Media Release - May 20 2021
Federal Regional Health Minister Mark Coulton and Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch MP visit CRANAplus Cairns office to discuss issues affecting remote health.
The Federal Regional Health Minister Mark Coulton, and Member for Leichhardt Warren Entsch MP, have today visited the Cairns office of not-for-profit organisation CRANAplus to discuss issues affecting nurses who work in remote and isolated parts of Australia.
The meeting between Minister Coulton and CRANAplus was the ideal opportunity to discuss the recently released 2021-22 Federal Budget initiatives targeting rural and remote health, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health, aged care and mental health support.
CRANAplus CEO Katherine Isbister said "it was fantastic to see Minister Coulton so receptive to the concerns of remote nurses".
"We thank Minister Coulton for his visit and for continuing to be actively devoted to protecting and advancing the remote health workforce," Ms Isbister said.
"Thank you again to Minister Coulton for recognising that empowering the remote health workforce remains crucial in the ongoing fight for health equality."
"Working together, we have the power to improve health outcomes – for all Australians, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people living in remote communities."
"Maintaining a productive conversation with the key decision makers across all levels of government is key to CRANAplus' advocacy for remote health professionals," Ms Isbister added.
"By advocating for positive change in terms of policy, funding and resourcing, we aim to improve access to quality, safe health care, and to ensure Australia has the much-needed skills, resources and staff in remote areas."
Members of the education team at CRANAplus were also able to demonstrate to Minister Coulton and Mr Entsch their exciting new training technology, now built into CRANAplus courses tailored to the remote health setting.
Known as iSimulate, the technology simulates real-life defibrillators and monitors, increasing fidelity within simulated real-life situations.
"Having identified that this technology could enhance real-life emergency management skills, we made the move to incorporate iSimulate into our Advanced Life Support and Emergency Care courses," CRANAplus CEO Katherine Isbister said.
"Emergency situations in a remote and isolated health setting call for an exacting response. Anything that we can do to help health professionals prepare to effectively and safely deliver that response, we will do."
"For a period, the COVID-19 pandemic saw CRANAplus focusing on its online course program, so we could continue to deliver crucial educational opportunities to remote and isolated health professionals."
"However, we never lost sight of the importance of face-to-face learning and are now looking for ways to reward our members and support remote communities by further refining and modernising our in-person courses. This is just the beginning."
