My plans for 2011

It would not be a New Year without setting some goals, writing them on your blog makes it harder to break and you are more accountable.... I find it very useful each year to reflect on the year gone by and plan for the following year... some of my goals are as a result of reflecting the year gone bye..... one decision I have come to as a result of my trip to Tanzania is to spend more time on my spirituality. Equally importantly I need to reduce my stress levels.

Spirituality: - Dharmapala Buddhist Centre – starting January 2nd with a week guided meditations – I am committing to the first week four sessions a day for the first two days.... and then two evening session for the rest of the week... then I will do the evening sessions... My aim is to meditate each day and go at least once or twice a week to a group mediation to keep me focused.

Study – Must complete my assignments on time.... devote more time to my study and learn to say “No” to anything that interferes with it......

CeMGP – Centred Midwifery Group Practice – much is required this year, I am so excited about the success of this practice...continuity of care is the focus... advertising, clientele, staff..... I am really excited about this business and its growth.... the website and blog is coming by the end of January.

Work – I have reduced my teaching hours.... starting a new curriculum therefore much work is required for my units.... Singapore is exciting and challenging...and I am not ready to give this up... I am looking forward to meditating in the temples when I next visit.

Clinical Practice – I will be signing up for casual midwifery work...the decision is which hospital and probably a shift or two a week...

It is an exciting year and I am really focused this year on getting my spirituality & study on track then every else will fall into place.

6 Key points to keep in mind this year;
Spend less, watch my weight, be less wasteful, exercise 5 out of 7 days, meditate everyday, keep a work life balance.

I am determined and dedicated as always to put women and midwifery first for greater choices for childbirth.

Presenting to your peers!

Hoping the 'Dog Rose" strikes for my husband - his beloved Yorkshire Rose


I was asked last month to talk today about Scope of Practice and Career Pathways to some clinical development midwives, nurses and educators at my old hospital. My first thought was 'no'. However as usual you end up saying 'yes'. I normally don't worry about presentations but I was nervous about this one, the difference being that they are your peers. I feel particularly apprehensive in these situations, it is something I have to work on. Has anyone else experienced this feeling?

When you examine the career pathway for nurses and midwives, it can be limiting. However most importantly it is a continuous process of lifelong learning. As you progress up the stairway you can branch off into clincial specalist - education or non clincal fields, such as; project managers, research, or management areas - this then will lead to Director of Nursing. You will need to be considering masters and PhD by the time you reach the top.

The other issue is that sometimes it feels like you are teaching them to suck eggs, if you know that expression. What knowledge do you impart on people who know and teach the scope of practice? or guide others about career pathways.

I decided that I would set the scene with thinking about 'the self' being 'self aware' examining and processing how each individual approaches different life situations. Who are your role models, who do you aspire to be? for me this might be powerful women such as: Condoleezza Rice Catherine Hamlyn , Quentin Bryce and Fiona Stanley to name a few.

Also it is important to know what is it that you do in your spare time, what are your hobbies, how do you relax, wind down. This is all part and parcel of finding your career path because this all makes up who you are.
However most importantly you have to find out what is your passion, what is it that you like doing most, because once you find that out, you can then plan how you are going to achieve it.

A small step that every one can take is to set objectives or goals. This helps you when you are planning your future, 1 year, 3 year and 5 year plans. Some people found this daunting. If this is the case you need to take smaller steps, look three months ahead. Planning goals does not just apply to your work but your life as well. Set your holiday goals, when is your next overseas holiday, plan it and set it out. You will find once you set a goal it is easier to achieve, of course life can change and so do your plans, but get into the habit of setting goals.

I have always found it useful to set goals, short term and long term goals for both my work and personal life, it helps me achieve the things I want to in life.
If you don't set goals try it, see how well it works. Once you set the goal it is easier to plan how to achieve what ever it is you want.
Its all about taking little steps, when you look back you have reached the top of the stairway, and that's a tremendous feeling.

I am glad today is over, it all went well and according to plan, except once I start talking I can go off track and not stick to the game plan.

The take home message is set yourself a 12 month and 5 year plan, and watch it grow.

Yes luck with the Yorkshire Rose, lets hope they keep growing!

Teaching in Singapore:

It is always good to go away, but to experience teaching overseas is an exceptional experience. I am happy and grateful to have this experience and share the cultural diversity in which we live. I love my job and am passionate about teaching and doing my part to ensure that women are given informed information to make informed choices.



Life works in strange ways, let me give you an example: anyone who knows me knows I love books, I enjoy walking around bookshops and will visit bookshops where ever I am. I don’t always have a book in mind, however if a cover jumps off the shelf at me, I have to have it. Let me rephrase that, I will read the back cover and then make a decision, 90% of the time I pick the book. Now airports are a great place to walk around the bookshops or newsagents, for some reason they seem to have a different selection of books and I always find one that I like, what a surprise that is! Last trip it was Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, & David O. Relin, it was an exceptional story, if you get the chance read the story.

This trip it was The Hospital by the River by Dr Catherine Hamlin & John Little. It is a story about an incredible couple; both Dr’s in Obstetrics & Gynaecology who worked in Ethiopia dedicating their lives to women suffering the catastrophic effects of obstructed labour and the awful injuries as a result, that is, fistulas. These women are often from the age of 14 upwards. I have not finished reading the book, but it is both heart wrenching and compassionate. It has opened my eyes in many ways and I am grateful there are people in the world like the ‘Hamlin’s. The story is based in Ethiopia in the early 50’s. It was interesting to read that Sylvia Pankhurst the daughter of the famous Emmeline Pankhurst (the English suffragette) and she set up the Addis Ababa Fistula Hospital which is now world renowned for its incredible life saving work. It is a small world, it makes you think are you born to do great things?

