Bunbury Hospital Café Pop-up stand

Come and meet South West HPN Regional Program Officer Jolijn Thompson at the St John of God Bunbury Hospital Café and learn more about the South West Health Professionals Network and how we provide education and networking events in the South West.

Wednesday 8 February 2023 | 9.30am to 1.00pm

Registrations are not required. Contact Jolijn for more information at jolijn.thompson@swhpn.com.au

Young Health Professionals Welcome to 2023 Networking Sundowner

The South West Health Professionals Network would like to invite our young health professional members to our Welcome to 2023 networking sundowner at the Bunbury Sunset Bar located at the Dolphin Discovery Centre. Connect and catch up to celebrate the new year over some light refreshments and small bites at our FREE event. 

Friday 17 February 2023 | 5.00pm to 7.30pm

Registrations are essential, please follow this link to register. For more information, please email  contact@swhpn.com.au

WA Rural Health Conference 2023 | People, Purpose, Passion 

Early bird rate closes this week!
11 and 12 March 2023 | Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre 

The WA Rural Health Conference 2023 is an opportunity to connect with health professionals from a variety of disciplines who all play a part in delivering vital healthcare services across rural WA. By bringing together all rural health professionals under one roof we seek to promote connection between these different perspectives, sharing insights and innovations in order to strengthen and enhance healthcare in rural WA.

KEYNOTE SPEAKER | SAMANTHA BLOOM: Author of Penguin Bloom.
An accident in Thailand in 2013 left Sam Bloom with debilitating injuries and paralysed from the chest down. Sam's novel Penguin Bloom, outlining her relationship with the injured magpie who helped her come to terms with her injuries, was a national best-seller and was brought to the screen in 2020.

Sam has won two Oceania KL1 Para-canoe Championships, and became a 2 x World and Australian Para Surfing Champion. In 2019, Sam was nominated for the Surfing Australia Female Surfer of the Year Award, and in 2022 was awarded the Surfing Australia Female Para Surfer of the Year. Sam works with numerous spinal cord injury charities around the world to support the quest for a cure, and is a global ambassador for the RedBull Wings For Life World Run. 

Travel support | Rural Health West will provide the travel support for eligible delegates with full attendance to the conference. For more information, please visit our travel page. Preliminary program available soon! For more information please contact us.
Register now!

Meet SWHPN Member Melanie Buhlmann

Melanie Buhlmann is a registered nurse and nursing lecturer within the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Edith Cowan University (ECU) South West, where she has had the opportunity to work within a highly dynamic and supportive team of clinicians and academics.

Melanie says that her role as nursing lecturer is especially rewarding as she gets to teach in the state-of-the art ECU simulation facilities and contribute to the education of the future workforce. Her favourite part is helping new nurses develop empowering attitudes towards their own learning and cultivate the growth of their own professional identity.

Melanie's research explores the concept of ‘moving-on’ from the impact of critical incidents on nurses and midwives with a focus on workforce retention. You can read Melanie's recent publications on Linkedin.

Melanie hails from Zurich, Switzerland where she completed her nursing training. Melanie found herself travelling the world and ended up migrating to Australia after falling in love!

She initially worked casually in several health care facilities and was soon offered a permanent position at St John of God Hospital Bunbury, where she became a Clinical Nurse / Clinical Nurse Educator. "I met incredibly talented health care professionals in our region, who inspired me and came to be my mentors and life-long friends", says Melanie. Devoted to nurse education, she accepted a teaching position at ECU South West, where she pursued further postgraduate studies whilst living, working and raising a family in the Bunbury region. Melanie has three passions in life: The people in her social convoy, the work she does and living life to the fullest!

When she's not busy working you will find Melanie spending time with her children, attending community sport or on long runs along the South West’s pristine rivers, estuaries and beaches.

'ED-Links Pharmacy Project' supporting high-risk patients in the South West

Annually in Australia it is estimated that there are 250,000 hospital admissions as a result of medication-related problems, costing $1.4 billion. In recent years hospitals across Australia have been implementing pharmacist-led Hospital-Initiated post-discharge medication reviews for high-risk patients in an effort to prevent avoidable hospitalisations.

