Nursing is a journey: A profile of an agricultural health clinician

By Rosi Bear, RN – Northern District Health Service VIC

Nurses are vital to the community. A career in nursing can be challenging, while also rewarding as it involves helping sick individuals become healthy again. Developing our knowledge, skills & experience over time means we can work in many and varied environments. This also allows us to have the opportunity to work flexible hours.

Each nurse’s journey is unique. A caring & empathetic nature is common and nursing soon becomes part of your being.

It is caring for people when they are vulnerable and involves educating individuals to achieve health & wellbeing, empowering them to have control of their personal journey.

I was in the first intake of University trained nurses at Warrnambool Institute of advanced Education which later became Deakin University. I studied for 18 months, qualified as a State Enrolled Nurse – now known as Registered Nurse Division 2. I then deferred and commenced my practical nursing career at Hamilton Base Hospital on Fitzgerald wing, a surgical ward.

At 21 I travelled to the UK, I enjoyed agency nursing in London and also worked as a Nanny out in the country – the families I worked with valued & were comforted with my  nursing qualification & knowledge.

Returning to Australia in 1991, I worked as an agency nurse in many hospitals & nursing homes around Melbourne. This grew and embedded my medical & pharmacology knowledge. During this time, I developed sound nursing and communication skills. Here I learnt to work as a team member and adapt quickly to changing environments & circumstances. I soon returned to Deakin University where I completed my Bachelor of Nursing and registered as a Division 1 Nurse. My graduate year was at Wimmera Base Hospital in Horsham. This was a wonderful 12 months with rotations & experience in Surgical, Theatre, A&E and Renal Dialysis.

A country girl, I met and married a country boy. I was welcomed into a family farming business in Northern Victoria but I have always wished to continue nursing; it is part of my being & my identity.

I am a partner in our sheep grazing business and unlike many, we have had a smooth succession to our generation. Whilst I don’t work actively in the business; however, I do work actively on the business. As a nurse we have policies written in relation to health & safety for individuals and various workplace practices & procedure, e.g. If forecast over 38oC then inside between 11-3pm. Wearing PPE when using Chemicals, tools, implements or machinery etc.

When our children were small I had a yearning to work in Community Nursing. An opportunity opened and I was welcomed into District / Domiciliary nursing at our local hospital. I was now developing my knowledge of Community Support Services to clients needing support whilst living at home. In community health, I now work with people from different cultural backgrounds, often with disadvantaged and marginalised people.

In partnership with the local community, I work to prevent illness and promote health across the lifespan by identifying barriers to healthy lifestyles and general wellness. I work with families and communities to empower individuals accessing care to change unhealthy lifestyles and provide post-acute care to people in their homes.

It is important to be able to assume responsibility and a leadership role, take initiative in emergencies, have strong communication skills, work autonomously and as part of a team, maintain patience and discretion when providing health care.

In community health we provide an interpretative bridge between the acute sector and community services. We embrace a social model of health to advocate and give a voice to the community accessing health care. In a system which is often complex and hard to navigate, we as community health nurses are able to simplify the health systems, referral pathways and access to care.

I work in an interdisciplinary team which can include, but is not limited to, mental health nurses, podiatrists, general practitioners, psychologists, women’s health nurses, Aboriginal health workers, allied health and hospital services. As a nurse my skills have also been valued in case management roles with Aged care and disability services…. such a diverse journey a nurse can have.

Nursing, an interest in health and farming life is my being. Not actively working in our agricultural family farming business, I wanted to  use my breadth of knowledge and skills  built over the last 25 years to educate & empower our farmers about their health.

Then I found the National Centre For Farmer Health (NCFH). Our local community had been suffering a lot of adversity with drought, political water war-fare leading to reduced or no irrigation water allocation, poor commodity prices in some sectors and associated mental health issues to many families. This ripple effect has affected many businesses within our community as they rely on the agricultural sector.

