Watch Recording - RN Prescribing: Registration, Education and Practice

The Department of Nursing, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre hosted this year's fourth and final public nursing seminar on 9 October 2024.

2024 Nursing Event 4 Panel Photo

This seminar explored the advancements towards implementing registered nurse prescribing, which may soon be introduced in Australia. This was a panel presentation, chaired by Dr Di Crellin (Senior Lecturer and Nurse Practitioner) and explored how RN prescribing has the potential to improve community access to medicines. Leah Bradley from the Nursing and Midwifery Board and Emma Saddington from Safer Care Victoria introduced us to the proposed standards and legislation and the potential workforce implications for Victoria. The seminar also included examples of the likely impact of RN prescribing on equity of access with presentations by Carmel O'Kane, Cancer Nurse Practitioner at Wimmera Heath Care Group and Cara Garrett, Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Royal Melbourne Hospital Residential Inreach (RIR). Find out more about the speakers here.

2024 Nursing Event 4 Captioned Group Photo

Watch Recording

About the Panel

  • Leah Bradley (B.Sc., RN, MRes, M.Ed.) is currently a Senior Project & Policy Officer at the Australian Health Practitioners Regulation Agency (AHPRA), Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia (NMBA). Previously Leah worked in the Higher Education Sector as a Senior Lecturer for the Bachelor of Nursing and the Professional Experience Placement Lead. Leah’s role included working with internal and external placements to facilitate PEP and to coordinate, develop and implement innovative curriculum design using blended learning as a pedagogy. Leah’s collaborative work in the virtual simulation space led to a presentation at the International Nursing Association of Clinical Simulation and Learning (INACSL) and the trial of Coaching for Excellence through the National League for Learning was a first in Australia. Leah has over 30 years clinical experience and a Registered Nurse in various clinical areas. Her areas of interest and research focus are professional experience placement, supportive education, curriculum design and transition to practice experiences of students, graduates and preceptors. Leah holds a Master of Education and Master of Research and is currently a HDR candidate. Leah’s role as a Senior Project and Policy Officer for Ahpra and the NMBA includes the Designated RN Prescriber Project and the RN Standards of Practice Review.
  • Cara Garrett has a long and varied Nursing career, working in New Zealand, the UK and for the last 13 years, in Victoria. She has a strong interest in advancing nursing practice and is eager for Advanced Nursing legitimacy with the upcoming Act changes. Cara obtained a Masters in Health Science - endorsed clinical nursing in 2013 through the University of Otago, New Zealand. Cara holds specialist qualifications and has extensive experience working in Emergency for 15 years, RMH Intensive Care for 10 years, and advanced nursing practice in Rural Healthcare NZ for 5 years. Cara has recently moved out to Community healthcare with RMH@home and is currently a Clinical Nurse Consultant in Residential Inreach (RIR). RIR focuses on a "home first" philosophy for older adults in residential aged care homes. Cara attends acute healthcare events as a solo practitioner with telephone access to medical support, preventing unnecessary hospital presentations and admissions.
  • Carmel O'Kane is a cancer nurse since 1995. Carmel managed the Peninsula Health Cancer Service until 2011, when she moved to Horsham as a Nurse Practitioner. Carmel has been working in this position, an innovative role, providing education, support and clinical excellence in cancer care to the Wimmera Region of Victoria. Carmel has a particular interest in patient decision making as well as Rural Cancer Nurse education and supportive care. In 2019, Carmel accepted the position of Manager of the newly opened Wimmera Cancer Centre, a centre which incorporates a community Palliative Care Service, Haemodialysis, Day Oncology and Infusion centre, and is working with her teams to ensure the very best standard of care to the people in the Wimmera. Carmel is also very active in the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia, the peak Cancer Nursing Body.
  • Emma Saddington is a critical care trained registered nurse with an extensive educational background. She holds a Bachelor of Science specialising in Disability Studies, followed by a Bachelor of Nursing, Masters in Nursing, Masters of Public Health, and Masters of Health Administration. With over two decades of experience, Emma has worked in various healthcare settings, including large tertiary metropolitan and community-based hospitals, specialising in emergency and trauma care working both locally and abroad. As a strong advocate for emergency nursing globally, Emma focuses on workforce retention, capacity and capability development, policy reform and health system collaboration. At Alfred Health, she has served in specialty leadership roles, including disaster response and management, quality and risk, safety and environment, workforce, and operations management. Emma actively engages in public health campaigns, extending healthcare beyond hospital walls to empower local communities and consumers which is evident in her work as the current Senior Nursing Advisor for Safer Care Victoria. Outside her healthcare career, Emma serves as the chairwoman of 'Children of Cambodia,' a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to promoting sustainable primary education in rural and regional Cambodian communities.
  • Dr Di Crellin (Panel Discussion Facilitator) is a nurse practitioner and senior lecturer and the coordinator of the NP program at UoM. She is leading curriculum development for a Specialist Certificate in Registered Nurse Prescribing to be offered by the University to provide an education pathway for registered nurse endorsement for scheduled medicine prescribing.