April 2020 College Communique | ACCYPN

April 2020 College Communique

 

WHAT’S INSIDE?

  • Chairperson’s Letter
  • ACCYPN 2020 Conference Update
  • ACCYPN Members Listserve
  • Queensland Clinical Guidelines – Amended
  • Mental Health Survival Guide During Covid-19
  • UNICEF’s COVID-19 Agenda for Action
  • QUT Awards Ceremony 2020
  • Sexual Health Campaign – Phase Two
  • Join the Conversation

EMAIL LISTING

To ensure that all emailed ACCYPN correspondence reaches you, please add info@accypn.org.au to your address book and/or safe senders list. 

CHAIRPERSON’S LETTER

Dear Colleagues
Welcome to the April edition of Communique.
The past few weeks have seen unimaginable change to our professional and personal lives. The impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic will be significant and far reaching across all our communities. There has been a barrage of information 24/7 from all directions and it is easily a time when we can become overwhelmed and fearful of what’s coming next. Self-isolation and social distancing have forced us to change how we live, work and play – and we have adapted swiftly out of sheer necessity, but uncertainty about what the future holds. Now more than ever we need to strengthen our connections with family, friends, work colleagues and peers. I would like to encourage you to connect with each other through ACCYPN social media – join us on Facebook and Instagram – to share content, informative links and have ‘conversations’ about things that matter to you.
 

I would like to share a thought from Simon Sinek (author of ‘Start with Why’) – Optimism Helps.

 

“Optimism is different from positivity. It is not naïve. It is not the denial of reality. Positivity is about saying that everything is good when it’s not. Optimism on the other hand is the belief that the future is positive. We are going through a hard time now. Times are tough, they’re rough, they’re dark, but we will get through this together”. Optimism is the fundamental belief that there is a light at the end of the tunnel and we’re heading towards it. So be optimistic, we will get through this together. Take care of yourself, take care of others”.
Children, young people and families are relying on us now more than ever and we need to support each other, to be optimistic about the future, to look after ourselves and each other.

Regards
Catherine Marron
Chairperson – ACCYPN Board of Directors

ACCYPN 2020 CONFERENCE – POSTPONED

Hello everyone, I hope you are all keeping well and safe during this time.

 

After discussions with the Conference Committee and the Board of Directors we have decided to post pone the conference planned for the September this year.  The Board feels that there is too much uncertainly with the course of the COVID-19 pandemic and the potential longer term disruption that this will cause for the next months.  We felt to make a decision now was the best way forward, so everyone can make plans accordingly.

 

The Board has taken this decision to protect the safety of those attending and to ensure that we can have a productive Conference with those participants that want to attend being able to attend.

 

We are pleased to announce that the postponed ACCYPN Conference dates are:

15 to 17 September 2021, Darwin Hilton

Please see the above revised Conference Logo

If you have registered for the Conference or have submitted Abstracts, you will be contacted by our Conference Managers to discuss options in the next couple of weeks.

The Board is very aware of how uncertain things are and the work that we as nurses are contributing to the care of children, Imageyoung people and their families during this challenging time.  In the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife, I don’t think that anyone that could have predicted how our profession would be right at the front in the public’s mind.

Please stay well and safe during this time and look after each other.

Warm regards

Jacquie Burton
Chair – ACCYPN Conference Committee

Call for Abstracts – Remain Open

ACCYPN – NETWORK

accypn-members@listserve.com

ACCYPN Board of Directors has decided to cancel the Members List (Network) due to low usage and cost.
What this means for members is you will no longer receive any emails from accypn-members@listserve.com.  
ACCYPN will continue to communicate with members via email and also via our ACCYPN Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/ACCYPN/

QUEENSLAND CLINICAL GUIDELINES – AMENDED
UPDATED GDM AND MATERNITY CARE FOR MOTHERS AND BABIES DURING COVID-19 PANDEMIC 

  • Updated: FAQs and Flowchart: Screening and diagnosis of gestational diabetes during the COVID-19 pandemic including postnatal follow-up
  • Updated: Guideline and supplement: Maternity care for mother and babies during COVID-19 pandemic (version 2)
  • Updated Consumer information: COVID-19 and pregnancy (to align with updated recommendations for neonatal testing)
The resources are available online – https://www.health.qld.gov.au/qcg 

COVID-19 MENTAL HEALTH INFORMATION

There are many resources that are being developed around attending to people’s mental health during the COVID-19 crisis.  Here are a number of websites that you may find useful during this difficult time.