I applied for & completed the unit HMF 701 Agricultural Health & Medicine through Deakin University in partnership with NCFH.  Also very fortunate to have a supportive employer, Northern District Community Health who could recognise the need to be able to offer this specific agricultural health service to our community. I studied Agricultural Health & Medicine with the intent to becoming an AgriSafe Clinician in my local area in Northern Victoria. I now feel comforted that I can use my extended nursing knowledge to contribute & support our agricultural and farming sector.

I now look forward to delivering the Primary Prevention and health awareness program to our agricultural community. If health is compromised it can affect your family and business.

By educating our farmers they can improve their health, wellbeing and safety to be able to get the most out of their life and fulfil their farming business’s potential. Health is a person’s number 1 asset.

May my journey continue with my passion for health and farming….

Agricultural health and medicine education—Engaging rural professionals to make a difference to farmers’ lives

Despite continued higher rates of workplace injuries, earlier morbidity and mortality and challenging climatic environments, few formal programs focus on the health, well‐being and safety of farmers. The agricultural health and medicine unit, developed in 2010, was designed to increase cultural competence and empower rural professionals to improve the health, well‐being and safety outcomes of farming populations in Australia. This study aimed to understand the extent to which graduates (2010‐2018) use the knowledge and skills gained in their current occupations and identify barriers and enablers faced in implementing them.

2020-08-18: Rural snapshot competition – Stock and Land

Express yourself with photos, videos, poetry, a tune or even a meme in the #SnapshotRuralVic competition run by the National Centre for Farmer Health.

Snapshot online project officer, Hilary McAllister said #SnapshotRuralVic encouraged all forms of creativity, from TikToks to haikus.
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There will be a weekly vote for the People’s Choice entry, who will receive a voucher to a rural business of their choice.

“This initiative hopes to share the stories of everyday Victorians who are sadly no stranger to challenging times,” she said.

“Whilst we navigate the coming months, #SnapshotRuralVic aims to unite Victorians through storytelling, humour and creativity.”

“From the local CFA meetings embracing Zoom technology, to people learning the art of mask making and getting their hands dirty in the vegetable garden, I hope #SnapshotRuralVic can help educate, inspire and hopefully provide some insight into rural life during these troubling times”.

#SnapshotRuralVic launched on Monday August 3rd 2020 and will run for 10 weeks.

Visit the campaign on Instagram at @SnapshotRuralVic and Facebook on the @Farmer_Health page to connect with the community.

A coffee-table style book will be published in digital and hard copy formats at the end of the program.

For further information, visit www.farmerhealth.org.au/snapshotruralvic.

The Ripple Effect: A digital intervention to reduce suicide stigma among farming men

Compared with the general population, Australian farmers—particularly men—have been identified as at greater risk of suicide. A complex range of factors are thought to contribute to this risk, including the experience of Stigma. stigma also impacts those who have attempted suicide, their carers, and those bereaved by suicide—manifesting as shame, guilt, social isolation, concealment of death, reduced help seeking and ongoing risk of suicide. This paper evaluates the effectiveness of an intervention, tailored for the farming context, designed to reduce stigma among farming men with a lived experience of suicide.

Suicide in Rural Australia: Are Farming-Related Suicides Different?

Rural Australians experience a range of health inequities—including higher rates of suicide—when compared to the general population. This retrospective cohort study compares demographic characteristics and suicide death circumstances of farming- and non-farming-related suicides in rural Victoria

Research Engagement Changes Attitudes and Behaviours towards Agrichemical Safety in Australian Farmers

There is limited research that evaluates the effect of farmer involvement in agrichemical exposure surveillance on their attitudes and behaviour towards pesticide handling and use of personal protective equipment. This limited follow-up study aimed to (i) evaluate attitudes/behaviours towards the use of personal protective equipment (PPE) among farmers who participated in the In-Field Personalised Cholinesterase Assessment Project (PCAP) (2016/17); and (ii) qualitatively assess the effect of monthly presentation of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) testing results on farmer agrichemical safety practices and behaviours prior to, and following participation in PCAP.

