February 2022 College Communique | ACCYPN

February 2022 College Communique

 

 

WHAT’S INSIDE?

  • ACCYPN – Join the Conversation
  • Chairperson’s Letter
  • Introducing Dr Yvonne Parry, ACCYPN Chair
  • ACCYPN 2021 Virtual Conference Report
  • ACCYPN Membership
  • National Office for Child Safety
  • Children’s Health Queensland – Birdie and the Virus
  • 7th Asia Pacific Congress of Paediatric Nursing
  • Early Years Conference
  • Palliative Care Nurses Australia Conference
  • 2022 Child & Adolescent Mental Health Conference
  • Emerging Minds Fortnightly Newsletter
  • Supporting School Students to Adapt to Impacts of COVID-19
  • Draft National Plan to end Violence Against Women and Children 2022-2032
  • Happy Birthday Parent Information

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. 

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

CHAIRPERSON’S LETTER

Dear Members

Galang nguruindhau & Gurumba bigi! “Hello from Brisbane!” (Turrbal and Yuggera).
Welcome to the New Year and the first edition of Communiqué for 2022.

Following the AGM last year, we welcome new Director appointments to the Board:

  • Ms Alicia Bell – Lecturer, Teaching Specialist (Clinical/ Endorsed Nurse Practitioner) College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University
  • Dr Alison Bowers – Research Fellow, Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, School of Nursing
    Centre for Healthcare Transformation, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology
  • Ms Charity Chola – Clinical Nurse Specialist, Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS), Western Australia

You can view the profile of all the Board members on our website. ACCYPN is very grateful for the support and work of all Directors and Company position holders.

At the November 2021 Board Meeting, I announced my decision to retire from the role of Chairperson. This was with some sadness as I have very much enjoyed the role and the honour and privilege of serving the College for the past eight years. But it is time for me to realign my commitments and for a new leader to take the Chair. In my time in the role, we have seen some major achievements and our advocacy has been strong. The development of the Standards of Practice and the Specialist Nurse Credentialing Program are two of the major highlights, along with the implementation of virtual Professional Development Webinars and the fully virtual Conference in response to the pandemic situation. I am very proud of all the Directors and Members who have been part of the journey.

It is my greatest pleasure to announce the Board has elected Dr Yvonne Parry as the new Chairperson. You can read more on Yvonne’s background below. Yvonne and I are working through a transition to the role with the expectation that she will take up duties in March. I want to wish Yvonne all the very best as she as she leads the College into the coming years. I remain committed to the College and will continue as a Director on the Board. I look forward to supporting Yvonne and the team in this role.

Take care and stay safe.

Warmest regards
Catherine Marron

INTRODUCING THE NEWLY APPOINTED
ACCYPN CHAIRPERSON – DR YVONNE PARRY

Associate Professor Yvonne K Parry, PhD, PhD, MHlthServMgmt, GradCertEdu (Higher Ed), BA (Psychology & Public Policy), RN College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University

Associate Professor Yvonne Parry from Flinders University, College of Nursing and Health Sciences researches with international partners seeks to improve the health of infants, children and young people. Yvonne’s work exists at the important intersection between nursing, primary health, and public health. Her award-winning research focuses on community and acute care health services for marginalised children and their families. She has over 70 publications, with 28 journal articles, 12 book chapters and 19 ERA eligible reports in the last 10 years.

Associate Professor Parry’s research is foundational to her teaching, combining in-depth and extensive collaborative community and acute care research, with quality teaching scholarship informed by practice. She is a productive scholar who has made an outstanding contribution to the field of child health and welfare, specifically child homelessness, since she completed her PhD in 2012. She has led research projects in Noise Levels in NICU, Does ISBAR improve Handover and Family Inclusive Nursing Care? Child and Family Homelessness, Evidence inform Community Programs for at risk Children, Domestic Violence Responses for Elderly Women, and in the Impact of Disaster on Families, to name a few. This research has informed national and international policy and practice. Importantly a considerable component of her research is translating findings into appropriately developed education and training for service professionals including undergraduate health professionals.

She was appointed to the Board of Directors to the Australian College of Children and Young Peoples’ Nurses and additionally, she was the Chair of the Australian College of Child and Young People Credentialing Committee. The ACCYPN is the only national nursing professional organisation credentialing children and young people nurses. Yvonne is the inaugural Editor of the Journal of Children and Young People’s Health the official journal of ACCYPN.

ACCYPN CONFERENCE REPORT
Deb Surman

After two years of planning, cancelling and adjusting and replanning, it finally happened!  The ACCPYN Conference went ahead as a virtual Conference from 15 to 17September 2021 with a live Conference hub set up in Darwin.

The Conference theme; “Recognising the Contribution of Children & Young People’s Nurses”. was quite fitting, given the impact nurses currently have on the community during this COVID madness.

I was fortunate enough to be able to join the Darwin Hub to watch the Conference with delegates from states not affected by lockdown (what a difference a few months make) and the lure of warm weather and top-end sunsets had me sold.

