nurse-midwives in the region and the group showed their appreciation.