South Pacific nurses and midwives come to UTS for short course in leadership

Last week the World Health Organization’s Collaborating Centre for Nursing, Midwifery and Health Development at UTS (WHOCC UTS) hosted a two week AusAID Australian Leadership Awards Fellowship (ALA) program for eleven nurses and midwives from the South Pacific.

Eleven emerging leaders from six of the Pacific Island nations (Solomon Islands, Cook Islands, Vanuatu, Nauru, Kiribati and Papa New Guinea) participated in the two week leadership program focusing on the South Pacific Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officers Alliance (SPCNMOA) priority areas of leadership, evidence-based policy, human resources for health, strengthened regulation and data literacy skills.

Michele Rumsey, Director of Operations and Development for WHOCC UTS said, “This program was developed to give the eleven ALA Fellows the opportunity to learn first-hand from Australia’s leading nursing and midwifery researchers, clinical educators and professionals in health. The short course at UTS is an extension on the pre and post work this selected group has undertaken with their Chief Nurses and in-country mentors in their countries.”

Building leadership capacity, enhancing knowledge and skills and developing successful strategic plans that address health issues is vital to the provision of health care in the Pacific region. Rumsey said, “It was revealed from past programs, that there was an urgent need to increase leadership capacity-building and professional development amongst the talented nurses and midwives in the South Pacific.”

Funded by AusAID, the WHOCC UTS, in partnership with its counterpart organisation, the SPCNMOA, further developed their program - Health System Strengthening Nursing and Midwifery Leadership to the growing needs of leadership and healthcare practice in the South Pacific.

“The funding from AusAID for this program has enabled WHOCC UTS and SPCNMOA to continue professional development among the talented pool of nurses and midwives in the South Pacific. This program gives ALA Fellows the opportunity to facilitate skills-transfer workshops with in-country colleagues and continue to network with regional country counterparts”, Michele Rumsey said.

Some of the key professional facilitators in the program included the Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer of Australia and NSW, Chief Nurse from New Zealand, World Vision, the International HRH Expert from United Kingdom, UTS Nursing, Midwifery and Health researchers and AusAid.