June 2020 College Communique | ACCYPN

June 2020 College Communique

 

WHAT’S INSIDE?

  • Chairperson’s Letter
  • ACCYPN Company Secretary – Expression of Interest
  • ACCYPN – Credentialing for Specialist Nurses
  • ACCYPN 2020 Conference Update
  • COVID-19 and the Paediatric Population – Webinar
  • Birdie’s Tree – Growing Together Through Natural Disasters
  • COVID-19 Unmasked – What Impact is COVID-19 having on your Young Children
  • ATO Tax Time 2020 – Nurses, Midwives and Carers Resource Kit
  • Interesting Links:
    – Collaborative News April 2020
    – National Children’s Digital Health Collaborative
  • Have you Looked After Seriously Ill Children in Your Workplace – Important Study
  • Free Online Medical Oration with Renowned Plastic & Reconstructive Surgeon
  • 2020 World Pediatrics Conference, Bangkok – Postponed
  • Australian Children’s Knowledge Acceleration Hub
  • Growing up in Queensland 2020 – Make Their Voices Heard
  • ACCYPN – 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 Members
Welcome to the June edition of Communique and the half-way mark of an extraordinary year. What a time to be a nurse, and for this to coincide with the International Year of the Nurse and Midwife is incredible!
I don’t think any of us could have imagined the events that the world has been living through over the past several months. We have been very fortunate in Australia, but we are far from out of the woods with some hotspots of community transmission. For nurses, in particular this has been a trying time – you are at the frontline of healthcare for children, young people, their families and we have all been personally impacted by the pandemic in some way – as have friends, families and colleagues. I hope that the coming months will see the world return to some sense of normal – the ‘new normal’. Things won’t ever be quite the same, and while we might feel a sense of loss for the way things used to be, we have been forced to think and behave differently, to look for new opportunities, to innovate, and that creates a bright hope for the future.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support of ACCYPN especially at this time. Your membership enables the College to continue to provide children and young people’s nurses with professional development, specialist nurse credentialing, specialist standards of practice, scholarships and much more. But importantly, your membership offers you the opportunity to be involved in something ‘bigger’ through advocating through the College for the unique healthcare needs of children and young people and the nurses who care for them.

Regards
Catherine Marron
Chairperson – ACCYPN Board of Directors

DO YOU KNOW SOMEONE WHO MIGHT BE INTERESTED?

This voluntary position is open to Members & Non Members.  The Secretary is supported by the ACCYPN Secretariat to fulfill this role.  
The position will commence in October 2020 with a handover period with the outgoing Secretary prior to appointment.  
Company laptop is provided.
The Company Secretary role is required as a condition of ACCYPN, a Company Limited by Guarantee and registered with ASIC.  
For more information please contact the Secretary via email secretary@accypn.org.au.

ACCYPN – CREDENTIALING FOR SPECIALIST NURSES

What is Credentialing?
  • Sets a standardised benchmark for the recognition of specialised practice
  • Promotes the provision of quality health care within a given nursing specialty or area of practice
  • Validates specialised knowledge, enhances professional credibility, and indicates achievement of specialist nursing standards
Why Credentialing?
  • Increasingly recognised as a means of meeting the demands of health care standards related to workforce
  • Validates that a nurse has specialist knowledge and practice, and practices in accordance with specialist standards
  • Ensures the continued governance and development of the nursing profession by nurses
  • Provides a clear pathway to specialisation
How did ACCYPN commence a Credentialing program?
Queensland Health supported the implementation of the Credentialing Program for Specialist Nurses – as it supported the Queensland Government’s  Blueprint for better healthcare in Queensland  and Strengthening health services through optimising nursing strategy and action plan (2013–2016) This plan acknowledged the benefits for health consumers and service delivery of engaging appropriately qualified and experienced specialist registered nurses working to their full scope of practice. ACCYPN was one of the speciality nursing organisations invited to participate. This program was opened up nationally in 2017.
Who participated?
During the first year 2016-2017 Forty – four (44) nurses achieved a status of a Credentialed Child and Youth Health Nurse. Credentialing is for a three-year period so the recredentialing process has commenced and the following CCYHN have been recredentialed:
  • Anne Youles
  • Danita Driscoll
  • Joanne Kell
  • Kellie Hill
  • Michelle Senn
  • Robyn Penny
  • Sandra Miles
  • Wendy Cannon
All members are asked to consider applying for credentialing and re-credentialing. This is a peer review process against set standards . If you have any questions please contact Jan Pratt on Credentialing@accypn.org.au.

