22 April 2020
2020 has been declared The International Year of the Nurse and the Midwife by the World Health Organization … and the ANMF (SA Branch) is inviting members to help celebrate this momentous milestone at our Annual Professional Conference.
It is the first time any profession has been awarded an International Year, with WHO recognising the courageous and critical role nurses and midwives play in societies, as well as the risks involved with shortages in staffing. And rarely has the world needed the nursing and midwifery profession more than at this point in human history as they form a united coalface front in the fight against COVID-19.
Accordingly, this year’s Conference celebrates the evolution of nursing and midwifery, from Florence Nightingale’s revolutionary impact in the 1800s to present day.
2020 is also the bicentenary of the birth of nursing and midwife matriarch Nightingale, born to British parents in Florence, Italy, on May 12, 1820. Each year, to coincide with the anniversary of her birth we celebrate the International Nurses Day, and we recognise the work of midwives on the Day of the Midwife on May 5.
It is also timely to remember that it was Nightingale who most loudly championed the paramountcy of hand hygiene and good sanitation more than 150 years ago … an issue of crucial relevance during the COVID-19 pandemic.
We’ll have top guest speakers from the health care sector and other industries, many of whom have international reputations as experts in their field.
Those attending the conference will receive 14 hours CPD as well as the opportunity to network with colleagues.
Guest speakers at the ANMF (SA Branch) Annual Professional Conference include:
- Emeritus Professor Jill White, Dean, Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery and Health, University of Technology, Sydney. She will be presenting in her capacity as the World Health Organisation's Western Pacific Region nursing representative on the board of the Nursing Now campaign
- Dr John Falzon OAM, Senior Fellow in Inequality and Social Justice at Melbourne-based think tank Per Capita and national CEO of the St Vincent de Paul Society from 2006 to 2018. He will be speaking about the impact of social inequality on nursing and midwifery.
- Professor Mary Chiarella, University of Sydney will be speaking on the evolution of nursing and midwifery since the time of Florence Nightingale.
- Dr Roger Hunt, senior palliative medical specialist at the Central Adelaide Palliative Care Service. Dr Hunt will be talking about End-of-life challenges in the 21st century.
- Comedian Cal Wilson. Cal will get us laughing to close Day 1.
Tickets to the two-day event are $240 for members and $75 for student members.
The ANMF (SA Branch) 2020 Professional Conference is on Wednesday, October 14, and Thursday, October 15, at the ANMF (SA Branch) Conference Centre, 191 Torrens Road, Ridleyton, South Australia.