This award recognises a Registered Nurse or Midwife, Enrolled Nurse or an Assistant-in-Nursing (however titled) who champions a positive practice environment as demonstrated through one or more of the six Positive Practice Environment Standards (PPES).

Click here to read the full Positive Practice Environment Standards

Entrants or nominees must respond to the following questions:

• Address at least one of the six Positive Practice Environment Standards, clearly specifying the standard you are addressing and providing evidence of how they were demonstrated and embedded by you in your workplace (max. 500 words).
• Describe how you have demonstrated QNMU professional activism in your workplace (max. 250 words).

Entry requisites for this award:

• Must not have previously won this award
• Must be a current financial QNMU member and membership must have been held for minimum 12 months prior to application
• Cannot be an employed QNMU staff member or Councillor in the previous 12 months prior to date applications open 
• Cannot be a first-degree relative of a QNMU staff member or Councillor 
• Finalists must commit to attending the QNMU Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards ceremony in Brisbane on Thursday 25th July 2024 (funded by QNMU)
• Finalists must commit to participating in QNMU marketing or communications for the awards eg photo shoots, testimonials etc
• Winners must commit to providing written feedback to the QNMU council within three months of receiving their prize on how it was spent towards professional or personal development.

Example:  2022 Winner, Sue Hall

PPES chosen:  Standard 3 = Autonomous and collaborative practice

Sue is a Registered Nurse and Midwife at the Tieri Family Unit and Child Health Centre, where she has worked as a child health nurse, a midwife, and an immunisation nurse for the past 22 years. 

Sue is a sole practitioner in a rural and remote setting and covers an area of approximately 100km. 

She provides antenatal, postnatal child health, immunisation, hearing, vision, speech assessments, “positive parenting program”, and home visits. As part of her role, Sue accompanies women in labour in an ambulance to the nearest hospital, located 100km away, and has had to deliver babies on more than one occasion in the ambulance. 

Sue is the only immunisation preceptor covering a 350km area. As part of her role, Sue mentors nursing students while they undergo IPN training and afterwards when they are running their immunisation clinic. 

As a QNMU member of 45 years, Sue believes the only way to improve the health system is to be a united front. She strongly advocates for a collaborative working environment where staff are encouraged to learn and constantly improve their skills for their communities.