ACCYPN 2020 CONFERENCE – POSTPONED

Call for Abstracts – Remain Open

COVID-19 AND THE PAEDIATRIC POPULATION – WEBINAR

The ACCYPN invites you to join Professor Sarath Ranganathan from Head of Respiratory Medicine, Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne and Head of Paediatrics, Melbourne University on a Webinar.
COVID-19 and the Paediatric Population
Date:  Wednesday 8 July 2020
Presenter:  Professor Sarath Ranganathan
Time:  11.00 am (AEST) (1 CPD Hour) (1/2 hour presentation with 15 minutes Q&A and 15 minutes open discussion)
Attendance:  Live Webinar
Cost:  Members (Free), Non Members $25.00
Payment:  Payment to be received at time of registration by Credit or Debit Card 
Disclaimer:  The webinar will be recorded.  As this webinar includes Q&A and open discussion, anyone who participates or has their video turned on may be included in the recording.  
Register via the ACCYPN website. 
Reminder:
A reminder to members that free registrations to the Webinar is for members only. We wish to encourage non-members to register, and to encourage people to engage with and join ACCYPN.  While we would like to make content free to all nurses (particularly in these challenging times), financially the College depends upon the income we receive from non-member registrations to be able to continue to provided all members with free access to these and other benefits.

BIRDIES TREE – GROWING TOGETHER THROUGH NATURAL DISASTERS

Resources following on from the June 2020 Webinar
Welcome to Birdie’s Tree! Natural disasters like storms, cyclones, floods or fire can be very frightening and upsetting for babies and young children. Playing a therapeutic game or reading a story with a caring adult can help a young child work through the scary experiences and ‘big feelings’. There’s information for parents and carers too. Come and meet Birdie and Mr Frog!
A virus has made Birdie’s friends sick! Birdie feels lonely and worried. What if everyone stays sick forever? But the doctors and nurses are there to help.
‘Birdie and the Virus’ is part of the Birdie’s Tree storybook series developed by Children’s Health Queensland through the Queensland Centre for Perinatal and Infant Mental Health.
Birdie and the Virus has been specifically designed to support the mental health and emotional wellbeing of babies and young children, their parents and families, during the COVID-19 pandemic.

DO YOU HAVE A CHILD AGED 1 – 5 YEARS?

COVID-19 Unmasked is a new online survey inviting Australian parents to help us learn how children and families are being affected by the current pandemic. Children thrive on structure and routine and feeling that the world is predictable and makes sense.  All the disruption and uncertainty caused by COVID-19, and the loss of the usual supports, has been extra unsettling and challenging for many children and families.  
However, we still know very little about how disruptive community events, like pandemics and natural disasters, affect the mental health and emotional wellbeing of babies and pre-schoolers over the long-term. The information we gain from this project will be shared with parents, educators and health-care services so we can provide better support now and into the future. Please click here to have your say.  

ATO TAX TIME 2020 – NURSES, MIDWIVES AND CARERS RESOURCE KIT

The ATO has prepared a range of resources to assist nurses, midwives and carers during this period of heightened stress.
These resources were designed specifically for healthcare workers, to ensure they are aware of all the deductions they can claim for and make it easier for them to prepare and lodge tax returns.
Click here to view the Occupation and Industry Specific Guidelines.

INTERESTING LINK – COLLABORATIVE NEWS APRIL 2020

The past month has been challenging as the COVID-19 pandemic places unprecedented demands on our public health system and on those involved in progressing the digitisation of maternal and child healthcare records. 
Find out more here.

