EVENTS
Northcare Annual Dinner 2019
On November 7, 2019 friends of Northcare once again celebrated the ongoing achievements of our foundation at a dinner at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron. The Squadron’s location on the harbour at Kirribilli provides an idyllic setting for such a celebration. And indeed it was a night to celebrate with a record number of scholarships being awarded to nurses within the Intensive Care Unit at RNSH.
Past ICU head and current Northcare Board member and President of the College of Intensive Care of Australia and New Zealand, Dr Ray Raper, once again obliged as our MC extraordinaire. Dr Raper explained the focus of the evening, that being on the achievements of Nursing within North Shore’s ICU, in particular the success of the Nursing Practitioner program. He also provided some background on our Nursing Scholarship program, now in its 22nd year.
Our Bereavement Co-ordinator, Louise Sayers, explained her vital role within the unit and also explained the ‘Heart of ICU’ theme for the table decorations. Many nurses had written on cut-out hearts what working within the ICU means to them and the importance of the scholarship program in enabling them to continue their post graduate studies and, thereby, further their career.
Sarah Webb, our inspirational senior Nurse Practitioner, who started the NP program within ICU, gave an absorbing overview of its history and evolution and its current and future directions. A Nurse Practitioner is a registered nurse, educated and authorised to function autonomously and collaboratively in an advanced and extended clinical role, giving each NP an even greater role in delivering patient care.
The scholarships that Northcare provides to our nurses to undertake their Master’s degrees are crucial to the progression of our NP program and thereby to career advancement for our nurses. These master’s degrees provide the qualifications required for nurses to be endorsed as a nurse practitioner. The studies undertaken in these Master’s degrees focus on critical thinking and diagnostic reasoning, advanced nursing and clinical practice, and the quality use of medicines, enabling nurses to become an expert clinician and to extend advanced practice skills and complex critical thinking and reasoning in their chosen specialty area.
The demonstration this year by three of our Nurse Practitioners – Elliott Williams, Jess Butler and Kelly Harbour, assisted by Clinical Nurse Specialist Tyson Perrin – focussed on three crises that can arise simply within the timeframe of transporting a critically ill patient from the ICU the radiology department, and explained the role of the Nurse Practitioner in handling these mergencies without the assistance of a doctor. They add enormous value to the ICU in this way. This hands on demonstration using the ICU’s equipment, including the medical simulation mannequin, was reinforced by a film showcasing a Day in the Life of the Nurse Practitioners, introduced by NP Jess Butler.
On the night it was announced that a record number of 31 Nursing Scholarships had been awarded this year for ongoing postgraduate education. Mrs Jo Dan, an extremely generous Northcare Donor, read out the names of the successful recipients, comprising 12 Graduate Certificates in Critical Care and 19 master’s qualifications, with a total value of just over $125, 000. The personal and professional impact on recipients of Northcare’s and its supporters’ generosity was eloquently voiced by Tyson Perrin, a Clinical Nurse Specialist within the ICU and a current recipient of a Master’s Degree scholarship.
A highlight of the evening was an emotional interview by NP Sarah Webb with one of her and the ICU’s past patients and his wife, who had experienced the realities of needing the help of the committed staff of RNSH. This poignant interview reaffirmed why we are all supporters of Northcare – to provide qualified nursing staff and on-going training for the whole ICU medical team so they can continue to provide the best care for those people in desperate need – people just like us who may one day require the most complex medical interventions, that being the best Intensive Care Medicine.
The Foundation is most grateful for the generous donations made throughout the night to enable us to continue our scholarship and clinical research programs. The Carabella Room at the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron once again created a magnificent setting for a night that simply sailed by with all guests appreciating the incomparable organisation and hospitality of the Squadron’s staff.
The Organising Committee members are once again to be congratulated on providing such an enjoyable and thought provoking evening.
We also wish to acknowledge the huge contribution given by Intensivists Dr Carole Foot and Dr Liz Hickson towards the success of these dinners over the years. We wish them well in their new life in Queensland. They will be sorely missed.
Northcare Annual Dinner 2018
Thursday November 8th was a beautiful evening to sip a glass of champagne on the terrace of the Yacht Squadron at Kirribilli. It was a night to toast!
It was a night for friends of the Northcare Foundation to meet together for an evening to celebrate the ongoing achievements of their charity. Dr Ray Raper, Northcare Board member and current President of the College of Intensive Care of Australia and New Zealand, led the evening’s events as the engaging Master of Ceremonies.
On the night it was announced that a record amount of support was awarded to Nursing Scholarships for ongoing postgraduate education. Mr Barry Lambert, our longest standing and most generous Northcare Donor, read the long list of successful recipients. There were 25 successful individuals who will receive support for 13 Graduate Certificates in Critical Care and 12 Masters qualifications, with a total value of just over $146,000. The personal and professional impact of this generosity was eloquently voiced by Kellie Harper, one of the senior nurses currently working as the Nurse Unit manager of the Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) Neurosurgical Intensive Care Unit.
The enormously valuable role of Northcare was shared with perspectives from the newly appointed Director of RNSH ICU (Dr Lewis Macken), a Senior ICU Nurse (Nurse Practitioner Ms Jessica Butler) and Northcare board member (Mr Terry Moody).
Several past patients and their loved ones who had experienced the realities of needing the help of the committed staff of the RNSH shared poignant stories. For many in attendance this was the highlight of the night as it reminded everyone of why we are all supporters of Northcare – it is to care for people in need, people just like us who may one day require the most complex medical interventions delivered with humanity that is the best Intensive Care Medicine.
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) – cutting edge Intensive Care Medicine practice was showcased with an exciting live demonstration. During this twenty-minute intense period a simulated patient who had experienced a sudden massive heart attack was successfully resuscitated by multiple friends of Northcare, under the leadership of Dr Wade Steadman, Intensivist and other experienced staff from the RNSH ICU. This would not have been possible without the generous support of Getinge, Australia; creators of the CARDIOHELP platform, the world’s smallest heart-lung support system. See www.getinge.com/int/solutions/acute-care-therapies/ecls/benefits-of-cardiohelp/
The magnificent venue created a congenial backdrop for a night that simply sailed by quickly with excellent hospitality only made possible by Mrs Jill Henry, longstanding Northcare Board member, accomplished yachtswoman and Yacht Squadron club member.
The Organising Committee members are once again to be congratulated on providing such an enjoyable and thought provoking evening.
The Foundation is most grateful for the generous donations made throughout the night, and in particular, the overwhelming generosity of Mrs Joanne Dan.
Previous Events
2016 EVENTS
2016 Annual Dinner – Celebrating CPR
Mad Hatters Tea Party
Chinese Doctors Visit to North Shore Hospital
