Respiratory Nurses' Interest Group of NSW

Presidents report and Christmas message

How time flies! The festive season is fast approaching and the year is almost over. As with other years, this year has had its ups and its downs. The financial crisis has hit the health systems and we all seem to be working longer and harder. The cold winter and the recent storms have also had an impact on our patients with many of them succumbing to the dreaded upper and/or lower respiratory tract infections and exacerbations. On a positive note, the Respiratory Nurses Interest Group is going from strength to strength. We have new members, new committee roles and a new web site (RNIG.org.au)!

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all our new members and hope you find your membership valuable and consider taking an active role in the group. I would also like to thank all of our other members for their ongoing support. Please have your say on the future direction of the group. Your input is valued and we will do our best to address your wishes and concerns. We are always on the look out for new ideas and projects not to mention new committee members. If you are interested, or if you have any questions about the committee activities, which includes informal meetings several times throughout the year, or the RNIG in general, my daytime number is 02 9881 7481.

Speaking of the committee, I would like to thank all the committee members for all their hard work and support this year – my first year as President. At the Annual General Meeting in May this year – Darrin Penola stepped down as President and took up the role as Vice President. His shoes are hard to fill but I am trying to continue his work and keep working towards his vision. Thank you Darrin for your support and guidance. Jane Civitico our Vice President also stepped down and took up a role as an Education Officer due to her ever-expanding commitments. Thank you Jane. Karen For our Treasurer also stepped down after years of penny counting and took up the role of an Education Officer – thanks for everything Karen. Lucy Keatley took on the role as Treasurer and has already made some headways into the field of electronic banking and direct deposits and BPay – Go Lucy! Anne Dowling took up my old role as Secretary and has done a fantastic job arranging and minuting meetings. All the other Education Officers continue to work hard helping to organise the education Evenings and Days – Thank you to Louise Barclay, Mary Dunford, Tod Adams, Annette Kean and Grace Trapolini.

A special thank you also needs to go to Amanda Rehn from the College of Nursing. Amanda is our Administrative Assistant. Without her – nothing would get done. She often pre-empts our requests and deals with them before we have a chance to ask. She assists in organising the Education Evenings, sending out membership renewals and motivating us as needed!

The RNIG is also indebted to the College of Nursing for making our vision of a website into reality. Special mention and thanks go to Andrea Szabo, Char Mae Veloso, and Catherine Woolley. Without their assistance and guidance, the web site would still be a dream of Darrin’s.

The Year in Review:
We have been able to hold a number of Education Days and Evenings this year and all were well attended. The RNIG Education Day was held in May 2008 at the Astra Zeneca Conference Centre. A special thanks to Astra Zeneca for providing us with an ideal location for our annual workshop. The feedback regarding the sessions was positive and all speakers generated interesting discussions. We are in the process of planning the 2009 day so if you have any special requests, please forward them to us. Mark 15th May 2009 in your diaries as this will be when we hold the next Education Day.

An Anaphylaxis Workshop was held in July 2008 at the College of Nursing with a wide range of members and non members turning up to hear Carol Parker (Royal Prince Alfred) speak. It was interesting and informative.

The Tracheostomy Workshop was held in October at Australian Catholic University. The workshop was interactive and generated lots of questions. Many thanks to Jane Civitico, Amy Nelms, Barbara from ACU and Anne Dowling for making the evening a success.

We held the Combined RNIG / TSANZ Education Day in November at the Waterview Convention Centre. The guest speakers came from a wide range of specialties and many topics were covered. Thanks have to go to the NSW Branch of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and Jane Civitico for organising the event. Another date for your diary is the 13th November 2009 – the next Combined RNIG / TSANZ Education Day.

Members also worked in collaboration with the College of Nursing and assisted in the running of 2 short Respiratory Nursing courses held at the College in May and Nov 2008. Keep an eye on the RNIG website for future College of Nursing Respiratory Course dates.

During 2008, many of the RNIG members attended and in some cases presented at one or more of the following conferences. The Annual TSANZ Scientific Meeting, National Asthma Conference, AAREA National Conference, Congress of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology (APSR), European Respiratory Congress, Airways and the Cystic Fibrosis Conference. Well done to those who presented and I again encourage all nursing staff to attend and even present at some of these very informative conferences. More diary dates for next year – the 2009 TSANZ Scientific Meeting is being held in Darwin between the 3rd and 8th April. If you have never been to a conference before, consider coming along. Not only are there some great speakers, but it is an ideal place to do some networking and meet some fellow respiratory nurses!
To everyone, the Executive Committee of the RNIG wish you all the best for the festive season. Stay safe and have fun. We are looking forward to seeing you all in 2009.

Regards

Mary Roberts RN, MN
President
NSW Respiratory Nurses Interest Group

RNIG Clinical Nurse Consultant
Respiratory Ambulatory Care
Sydney West Area Health Service

Christmas Office Hours

The office will be closed from Thursday, 18th December until Wednesday, 14th January.
The office will then be open on Wednesday 14th, Wednesday 21st and Wednesday 28th (TBC) January, and will return to normal working hours in February.