HAVE YOU LOOKED AFTER SERIOUSLY ILL CHILDREN IN YOUR NURSING PRACTICE?

ACCYPN has received a request from The Melbourne University inviting ACCYPN members to participate in an important study through a brief online or telephone interview on the topic of, ‘Is sharing caring? – Nurses experiences with disclosing information to children’. Please see outline of study below.
If you would like to participate in the online or telephone interview, please contact Mandy El AIi by email – mervate@student.unimelb.edu.au or call or SMS 0416 126 426, so an interview time can be arranged.

FREE ONLINE MEDICAL ORATION WITH RENOWNED PLASTIC & RECONSTRUCTIVE SURGEON 

More than Meets the Eye: A Journey into Surgery for Facial Differences in Children
Orator: Mr David Chong, MBBS, FRACS, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon,
Date: Wednesday 1 July 2020, 6.00pm – 7.00pm, via Zoom
Join us for this FREE and fascinating online presentation with renowned Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon, Mr David Chong.
Mr Chong is a renowned Plastic and Reconstructive Surgeon and his passion is correcting facial and skull differences here in Australia and overseas. He holds appointments at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Northpark Private Hospital and St Vincent’s Private Hospital. Deeply rooted in humanitarian work, Mr Chong has partnered with Children First Foundation as a pro bono surgeon for over 12 years. He also volunteers for Operation Smile and Mercy Ships.
About Children First Foundation
We are an Australian based charity. We facilitate life-changing, and sometimes life-saving surgery in Australia for disadvantaged children from developing countries. These children are unable to access the medical care they desperately need, as the complex, and often multiple surgical procedures required, are not possible in their own countries. By collaborating with exceptional Australian surgeons, health professionals and hospitals, we enable these children to access world-class medical care in Australia, and a chance to transform their lives.

POSTPONEMENT OF THE 2020 WORLD PEDIATRICS CONFERENCE, BANGKOK

Due to the global escalation of the COVID-19 Coronavirus and the resulting restrictions regarding travels and the hosting of events and congresses, the 2020WPC committee members has decided to postpone the 2020 World Pediatrics Conference, Bangkok. The congress will now take place on March 19-20, 2021 in Bangkok, Thailand.

GROWING UP IN QUEENSLAND 2020 – MAKE THEIR VOICES HEARD

The Queensland Family and Child Commission (QFCC) is proud to launch the second round of its biennial Growing Up in Queensland project.

Growing Up in Queensland 2020 gives children and young people the chance to share their experiences of life in Queensland and help shape our state’s future. Through surveys, postcards and art activities, the project seeks to gather insights about what is important to children and young people, what their communities are like and their hopes for the future.

Due to COVID-19 and in the interest of safety and wellbeing, the project has been moved online this year. In times of difficulty, the voices of children and young people are often the least heard. While adults are keeping our community safe, it is important we keep listening to young Queenslanders.  
You are invited to share the project with your community so, together, we can make sure the voices of our young Queenslanders are heard and amplified before the project closes on 30 June 2020. Materials suitable for inclusion in newsletters, parent emails or via social media posts can be found here.
For further information about Growing Up in Queensland, please email growingupQLD@qfcc.qld.gov.au or phone (07) 3900 6000.

Recently launched is the Australian Children’s Knowledge Acceleration Hub, a new initiative by ARACY and UNICEF Australia to ensure that the impacts of COVID-19 on children in Australia are fully understood and communicated to decision-makers at all levels.
The Hub seeks to inform the policy and program responses that will meet the needs of children during the COVID-19 crisis and throughout the recovery. Our aims are to:
  • Ensure that the evolving needs of children continue to be well understood so they can be responded to efficiently and effectively
  • Accelerate collaboration and coordination among key stakeholders to address evidence gaps and build consensus around priorities for action
  • Facilitate knowledge sharing among key stakeholders, including access to global and local technical guidance and best practice
To do this, data will be drawn upon from Australia and international comparators, the latest research and analysis of COVID-19 and its impacts on children and families, and related research with applicable lessons for the known and anticipated impacts of COVID-19 and their potential mitigation.
Click here for more information.

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