Following on from the Queensland/ NSW remote health facility trip Lenny and I did in July/August last year as you may remember, I’ve started ringing folk at these facilities again to reconnect, say hello, see how things are going and if there is anything I can do to help. Been able to help in a number of cases and promote the BSS Stress Competition and Blanket knitting activity.
There’s lots of water out there and when I talked to a couple today large amounts of rain with townships and stations cut off by road. Makes the sense of isolated and remote even greater.
Will be expanding on this, making contact with members and non-members through their workplaces further a field into South and Western Australia. So don’t be surprised if you get a call from me sometime soon, but hey why wait? Call me then I’ll get back to you at a convenient time for you and then you don’t have to bear the cost! This doesn’t have to be in business hours, I’m really flexible with it.
Anyway look forward to connecting and listening.
Vicki Gordon – Remote Support
I went along to this two day workshop recently here in Alice and found it well worthwhile. All members of the community would benefit from this standing alongside First Aid and like it has an action acronym. Undoubtedly courses like this help with the fear and stigma generally associated with mental health.
Mental health it seems unfortunately is an increasing or more recognized problem that is under-resourced. This was highlighted in the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission Report.
This award-winning course is available nationally and if you look up the website (www.mhfa.com.au) you’ll be able to see where and when to access it.
Crisis situations of suicidal behaviours, acute stress reaction, panic attacks and acute psychotic behaviour are covered, as are depression, anxiety, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
- Vicki Gordon
Well, we’re now back in Alice arriving five days ago and feels kinda strange not to be traveling, talking with folk about CRANA and listening to their concerns.
On the way to Menindee following the river from Bourke spotted a couple of parrots ñ the Mulga and Blue Bonnet.
The Emus colour was different from around there too rather than being grey-blue-green they were rust-coloured.
There were lots of wildflowers mainly purple, yellow and white with the greenery. The last wee bit had obviously missed out on the rain as dry as.
Wilcannia reminds me a little of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie in WA, as I mentioned to Lenny, with the stone buildings a kinda grandeur of former days or plans of a bigger town in the future than turned out to be.
Again being a weekend day just dropped off the package of info at the hospital and will make contact soon.
Menindee has a good feel about it I reckon and lakes nearby add to that. There are also orchards in the area.
Did a bit of a double take when out walking to see a guy on a unicycle!
With the announcement three days prior to us getting there that White Cliffs health facility 95kms or so to the north was to close, naturally there was a huge concern about this at Menindee health centre for the 300 or so people of White Cliffs and the ramifications of this.
From there we followed the highway back over three days. Again, I apologise to Nepabunna, Leigh Creek, Maree, Oodnadatta and Marla for not spending time with you as anticipated. Donítí feel good about that. Will be in touch.
We DID get to visit and share with 30 health facilities though, over two and a bit weeks and more than 7000kms! Thanks to everyone for making us feel so welcome. It was great to be able to meet and spend time with you.
Thatís it folks. Cheers
Welcome to the new MEC blog! This blog is something that we’ve thought about and talked about for a long time so it is great to finally stop talking and actually get writing!
I am very lucky to do the job that I do (I have to remind myself of that when i get cranky about having to pack my bag yet again and spend hours in airport terminals!). But really what makes me feel so lucky is the people that I get to meet. I have worked as a remote area nurse and midwife so i know how scary it can be to have to deal with a situation that I’ve never had to face before. So I am constantly inspired by the stories I hear from participants about the places they work and how they cope, often under great stress. But I think the underlying theme of all their stories is that attitude of ’you do what you have to’ and a genuine love of what they do.
When the MEC course started back in 2003 it was in response to a need voiced by nurses working in remote areas where they didn’t have midwives or doctors to provide the care for pregnant women. These days we are seeing an increasing demand for the MEC course in rural areas - particularly in Southern Queensland where we are providing 5 private courses this year and another 7 planned for next year. The participants from these areas are working in small rural hospitals where they may have had maternity services in the past but those have now shut down. As a consequence, there are no longer midwives working there (or the midwives are losing their skills) and the doctors often don’t have obstetric skills. But women are still presenting at these services in labour because that is what they’ve always done! So we talk about the MEC course being aimed at non-midwifery trained health professionals working in isolated practice. But you don’t have to be remote to be isolated!
I see this blog as a way of giving remote and rural health professionals a voice to tell their stories, about the difficulties they face in managing issues around maternity care and providing safe care to women and their babies; about the programs that are working well in their area; and about the myriad number of challenging, interesting and often strange situations we find ourselves in as health care providers.
Talking about programs that are working well…..during a MEC course in Port Augusta a couple of weekends ago I met 2 wonderful Aboriginal Health Workers who were participants in the course. These women are AMIC (Aboriginal Maternal and Infant Care) workers working in a partnership program, the Anangu Bibi Family Birthing Program, with the local midwives to provide antenatal, intrapartum and postnatal care to Aboriginal women in the area. The midwives provide the clinical knowledge and and the the AMIC workers provide the cultural knowledge and thus they learn from each other. In the women attending the program, early statistics are showing an increase in antenatal visits; increases in rates of breast feeding; and increases in numbers of babies weighing over 2.5 kg at birth. They are also seeing a drop in smoking rates. For those who are interested, read this report of the first 50 births in this program.
Enough from me for my first blog. Please get involved and feel free to comment on this or add your own story.
For an old chick this whole blog thing is quite novel, but I guess I will start the process.
Just a bit of information from the office - we have been really busy post conference with lots to do to start the next one, so keep your eyes on our website for updates!
Over the Christmas period, the office will be closed on Friday 19th December 2008 and will reopen on Monday 5th January 2009. Continue reading ‘Carole’s Comments’
