Mornington Rotary Club and The Bays Hospital have launched a fund to pay for specialised training for nurses.
The Rotary club has made an initial $25,000 donation to The Bays Nursing and Midwifery Education Fund and is urging members of the community to also contribute and support their local hospital.
“We are thrilled to have had the support of Mornington Rotary Club over many years, and have worked with them over the last year to identify the most worthy project for them to support into the future. Nurse education is certainly that,” The Bays CEO Jade Phelan said.
Incoming president of Rotary Pam Hall said money raised from the club’s annual Mornington Art Show had “enabled us to do this and we thank all the sponsors, artists, and visitors that make it such a success”.
Kellie Bamberry, director of nursing at The Bays, said the money could be used to rectify the shortage of stomal therapy nurses on the peninsula … “the training required for this costs around $12,000, so this will be a great boost”.
“A stoma is a small opening in the abdomen that is used to remove body waste into a collection colostomy or ileostomy bag, which can be required after treatment for bowel cancer. Stomal therapy nurses provide specialist and individual care to patients living with colostomies and ileostomies,” she said.
Bamberry said the hospital’s next project would be training nurses to care for patients living with lymphoedema.
“Access to lymphoedema specialist nurses is challenging on the peninsula, so having this service available at The Bays would be of great benefit to peninsula residents and hospital patients.”
The first scholarship through the fund was awarded to registered nurse Justine Killen who is completing the post graduate stomal therapy course.
To donate to the nurse education fund email fundraising@thebays.com.au or call 5970 5329.
First published in the Mornington News – 27th June 2023