14 people from Western Australia, Queensland, South Australia and of course Darwin were part of the Hub held at the Oaks Hotel.

Those who were fortunate to be present included:

  • Dr Pam O,Nions – Tertiary Manager of the Health Roundtable for WA and NT
  • Ms Donna Fletcher – CYFH Mackay
  • Ms Lauren Roberts – Nurse Educator, Top End Health
  • Julie Healey Nurse – Home Visitor, Top End Health Service
  • Rachael Buckley – CNC, Adolescent Health NT
  • Lynne Thurbon – ADON, Children’s Health Queensland
  • Amanda Harley – CNC, Children’s Health Queensland
  • Jessica Anderson – RN Royal Darwin Hospital
  • Ann Maree Sademan – NUM West Morton Health Service
  • Clare Haynes – Child and Family Health, Top End Health Service
  • Eliza Milan – NUM, Queensland Health
  • Gina Majid – CNC, Paediatric Outreach NT
  • Deb Surman – Nursing Lecturer, Flinders University Adelaide SA

It was an intimate gathering which was well chaired by Lauren. With laptops open along with a large screen, we had to decide which discussions we were going to watch together, and who wanted to choose to do their own break out sessions. This was a very democratic discussion which wasn’t too difficult as most were happy with the choices were very accommodating to ensure we had a balanced itinerary to cater for everyone’s particularly those who provided presentations.

Such as Rachel Buckley’s Keynote presentation; Addressing Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) for Young People in Clinical Practice. This was an interesting talk on the impact of SDOH have on adolescent youth in the NT and what assessments have been put into place to address the issues and the impact that nurses are making with the youth in the NT. Amanda Harley provided an interesting presentation of the recognition and management of paediatric sepsis in Queensland: a multidisciplinary approach to improve outcomes. We were fortunate enough to be able to ask questions in person however they were busy typing away at all the interest they were receiving from those who were watching virtually.

All were impressed with the quality of presentations on both days and we were spoilt for choice, it was impressive to see what has been done around Australia to improve the health of children and their families and it confirmed what was said in Linda Shields opening address about how paediatric nursing has changed and what lies ahead in the future. We all thought that this was so well worth the wait and hopefully the next conference everyone will be present to network and share ideas and drinks!

Thanks so much to the conference committee for soldiering on even on a virtual platform, it still provided a sense of community and pride amongst those of us who work with children and families and looking forward to the next chapter.

ACCYPN MEMBERSHIP

Thank you for your membership to the ACCYPN.  Membership Renewal Notices will be sent out in early May 2022.

For more information regarding membership, please visit our website www.accypn.org.au/membership 

NATIONAL OFFICE FOR CHILD SAFETY

The Australian Government recently launched the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030 (National Strategy). Below is some information about the National Strategy, and how you and your networks can be involved in the design and implementation of its measures.

National Strategy

The National Strategy is a 10-year, whole-of-nation framework to establish a coordinated and consistent approach to preventing and better responding to child sexual abuse, and was a key recommendation of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse (Royal Commission).

The National Strategy will initially be driven by two four-year (2021-2024) action plans. The First National Action Plan includes measures that the Australian, state and territory governments will deliver together, and the First Commonwealth Action Plan includes measures that the Australian Government will largely deliver on its own. The First National Action Plan and First Commonwealth Action Plan either wholly or partially respond to 100 Royal Commission recommendations.

 

The action plans focus on five themes:

  • Awareness raising, education and building child safe cultures
  • Supporting and empowering victims and survivors
  • Enhancing national approaches to children with harmful sexual behaviours
  • Offender prevention and intervention
  • Improving the evidence base

I invite you to read the full National Strategy and its measures via the below links:

  1. The National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse: https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/national-strategy-2021-30.pdf 
  2. The First Commonwealth Action Plan: https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/first-commonwealth-action-plan.pdf 
  3. A Summary of the National Strategy and its Action Plans: https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/national-strategy-summary.pdf 
  4. A Guide to the National Strategy for Children and Young People: https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/sites/default/files/2021-10/national-strategy-childrens-guide.pdf 

Future opportunities to get involved

We are committed to engaging and consulting with stakeholders and the community to develop national policies and initiatives which promote child safety and wellbeing, in particular to implement the National Strategy and its measures. Measures will be designed in close consultation with stakeholders, and in particular, an expert advisory group or groups. The format and composition of this group or groups is being considered. There will be a strong focus on prioritising the experiences of victims and survivors and hearing from priority groups disproportionately impacted by child sexual abuse. Our National Strategy priority groups are:

  • victims and survivors of child sexual abuse and their advocates
  • children and young people and their support networks
  • Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples
  • culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities
  • people with disability
  • LGBTQIA+ people
  • people living in regional and remote communities

If you are interested to hear more about future consultation opportunities, please subscribe to our newsletter via the sign up button at the bottom of our website: https://childsafety.pmc.gov.au/, or by emailing us at nationalofficeforchildsafety@pmc.gov.au. Information about consultations will also be posted on the consultation page of our website in due course: childsafety.pmc.gov.au/consultations. We are always happy to hear directly from our stakeholders, so if you have views about how the advisory group or groups should work and what they should look like, you are very welcome to email us directly.