If any members would like to share other websites, please email the ACCYPN Secretariat and we will share these with our members – info@accypn.org.au 

The coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic is of a scale most people alive today have never seen. Worldwide, the outbreak is claiming lives and livelihoods as health systems buckle, borders close and families struggle to stay afloat.

 

Communities across the globe are rising to the challenge – from health workers risking their lives to fight the virus, to young people deploying innovative ways to share public health messages.

 

Yet, even as the spread of the virus slows in some countries, its social toll will come fast and hard. And in many places, it will come at the expense of the most vulnerable children.

 

Without urgent action, this health crisis risks becoming a child-rights crisis. Disruptions to society have a heavy impact on children: on their safety, their well-being, their future. Only by working together can we keep millions of girls and boys – including those who have been uprooted by conflict, children living with disabilities and girls at risk of violence – healthy, safe and learning. 
 
UNICEF calls for swift global action to:
  • Keep children healthy
  • Reach vulnerable children with water, sanitation and hygiene
  • Keep children learning
  • Support families to cover their needs and care for their children
  • Protect children from violence, exploitation and abuse
  • Protect refugee and migrant children, and those affected by conflict 
As COVID-19 has spread, so has misinformation – fueling discrimination and stigma. UNICEF is working with health experts to promote facts over fear, and bringing trustworthy guidance to parents, caregivers and educators.

QUT AWARDS CEREMONY 2020

Congratulations to Michelle Wedding who won the ACCYPN Lyn Frazer Postgraduate Nursing Award in Child and Adolescent Health.

L-R Catherine Marron (ACCYPN Chairperson), Michelle Wedding, Distinguished Professor Patsy Yates  (Head, School of Nursing QUT).

SEXUAL HEALTH CAMPAIGN – PHASE TWO

Queensland Health’s Strategic Communications Branch have recently launched phase 2 of the Stop the rise of STIs sexual health campaign, in a bid to tackle the rise of sexually transmissible infections (STIs) among young Queenslanders.
 
The Campaign

‘Stop the rise of STIs’ encourages young adults to have sexual health conversations with their partners and peers—positioning STI prevention and testing as a normal and essential part of their health routine. Phase 2 of the campaign features a series of ‘STIcebreakers’ to help people initiate conversations with friends and partners around what can be an awkward topic.
 
The campaign is running from February until 30 June 2020, mainly via online platforms, including social media. The campaign is supported by a newly updated website (qld.gov.au/stoptherise) with information about STI prevention, testing, treatment, partner notification and having safe, consensual sex.
 
It is anticipated that the campaign activity may result in an increase in young people presenting to GP practices and sexual health clinics across Queensland requesting STI testing or advice about sexual and reproductive health.
 
How can you get involved?
 
A Stop the Rise of STIs – Stakeholder Toolkit has been developed by the Strategic Communications Branch to help extend the campaign messaging and raise awareness of sexual health: Click here to share these resources through your channels.
 
We also welcome you to share with us any feedback you may have on the campaign or any suggestions for the website.
 
Need Clinical Resources?

Further sexual health information and resources for health professionals are available at: https://www.health.qld.gov.au/clinical-practice/guidelines-procedures/sex-health, including the STI/BBV Testing Tool for Asymptomatic People.
 
Please contact campaigns@health.qld.gov.au if you’d like any further information specifically about the Stop the Rise of STIs campaign.

DO YOU HAVE ANYTHING OUR MEMBERS WOULD BE INTERESTED IN HEARING ABOUT?

  • An interesting article
  • Something happening in your workplace
  • An event you would like to share

We warmly welcome member newsletter contributions.  Please email your items to info@accypn.org.au