For many residents in rural and remote towns, access to primary healthcare can mean hours-long road trips, time off work, and being away from family.
It’s these reasons why Marg Villella, from Health Education Collaborative (HEC), travels to regional and remote towns to upskill nurses and provide residents with greater access to primary healthcare closer to home.
“Education isn’t as readily available in rural areas as it is in the city, so it is important to provide good training so nurses can be more independent when there isn’t a GP in their community,” the HEC co-director and Chief Financial Officer said.
“If people need suturing, they might have to travel a long way for just two stitches.
“But educating local nurses can provide that skill and prevent patients from having to travel such a long way.”
HEC brought a series of two-day nurse upskilling workshops to Cairns, Townsville, and Mackay, with 145 nursing professionals from surrounding communities travelling up to four hours to cover a range of skills, brush up on their training or improve their competencies, from treating fractures to suturing wounds.
Ms Villella said it was a clear sign that there was not only a demand for upskilling in rural communities, but also a genuine desire by regional nurses to provide similar care to resources provided by metropolitan counterparts.
The workshops were delivered alongside fellow co-director Bruce Greaves, and said some nurses were so committed to improving care for their communities, they had travelled up to four hours to attend the sessions.
“Best training I have attended, great communication, and easy to learn. Kept me engaged for the full three days,” one of the participants said of the two-day workshop.
Another said Ms Villella and Mr Greaves had ensured the workshops were engaging and fun, while also being educational.
“Professional, while getting us to think deeper about our roles and what we can do,” one Mackay participant said.
Regarding the full-day suturing session, a participant commented: “One of the best education sessions and venue I have attended. Thoroughly enjoyed.”
The workshop sessions included fracture management, burns, ECG (electrocardiogram), IV cannulation, and deteriorating patient treatment, with the format developed following feedback from the hosting general practices.
The suturing session had both online and practical components – with feedback reflecting interest in suturing training returning later this year for any nurses who were unable to attend.
From those who could attend – the feedback was overwhelmingly positive.
Northern Queensland nurses wanted more opportunities to sharpen and expand their skillsets and provide more for their communities, and Ms Villella was eager to deliver and bring opportunities for more nurses to join more workshops this year.
“We are planning on doing more this year. We love going out to the regional areas. We find the staff are very keen to learn, very engaged, they make a big effort to get there,” she said.
The workshops were funded by NQPHN through the Department of Health, Disability and Ageing.
