St Vincent's excellence in nursing highlighted at NSW Health Awards
St Vincent's excellence in nursing highlighted at NSW Health Awards
28 Nov 2022
Two of our long serving nurses, Tamra Langley and Sonia Robinson were recently named and celebrated as finalists in the 2022 NSW Nursing and Midwifery Awards.
With currently more than 53,000 nurses across NSW Health facilities, to be named amongst a handful of their outstanding peers as exemplars in their field, is an achievement is worth celebrating.
Tam, St Vincent’s nurse of 26 years was selected as one of four finalists in the 2022 Nurse of the Year category.
In her latest role as Digital Health Nurse, and with extensive background as Cardiac Rehab Clinical Nurse Consultant, Tam has produced two major public health resources - St Vincent's Heart Health and St Vincent's Lung Health websites, both of which are used worldwide as education tools for nurses, patients and community.
Tam has worked tirelessly to improve heart health for our First Nations peoples, and after travelling across Australia to work with Aboriginal Elders, patients and health workers, Tam launched the Aboriginal Heart Health site, designed to provide meaningful and culturally respectful heart health education for our First Nations communities, wherever they are.
During COVID, Tam’s digital role quickly became one of the hospital’s most comprehensive education tools. With easy to understand video guides on everything from performing BLS on a COVID positive patient, to transferring a COVID positive patient, to entering and exiting the bubble room correctly and safely. Not only had none of these procedures been conducted on campus before, there had never been a digital resource to capture these new, high risk procedures, before Tamra’s innovation and leadership in this space.
She had good company in fellow finalist, Sonia Robinson, in the 2022 Aboriginal Nurse/Midwife of the Year category.
Sonia has over 20 years' experience as an Emergency Nurse and more recently as an Operational Nurse Unit Manager and After Hours Nurse Manager, Sonia’s passion for closing the gap and ensuring our First Nations patients receive the culturally safe and respectful care that they deserve, is second to none.
Through her leadership and guidance, Sonia supports her colleagues through professional development, mentorship, and is an exemplary role model of excellent communication and cultural connection.
If there is a project or program that is geared toward caring for our First Nations communities, Sonia will be there, and while she has already been an integral part of some of our most successful projects to date, having already successfully reduced the numbers of First Nations patients leaving our hospital before completing their treatment, she is now working to reduce the numbers of unplanned readmissions for Aboriginal patients.
In addition, Sonia leads the Dalarinji Yarn’n Circle, a private community focussed group that has been formed to provide guidance and specialised consultation around First Nations culture and concepts of health and wellbeing – the first of its kind at St Vincent’s.
Executive Director of Nursing, Anna Thornton gifted both Sonia and Tam with the coveted St Vincent’s nursing buckle, as recognition for all that they do for our patients, for our community and for their peers and colleagues.
We hope they are both proud of themselves, as we are of them.
Congratulations Sonia and Tam!
Sonia Robinson and Tamra Burton