Health under the Southern Cross
Remote Area Nursing
In recent months it has been a real pleasure to partner with CRANA+ and create a podcast about remote area nursing. From the beauty of Arnhem Land in the Northern Territory and Groote Eylandt in the Gulf of Carpentaria to the rural wheat belt in Western Australia along with the corporate vision from Queensland’s Gold Coast these career journeys celebrate the unique challenges and achievements of remote nursing! The bountiful real-world stories capture the blue, blue skies, red, red soil and heat! Oh, the heat of the outback! The ruggedness, beauty and remoteness of Australia make it a popular holiday destination, but it is not always a holiday for those who live in these remote and sparsely populated areas.
For those who live in remote and very remote areas of Australia, distance and isolation can make staying healthy and accessing healthcare an incredible challenge. Australia is one of the least densely populated countries, with most of the population congregated along the coast in capital cities which leaves much of Australia thinly populated. For those living in remote areas, the low population and vast distances mean that seeing a health worker is not always a simple task. Many remote areas do not have hospitals or doctors, which means accidents and illness can result in significantly poorer health outcomes.
One of the unique ways Australia has met the challenge of meeting the health needs of people living in rural and remote areas is through the remote area nurse (RAN). RANs are highly skilled and often work with limited resources which means they need to be flexible and creative in their approach to delivering health care. Remote area nurses are essential for remote area communities when illness strikes, or emergencies occur.
The stories of RANs are unique and diverse as are the services they offer and the locations in which they work. They have a wealth of fascinating stories that bring to light the extraordinary work that they do in often challenging circumstances. In recent months, while producing and hosting the podcast CRANAcast, I have had the privilege to talk with RANs and hear their stories, experiences, challenges and joys of working in the remote Australian landscape. Their description of the beautiful scenery, the kindness of others and the joy of being part of their local communities have been so interesting. I’ve chatted with student nurses who are just beginning to find their way and explore remote area practice to seasoned veterans who now offer specialist services such as skin cancer checks where these would not usually be available, along with nurses who have been thrown into the deep end and thrived and those who have become part of their communities. RANs have been a fixture in remote Australia for many years and their services continue to be vital. It has been a real pleasure to partner with CRANA+ and create a podcast about RANs. For full interviews with RANs, you can tune into the CRANAcast podcast.
Do you have a podcast theme you would like to develop? Reach out to the team at Transformation Consultancy to discuss your podcast vision and needs.
Best regards,
Kate Ridge
Author
Kate Ridge – Director of Transformation Consultancy
Kate is the Director of Transformation Consultancy and provides services to support adult educators improve their practice. Kate has over 19 years of experience working in the health care industry and the vocational education and training (VET/TVET) sectors. Kate is passionate about assisting educators to develop their practice in education and facilitation in order to create positive and rewarding student outcomes. She also has a passion for podcasting and has hosted the following podcasts:
Co-host of the internationally successful podcast Education Transformation
Host of the CRANAcast podcast profiling remote area nursing.
Kate has also authored two books:
Contact Kate and her team today to discuss your unique needs today.
