Thursday 26 March 2009
Support Growing for Annual Southland Nursing Awards
This year’s ‘Celebrating Southland Nursing Excellence Awards’ keeps getting bigger and better with eight scholarships
now on offer.
The annual awards, which were launched jointly by Southland District Health Board and Southland’s four Primary Health
Organisations last year to celebrate nurses for their clinical excellence, innovation, contribution to the community,
leadership and research, feature two new scholarships in 2009.
These include two $1000 awards for nursing excellence in the aged care sector and a $1000 award for research.
“Last year’s inaugural awards were a great success with six $1000 scholarships recognising nursing excellence in the
primary and secondary care sectors,” said Jane Collins, Nursing Awards Committee member and SDHB Director of Nursing
(Mental Health).
“It’s really pleasing that the event is gaining momentum and the great work of nurses in other areas will also be
formally recognised,” she said.
Julia Russell, Director of Services for Older People/Presbyterian Support Southland, said the aged care nursing
scholarships were being funded by a number of local aged care providers for the purpose of promoting nursing in aged
care.
“Aged Care Nurses are vitally important to the community and are in high demand – however it is often difficult to
recruit nurses to this area,” Ms Russell said.
“We hope the new award will promote nursing in aged care as well as contributing to increased professional development.”
The Research Scholarship for Evidence Based Practice in Nursing is being funded by the Southland Nurses Forum and the
Australasian Nurse Educators Conference Committee.
SDHB will again offer three scholarships (through the Violet McBain Trust) while the PHO’s have funded two awards.
Not only has the number of scholarships increased this year but the awards ceremony has also moved to a larger venue
(the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club) to accommodate growing support for the event.
Nominations for the Excellence in Nursing Awards are invited from nurses across the primary and aged care sectors,
community health and work place settings and hospital environments.
Nominations will be accepted until Thursday, 9 April 2009 with the presentation of scholarships to take place at a
special awards evening on International Nurses Day, 12 May 2009 at 6pm, at the Invercargill Workingmen’s Club.
Nomination forms can be accessed from the SDHB website or PHO Management Services Ltd’s offices at 40 Clyde St.