Wednesday 5 February is Primary Health Care Nurses Day, a day to celebrate the amazing work nurses do in primary health care settings, including vital asthma management, education and care. This year’s theme is ‘Treating the whole person’.
We chatted to our long-standing, valued National Asthma Council Australia (NAC) Board member and primary health care nurse, Julianne Badenoch. Julianne says she values her work as a primary health care nurse because it is an opportunity to become an integral part of a person’s life journey and it is a privilege to provide holistic care.
What inspired you to pursue a career in nursing?
Actually, I wanted to be a veterinary surgeon! My mum was a nurse and she encouraged me to try nursing when I decided to take a gap year after school. I loved it and very soon saw it as a lifelong career however there is still a frustrated vet within me!
Why did you choose a primary health care nursing focus in your career?
I have always worked in rural communities over my 49-year career. I recognised early in my career the challenges rural and remote communities face in accessing good or even adequate health care or any semblance of health equity.
I believed midwifery was my true passion and it still is among the most wonderful and most privileged of my many career paths. However, in the late ‘90s I was encouraged by a few rural hospital GP colleagues to join their general practice.
At first, I was hesitant but gave it a go and met a wonderful nurse who had been working in primary health care for a long time. She became an exemplary mentor and one of my closest friends. Initially we managed basic nursing duties with a safety and quality approach and then focused on chronic condition management in the early 2000s.
What is special or unique about primary health care nurses?
Primary health care nurses have the capability, capacity and privilege to truly provide holistic care to their communities from ‘cradle to the grave’.
As a primary health care nurse working in general practice, I was able to tap into every skill and experience of my nursing and midwifery career. You can become an integral part of your client’s life journey and can offer them an opportunity to improve or at least best manage their health through a holistic approach.
A person should not be defined by their illness or disease; they are complex and need to be seen as a whole person. All primary health care nurses have the opportunity to offer people the understanding, care, empathy, support, or guidance to improve their circumstance and/or health. It is often the small things that make a real difference.
How do primary health care nurses contribute to the care and management of people with asthma?
Primary health care nurses work across the spectrum of out of hospital care so there are many opportunities to improve asthma care and management. This brings me back to holistic care. No matter the reason for an encounter in a person’s health journey, understanding their wholeness is paramount.
Exploring or trying to improve just one part of a person’s chronic health condition is not enough. For example, if a person’s diabetes is not well managed, and they are struggling to exercise it may be due to difficulty breathing. They may have poorly controlled or undiagnosed asthma. Look at everything! Reviewing respiratory health at every opportunity can bring about positive changes to a person’s overall health.
What has been your career highlight in working as a primary health care nurse?
There have been so many. I have been very lucky to have such a long and varied career and to still work in a busy rural general practice where my colleagues are like family. Our community values and trusts us and I am able to use all the skills and knowledge I have gathered over the years.
How did you first become involved with the NAC and what has your involvement over the years included?
My interest in supporting like-minded primary health care nurses and in particular nurses working in general practice, led me to join the Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) Board in 2004. APNA was very much in its infancy in 2004 and is now a dynamic, nurse led organisation supporting nurses in primary health care, leading health policy direction and change in primary health care nationally. I remain very proud and very excited by APNA and its future.
In 2013, the NAC acknowledged the important role primary health care nurses have in asthma management and diagnosis. APNA became a member organisation of NAC and I then joined the NAC Board.
Primarily my role is as a director with a focus on governance however I do hope I have been a strong advocate for nurses working in asthma and respiratory health and also an advocate for treating people holistically. This is so important because I have seen respiratory conditions often viewed as secondary to other chronic conditions and I hope I have helped lift asthma’s profile and impact when viewing the whole person.
What have you enjoyed most about your role with the NAC?
Over the years I have become a governance nerd and I see my role with NAC as very much about governance, which I love. I have filled in as Deputy Chair on occasion and more formally as Governance Chair. I participate and contribute through the Nurses Asthma Advisory Group and in policy review when relevant.
I feel very proud of NAC as a dynamic organisation providing professional education and support to clinicians in asthma diagnosis and care. The NAC provides asthma education across Australia through health professional resources, workshops and online education. The NAC’s Australian Asthma Handbook is an invaluable resource renown nationally and internationally and developed by a team of hard-working clinicians who are all experts in their chosen field, committed to asthma care and management.
Over the last 11 years as a NAC director, I feel very proud to have supported the development of asthma education and the Australian Asthma Handbook. The NAC Board and staff are all amazing and as a small team, work very hard for the advancement of asthma diagnosis and care. It has been a privilege over the years to have worked with such exemplary people.
The Australian Primary Health Care Nurses Association (APNA) is a member organisation of the National Asthma Council Australia.
Primary Health Care Nurses Day is an annual APNA campaign.