As a child I always remember my father saying he left Italy after the war and went to live Ethiopia & when he was ‘kicked’ out of Ethiopia he moved down to Rhodesia (Zimbabwe)where he met my mother and I eventually came along. I didn’t realise that Mussolini invaded & occupied ETHIOPIA (and thats why my father was there) in 1935 until 1941. I don't like to admit it but my father was one of those fascist, unfortuntaley he was a Mussolini man, well, each to their own. You live and learn.



Now back to teaching – Singapore is a beautiful city however the humidity is more than I can bear at times – I often feel like I am constantly in a sauna, but there is no plunge pool to cool off in. I spend an intensive 12 hour teaching over 3 days. This is usually split into formal lectures, workshops and group interaction. The group are multi - ethnic made of Singaporeans, Chinese, Malay, Indian and others. The religious make up is Buddhist, Muslim, Christian, Hindu, Sikh, Taoist, Confucianism and apologies for the ones I have left out.



The students are always respectful and courteous, family is very important and there is great respect for the elderly in the community. Most people are softly spoken and calm, at times it is very difficult for me to get the students to engage in open discussion, and therefore it is important for me to observe body language before nominating students to answer questions. Sometimes we have long periods of silence whilst I am waiting for the discussion to begin – my next trip I think I will introduce a prize a token gift for those who engage in discussions, and see if this makes a difference. Everyone likes a gift.

I have to ask the question whether it is a good idea to have the Nurses Board in the Ministry of Health, Medical Profession Building under the umbrella of the Medical Profession as in doctors. The building is OK but maybe in a separate office to acknowledge the profession of nursing as a separate entity.
On entering this building the security is evident, you need to show ID and have a pass to enter. In Singapore the Nurses Board, Dentist Council and Medical Council are all in the same building in fact it looks as if it is all in the same office. Under the Nurses and Midwives Act Singapore The Nurses Board consists of two Doctors and 14 other people (nurses). When it comes to disciplinary matters for nurses the doctors assess the fitness of the nurse to work. I wonder if the medical board has nurses on it, and if the nurses have a say as to whether the doctors are fit for work. I think not.
The other difference I saw was that there are midwives in Singapore however the Board or the Act does not reflect the 'term midwife' in it. It is not surprising to hear that the nursing union is not strong in Singapore and that the nurses feel underpaid and would like to be more political, however the cultural differences are noticeable when it comes to being political. I have heard the term 'controlled' Democracy when people have been discussing the politics of Singapore, I now know what that means.



I took some time out to visit the Botanical Gardens, and it was time well spent relaxing, walking soaking up the beautiful scenery and flowers. Shopping is always wonderful in Singapore so much to choose from and the sales were at there peak and the credit card took a bit of a hit – I came home with four pairs of new shoes – shhhh I didn’t tell my husband, I just hope he doesn’t notice –but they were such a bargain I did buy him, a golfing book. The diet also took a pounding as the food is so good it was hard to say no. But I’m home now and back on track with the diet and exercise and the shoes look great. Until the next time, Ciao.

Starting another course! I must be mad or is this all part of life long learning?

The year is well and truly entrenched now and first assignments will be due very soon. I have started my graduate certificate in Tertiary Education – you might ask why? The answer is simple, I want to be the best at what I do, therefore I feel I need to extend myself and make sure I utilise all possible avenues to be a great lecturer. Teaching formally is very different from teaching in the clinical area, which is what I am use to. However I must say that it is very disappointing to know that we teach the ideal and the reality is that in the clinical area/setting they are not practicing the ideal. Why is this?
I suspect this is largely due to being overworked and under staffed.

Some questions to ponder on! Does this mean there really is a theory practice gap?? No nurses and midwives always remember to be professional when they are working to the limit? Are they tempted to cut corners because they are so busy? How do they decide which corner to cut? Are they supported by management to maintain standards under these conditions? Is the paper work completed? Do they fill out forms when they feel under pressure, when they don’t have enough staff? Or do health professionals become blasé when they are always asked to work in these conditions? What answers do you have? One thing I have learned over the years is that unless the i’s are dotted nothing gets done. In other words, if all nurses and midwives were to fill out an aims form or incident form each time they felt unsafe or there was not enough staff to cover the work to the required standard something would soon be done. Why is it we don’t?

Now back to my course, it is all on line. This is good for me, as I have a couple of units I coordinate that are all on line, so I too can experience what it feels like to be student & how important it is to have the relevant information online. This is an interesting way of learning, interacting with the computer, meeting fellow students through blackboard profiling and emailing your tutor. I do find that I have enormous amounts of reading to do. One thing for sure is that you have to be committed to your study, enjoy the course you are doing and have clear study plans and deadlines for your assessments, otherwise you are doomed to fail. We are now in a technological age where communication is so different from when I went to school; in fact the way we all communicate now is so different. The geographical boundaries are reduced, I am currently studying with people all over Australia and I have students as far as New Guinea that is really amazing – what is next?

Enjoy your life long learning!