Hospital staff from across the South Burnett will be taking part in a special walk on Monday (May 12) to mark International Nurses Day.
“The theme for this year’s International Nurses Day is ‘Nurses: A force for change – a vital resource for health’,” Darling Downs Hospital and Health Service (DDHHS) executive director of nursing and midwifery services Judy March said.
“The day is a great opportunity to get together and celebrate everything that’s great about nursing.”
There are more than 2000 nurses and midwives across the DDHHS region, including 24 new graduates who started earlier this year.
DDHHS cluster operations manager for the South Burnett, Peta Rutherford, said staff from Kingaroy, Nanango, Cherbourg, Murgon and Wondai hospitals, and members of the local community, had been invited to join in the walk.
“This is a great opportunity to get together and celebrate everything that’s great about nursing,” she said.
“The walk will start at the Rotunda in Memorial Park, Kingaroy, at 6:15am and finish at the Kingaroy Hospital Medical Training Facility where there will be a barbecue breakfast.
“We will also have Elaine Berlin, an RN from Inala Indigenous Health Service, as our guest speaker.”
Ms Berlin said the aim of her presentation would be to encourage and empower nurses.
“I’ll be drawing on my own experiences, having seen first-hand what nurses can do,” she said.
“We’ll also discuss Closing the Gap, with an emphasis on some of the excellent things that have been happening at Cherbourg over the past 12 months, but most of all I want to get nurses thinking about what they can do to fulfil their aims and goals so they are a real force for change.”
All participants are encouraged to wear a blue shirt on the day.