As part of the WA Country Health Service (WACHS) Hospital Avoidance Program (HAP), a pharmacist position has been created within the Bunbury Regional Hospital ED-Links team to support high-risk patients that have presented to Bunbury Regional Hospital ED and link them back to community services. A new hospital-initiated pathway to refer high-risk patients for an urgent Home Medicines Review (HMR) has been developed after collaboration with Bunbury GP’s and Accredited Pharmacists. A trial of this pathway began on 9 January 2023. For more information contact Ainslie Lavers (ED-Links Pharmacist) on 9722 1035.

SCARP is back!

Don’t miss this free combined respiratory simulation and workshop presented by Dr Adam Bancroft and Dr Kayla Mizzi on 8 February 2023 in Bunbury. It’ll sharpen your respiratory management skills in a rural generalist/ED and GP setting.

SCARP stands for 'Sharing the Challenges and Appreciation of Rural Practice', so hospital JMOs, GP registrars, GPs and RCSWA medical students are all welcome. Please follow the link to register for catering purposes.

SHAPE and the SW Healthy Lifestyles Directory Launch

WA Primary Health Alliance (WAPHA) has recently launched the SHAPE (Supporting Holistic And Person-centred weight Education) website and Conversations About Weight online training to support health professionals play a more central role in supporting patients with weight concerns.

Conversations About Weight, developed by Diabetes WA, is RACGP CPD approved and focuses on different aspects of weight management. Each module provides insight into the complexity of this topic, to empower health professionals to support patients and guide these sensitive, yet important conversations.

Come along to this event and hear about how SHAPE and Conversations About Weight can support you in your practice. You will also hear more about the complexity of factors that influence weight, including weight stigma in the healthcare setting and how to take an empathetic to approach when supporting patients in larger bodies.

CPD points are available for this event and the Conversations About Weight training modules.

When:  Thursday 23 February 2023
Where: Bunbury Regional Entertainment Centre (Harvey Room)
Time:    6.00pm to 7.30pm

Please register for this event by 15 February by following the link.

WAPHA and WA Country Health Service Southwest have partnered with My Community Directory to assist people Southwest WA to eat well and be active by linking them to local services and activities. Find out how your service can be included in this directory and how you can use it to support your clients.

What's happening in your region

BUSSELTON
Busselton Jetty Swim
11 and 12 February 2023

The Busselton Jetty Swim is a premier event on the WA sporting calendar and features a 3.6 km ocean swim around the iconic Busselton Jetty. Since 1996, the swim has grown in popularity from a local attraction with 82 participants to an internationally recognised event attracting over 4,200 competitors in 2023. More information on this event is available from the website.

MARGARET RIVER
Breast Screen WA Mobile Clinic
11 January to 30 March 2023

BreastScreen WA’s free screening mammogram service is coming to Margaret River and will see a mobile clinic located at Gloucester Park Carpark behind the Margaret River HEART from Wednesday 11 January 2022 until Thursday 30 March 2023. All women over 40 years with no symptoms are eligible for a free breast x-ray and are strongly encouraged to book an appointment. More details are available from the website.

BOYUP BROOK
Boyup Brook Country Music Festival
17 to 19 February 2023

The Boyup Brook Country Music Festival is one of WA's most popular music and camping festivals, held annually. It is a friendly celebration of all Country Music in a relaxed and natural bushland setting. Our Music Park is a charming family festival venue, with mature river gums over grassy knolls on the banks of the beautiful Blackwood River. During Festival days this picturesque venue, and sleepy town, comes alive with delightful music on the main stage and throughout the streets. Tickets are available from the website.

BUNBURY
Bunbury Beer and Cider Festival
18 and 19 February 2023

The Bunbury Beer and Cider Festival will be held at Koombana Bay again this year and promises to deliver another fun filled event including 50+ beers and ciders, beats and eats. There will also be a range of activities to keep everyone entertained. More information is available from the website.