Organophosphate exposure and the chronic effects on farmers: a narrative review

Organophosphates are a class of insecticides used globally by the agricultural industry for insect control. Acute consequences of organophosphate exposures are well known, while there has been limited research on their long-term effects. The objective of this review was to discuss the health effects of chronic organophosphate exposure in farmers.

2020-07-20: Focus On Education Programs To Help Make Farms Safer – Press Release Minister for Agriculture

Two new educational programs supported by the Victorian Government will be rolled out for rural and regional school students to start changing attitudes towards safety on farms from an early age.

Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes today announced the programs at the beginning of National Farm Safety Week to reinforce the Government’s commitment towards reducing deaths and injuries on farms.

Kidsafe Victoria will receive a $97,000 grant to support their work preventing unintentional death and injury of children by delivering a farm safety campaign and creative competition in primary schools over three years.

The National Centre for Farmer Health will receive a $108,500 grant to deliver twenty ‘Gear up for Agriculture Health and Safety’ workshops to Victorian secondary school students who have an interest in agriculture.

Monash University Accident Research Centre (MUARC) found that children aged younger than 15 in Victoria’s outer regional areas are four times more likely to die due to injury than children in our major cities.

MUARC recommended addressing this problem through increased education and awareness of known injury hazards such as dams, farm equipment and off-road motorbike use.

Drowning is the leading cause of death of children on farms – providing a fenced play area away from water hazards such as dams is one example recommendation of what can be done to help make farms safer for children.

Teaching children about farms as workplaces as well as homes is a vital part of changing attitudes, with information showing children influence the decisions their parents make, in turn improving farm safety for the whole family.

These grants are part of the Victorian Government’s $20 million Victoria’s Smarter, Safer Farms program which is addressing skills and safety issues in the agriculture sector.

To find out more about the educational programs visit the Agriculture Victoria website.

Quotes attributable to Minister for Agriculture Jaclyn Symes

“Increasing education and awareness is crucial in order to change the culture of safety on farms – by partnering with Kidsafe Victoria and the National Centre for Farmer Health, we can do this from an early age.”

“This Farm Safety Week is a good reminder that we all have a role to play in understanding that farms are workplaces as well as homes, and how we behave on them can have significant consequences for every person who works, lives or visits one.”

Quote attributable to Minister for Workplace Safety Jill Hennessy

“The agricultural sector is overly represented in fatality statistics and helping Victorian students understand the role they play in making farms safer will make a difference now and for every person who participates in the agriculture sector over the years to come.”

View Media Release: 2020-07-20: Focus On Education Programs To Help Make Farms Safer – Press Release Minister for Agriculture

Mallee Sustainable Farming Podcast 4 – Looking after your most important farm asset | Child safety on farms

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In this episode we’re talking about Child Safety on Farms!

Welcome to our episode guest speaker, Jacquie Cotton (National Centre for Farmer Health).

We discuss:

Where to start when it comes to discussing child safety on your farm.
Practical safety ideas
School Holiday farm fun – how to approach child safety topics with your family, friends and community.

Handy resources:

https://www.safework.nsw.gov.au/your-industry/agriculture,-forestry-and-fishing/farming/child-safety-on-farms  

https://www.worksafe.vic.gov.au/children-farms

Farmer Health eNews July 2020

Find out all the latest from the National Centre for Farmer Health

• Online Ag Health Project – get involved!
• Looking after your most important farm asset – New podcast episodes out now!
• Healthy and Sustainable Agricultural Communities (HMF702) unit enrollments CLOSING 10|7|20
• Wellness Wednesday

View the July 2020 eNews

Read past issues of eNews

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Mallee Sustainable Farming Podcast 3 – Why PPE is so important in your farming operations

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Mallee Sustainable Farming Podcast – The things you need to know about Q Fever and other Zoonosis diseases

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