Adj. Prof. Alanna Geary, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer

On Wednesday 14 June, I finally had the wonderful opportunity to announce the winners of this year’s Nursing and Midwifery Awards. These Awards are provided every year to a small number of exceptional individuals who go above and beyond to provide care for the patients and their families who attend our health service. Every year I am thrilled at the level of nominations, the thought that colleagues take in their descriptions of the wonderful attributes of individuals in their teams and the opportunity to celebrate the excellence of our professional nurses and midwives.

This year’s outstanding recipients are:

• Assistant in Nursing of the Year – John Lines, Surgical, Treatment and Rehabilitation Service
• Enrolled Nurse of the Year – Selina Woodbridge, Community and Oral Health
• New Graduate of the Year – Dana Allen, The Prince Charles Hospital
• Registered Nurse of the Year – Emma Thomson, Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford
• Registered Midwife of the Year – Natalie Muir, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital
• Registered Nurse/Midwife Leader of the Year – Sandra Warden, Redcliffe Hospital and Amanda Tully, Metro North Virtual ED
• Significant Contribution to First Nations/Health Equity Initiatives – Grace Adams, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital

In addition, we awarded the Dr Lesley Fleming OAM Award for Excellence. Many of you will remember Dr Fleming. Lesley was the first Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery in Metro North Hospital and Health Service and my immediate predecessor. Lesley’s mantra as a passionate nurse was that we as nurses and midwives are the guardians of our profession and nursing and midwifery clinical standards. So this award gives us a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge someone who meets her passion head on and espouses the virtues that were so near and dear to her.

This year the winner of the Dr Lesley Fleming OAM Award was Cathy Boyle, Metro North Mental Health.

I didn’t receive many photographs of this year’s virtual award ceremony, but thank you to STARS who sent these wonderful shots of John Lines and the STARS team as they congratulated him on his achievement. Well done, STARS.

Congratulations to all of our winners and well done to everyone who supported their winning colleagues and for what each and every one of you do every single day to support our patients, families, the health service and each other.

Alanna.