In recognition of the valuable role that nurses play in primary care, COORDINARE is offering two nurse scholarships to attend the Festival of Nursing in Brisbane from 24-26 July 2025. Applicants must be APHRA registered practice nurses working in general practice in the South Eastern NSW region. 

During this in-person event, nurses will have the opportunity to attend a range of interactive sessions, on topics which include supporting priority populations, collaborative team care and vaccination updates, to name a few. The full list of sessions is outlined in the program. 

Six practice nurses have received COORDINARE scholarships to date and have since been motivated to study more and to implement quality improvement (QI) patient care initiatives. 

One of last year’s scholarship recipients Kate Green, based on the Far South Coast, said "It is really great that COORDINARE provides these scholarships to benefit small rural areas. There is lots of great information and sessions and it was really good to meet up with other practice nurses." 

"Often in a practice you're the only nurse so you don't get to network so it was good to bounce ideas of others and to find out what other practices are doing, where we could improve and to share what we are doing as well. It was good to know that we're on the right track with the nurse led clinics that we're running and our work in preventative health. 

"The doctors here have been really supportive, so I've upskilled in suturing, advanced life support triage, health coaching and disease management.” 

Scholarship recipient Melanni Auld, a practice nurse at Gwynneville said, "It was amazing and I would never have had the opportunity to go if the scholarship wasn't made available. It was thoroughly enjoyable and very informative. 

"Nothing stays the same, there's a lot of information and a lot of networking that you can do at these places that will continue your learning,” she added. 

"I did my CPR qualification and even managed to get my cannulation course done while I was there. I'm looking forward to implementing my learnings. We'll be discussing it with COORDINARE and looking an PENCAT but I'm keen to implement some heart health checks. I've already mentioned it to a few patients who seem open to the idea."  

Shayne Mook is one of four practice nurses at King Street Medical Centre, Warrawong and previously worked in Aboriginal Health and the hospital system. Shayne attended the 2023 APNA Festival of Nursing. 

“Nursing is always evolving and going from acute to preventative care has been a learning curve. Training is important to develop your skills and to stay up-to-date with the most current knowledge. It is a time to network and talk with other nurses and get ideas to overcome issues,” said Shayne. 

Scholarship funds will cover the cost of conference registration, accommodation expenses and travel expenses. 

How to apply 

Applications must be emailed as an attachment to events@coordinare.org.au by 5:00pm on Monday 2 June 2025. 

Application Form - click here to download.

 

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