Western Australia’s finest nurses and midwives were recognised at the WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards (WANMEA) Gala Ball, held on Sunday 26 February 2023.
The Awards, now in their 18th year, celebrated more than 41,000 WA nurses and midwives working across the State in public, private and non-government sectors but has been disrupted for the past two years due to COVID.
This year’s 42 finalists, 36 individuals and six teams, were nominated by colleagues and patients as extraordinary nurses and midwives who are making a difference to their professions, their workplace, and the health of Western Australians.
WA Health Minister, Ms Amber-Jade Sanderson, was a special guest and said that the 2022 WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards was a golden opportunity to celebrate WA’s highly skilled, highly educated workforce of healthcare professionals.
“The McGowan Government is proud to continue to support the WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards, these prestigious awards provide us with an opportunity to publicly recognise and celebrate the achievements of Western Australia’s finest nurses and midwives,” Minister Sanderson said.
“The last two years have been challenging and we acknowledge how hard this professional workforce has worked to deliver care across the community – nurses and midwives play a critical role in our state’s health system and are at the forefront of ensuring compassionate and safe care.
“Congratulations to all nominees, finalists and category winners.”
The 2022 awards were presented across 14 categories, culminating in the prestigious Nurse or Midwife of the Year Award, which went to Professor Lisa Whitehead, Edith Cowan University’s Professor of Nursing Research and the Associate Dean for Research with the School of Nursing and Midwifery.
Professor Whitehead was recently named in the top 2% of researchers worldwide in the areas of nursing, rehabilitation, public health and health services, and the award recognised her research expertise and its positive impact on outcomes in WA, Australia and internationally.
St John of God HealthCare Mt Lawley’s Specialist Rehabilitation Service took out the Excellence in Patient Centred Care Award, in recognition for changing the way rehabilitation services are provided by making their patients the most important part of the rehabilitation team.
Patients at the rehabilitation service are guaranteed the recommended three hours of therapy a day and are encouraged to provide regular feedback, and the team from St John’s has developed an in-house process to train novice nurses as rehabilitation specialists.
The RPH Hotel Team, which was responsible for monitoring COVID-19 symptoms and providing care for returned travellers quarantining in Perth hotels, also took out an Excellence in Patient Centred Care Award, caring for 33,150 returned travellers during 2020-2021 – 1,500 of whom were COVID positive – and carrying out some 68,000 COVID tests across as many as nine hotels at a time.
This year’s additions to the WANMEA Lifetime Achievement Honour Roll were WA General Manager Health & Care Services Hall & Prior, Ms Jennifer Grieve, and the Executive Director of the Neurological Council of WA, Ms Kathy McCoy, who was awarded posthumously for her contributions.
To see all the 2022 finalists and award winners go to the WANMEA website: http://www.wanmea.com.au/2022-winners.html