Margaret McLeod

Australian rural maternity services: creating a future or putting the last nail in the coffin

[Extract] Nurses and midwives are the largest group of health providers in Australia (60%), and with increasing remoteness, this proportion increases substantially. The recruitment and retention of nurses, and more specifically midwives in rural health services, is at crisis point. Sustainable birthing services will be reliant on a stable, regenerative workforce. Key to this goal is the education of nurses, midwives and doctors, all of whom have stringent pre-service professional placement quotas in order to meet required competencies to practice.

A safety net: use of pseudonyms in oral nursing history

This paper explores the use of pseudonyms in a historical study that weaves oral testimony throughout the narrative. The research was undertaken to unveil the experiences of Australian Army nurses in Malaya’s Communist insurgency (1948-1960). Thirty-three women from the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps served in this conflict termed the Malayan Emergency, but only four nurses could be located for this study. After almost fifty years of silence the female nursing voice emerged as the informants spoke at interview of their unique personal and military experiences in Malaya. It is acknowledged that assigning the nurse informants pseudonyms, as opposed to using their names, constitutes a significant deviation from the established traditions of oral history. However, it is argued that the use of pseudonyms provided an opportunity for candid disclosure by the nurses on a range of topics whilst keeping the informants safe from adverse public or military scrutiny.

Australian College of Nursing Rural Nursing and Midwifery Faculty: Advocating for greater equity in rural health

Working in rural Australia is a privilege and challenge that all rural nurses and midwives understand. Knowing the community, being known by the community, doing without, yet understanding much, can be achieved through innovative thinking and practice. The Australian College of Nursing (ACN), formerly known as Royal College of Nursing, Australia (RCNA), established the Rural Nursing and Midwifery Faculty (RNMF) in 2009. The RNMF is committed to advocating on its membership’s behalf, ensuring rural populations are well serviced. Two recent events highlight current initiatives undertaken by the RNMF.

Culturally Diverse Malayan Milieu: Experiences and Perceptions of RAANC Nurses 1955-1960

The war exploits of Australian Army nurses have been represented in a number of literary sources, but there is a paucity of data about the nurses who served in the Malayan Emergency (1948-1960). Using descriptive interpretive historiography, with a central focus on oral testimony, this paper aims to highlight the culturally rich and diverse environment of Malaya in the 1950s. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with four women from the Royal Australian Army Nursing Corps to expose their experiences and perceptions of the Malayan environment and its people. The information provided by these nurses was subjected to manual thematic analysis resulting in the emergence of a number of themes. One prominent theme, Malayas cultural diversity, was chosen for this paper because it contained an abundant source of new and rich data. To protect the identities of the informants pseudonyms were used in the presentation of the oral narratives. This approach led to revelations about how Australian women, with limited knowledge or exposure to other cultural groups, engaged in work and leisure time pursuits in Malayas exotic cultural milieu.