Please do not hesitate to reach out to our office at nationalofficeforchildsafety@pmc.gov.au if you have any further queries.

CHILDREN’S HEALTH QUEENSLAND

Children aged 5 to 11 years are lining up across the state to have their COVID-19 vaccination.  Children’s Health Queensland’s little COVID Birdie is here to help them through it.

Click here to see how Birdie can help Queensland’s children if they are a little worried and wondering what to expect regarding their vaccination.

Click here for the Conference Website, Registration Link and Abstract Submission Form.


5 – 6 May 2022, Cairns, Australia

The Early Years Conference is generally a bi-annual conference that promotes the wellbeing of children and families by advancing collaboration and evidence-based practice, and provides a platform to reflect multiple perspectives to improve early childhood development. Due to dynamic changes with the COVID-19 situations, amendments to the regular scheduling was made and in 2021, the first Early Years Digital Symposium was held on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th May 2021. The theme was “From theory to practice”.

In 2022, we return to our regular scheduling and hold the Cairns Early Years Conference at the newly upgraded Cairns Convention Centre on the Thursday 5th and Friday 6th May 2022.

Our theme for this conference is “It takes a village to raise a parent” and will be showcasing what is happening across sectors in the early years space.

Check out the keynote and sessional speakers and stay tuned for program information. https://www.earlyyearsconference.com.au/ 

1 – 4 May 2022, VIRTUAL CONFERENCE

Are you a regional or remote health working or do you work in aged care or end-of-life care? 

Are you interested in networking with like-minded peers and learning cutting edge palliative care research?

The four-day interactive virtual conference will be the perfect forum for nurses and other health professionals to seek new knowledge, become familiar with new products and services to the industry, and to identify opportunities to translate the best evidence into clinical and academic excellence. Networking, debating and socialising with peers will add a further dimension to the experience. The virtual format offers great flexibility and facilitates networking with a far wider audience.

Registrations are currently open for the upcoming PCNA Virtual Conference in May 2022.  If you are interested in a discounted rate, Early Bird Registrations close on the 1st April 2022.

Scholarships are also available on behalf of the Department of Health. Scholarships include:

  • Registration to the 2022 Virtual Conference
  • One-year membership of PCNA
  • And much more

Eligibility criteria applies.  Limited spaces are available so be quick to apply. Applications close on the 7th March 2022.

Applications and more information about these scholarships can be found here.  To view the current program, click here.

2022 CHILD & ADOLESCENT
MENTAL HEALTH CONFERENCE

Event Dates – 28 to 30 March 2022, Gold Coast, Queensland

This conference will be hosted by the Australian and New Zealand Mental Health Association.

It will take the theme Listen, learn and co-design: Establishing partnerships with children, young people and families. Topics will include:

  • Strategies to prevent and intervene early
  • Exploring service improvements and opportunities
  • Closing the gap for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders
  • Being better equipped to understand and respond to diversity

The Child and Adolescent Mental Health Conference is designed to provide practical skills, relevant information, personal insight, and strategies for professionals committed to the mental health of young people. Early intervention has proven to be one of the most effective means of mental health care. This can not only help prevent or reduce the progress of a mental illness, but also improve mental health far into the future. Full program here. 

EMERGING MINDS FORTNIGHTLY NEWSLETTER

Topics covered:

  • Introducing our new e-learning course: Understanding child mental health and chronic physical conditions
  • New fact sheets: Childhood physical conditions and mental health
  • New fact sheet: Supporting children’s return to school during COVID-19
  • New podcast: Reflecting on 100 episodes
  • New in focus: AOD and the parent-child relationship
  • Seeking your support – Australian Human Rights Commission
  • Did you listen to our re-release podcasts? Inclusive practice with rainbow families and The mental health of refugee children in Australia
    Research highlights

Click here to read the newsletter.

RIDING THE WAVES OF CHANGE:
SUPPORTING SCHOOL STUDENTS
TO ADAPT TO IMPACTS OF COVID-19

A new resource helps teens deal with impacts of COVID pandemic – Southern Cross University – Southern Cross University’s Director of the Centre for Children and Young People Professor Anne Graham AO has developed an evidence-informed learning resource to support children and young people to understand and manage the social and emotional impact of the pandemic, in partnership with the MacKillop Institute. This free resource, “Seasons Toolkit: Riding the Waves of Change” draws on key elements of Professor Graham’s highly successful Seasons for Growth suite of evidence-based psycho-social education programs which support children and young people to learn about and adapt to change and loss in their lives.  Click here for more information.

DRAFT NATIONAL PLAN TO END VIOLENCE AGAINST WOMEN AND CHILDREN 2022-2032

The Federal Government has released the Draft National Plan to End Violence Against Women and Children for consultation.  Feedback closes on 25 February. Click here to read the plan and provide feedback here.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY PARENT INFORMATION

Children’s Health Queensland