In August, Medtronic’s held one of their extremely well run education days at their Education Centre at North Ryde. There were approximately 50 attendees who were treated to a full day of very beneficial ENT topics. All were nurses with an interest in ENT who ranged from New Grads to RN's with many years of experience. I gave a presentation on the OHNNG and there was much interest in the group and many questions asked. I handed out application for membership forms so hopefully we generated interest in the group. As usual we must thank Medtronic for their continued assistance in the education of nurses .

Deirdre Smith
NSW Chapter Co-ordinator

The OHNNG is growing support slowly but surely in Queensland. We have done some great things in the last 12 months and nurses from a wide variety of hospitals have fantastically supported all our events across the state.

In June last year I hosted an education evening entitled “Hear Ear”. Dr Christopher Que Hee presented an interesting and informative talk to the 60 nurses who attended. Our friends from National Surgical supplied the venue and the night, was enjoyed by all.

In July in my colleagues at the PA Hospital ran a nursing program at Professor Coman’s Head and Neck Cadaver Dissection Course held at the University of Queensland. 22 nurses attended the course and I was invited to present a paper and was able to spread the word about the group a little further.

I also presented a paper at another event hosted by the team at PA. They ran a combined Head and Neck and Reconstructive Surgery 2 day workshop in August, which gave me another opportunity to let nurses know about the group. About 50 nurses attended the Head and Neck component of the workshop and all responded positively to the presentation.

It was also in August that I ran a one-day ENT Workshop in Rockhampton. I was kindly supported by the ENT fraternity in Rockhampton and all four consultants gave their time to speak at the course. I was thrilled to have many of our ‘regular’ corporate partners support me financially and by being involved in a product display on the day. 95 nurses from Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Townsville and Gladstone came for the day and all very much appreciated having such a rare opportunity offered to them. It was a great day and I look forward to attempting a similar event in Townsville later this year

For now, I am working on our next event, which is entitled “All things oral”. Dr Scott Coman and Bena Cartmill (speech pathology) are going to talk about oral pathology, speech, swallow and much more. The 2-hour evening session is scheduled for March 23rd and I have 70 RSVPs to date. It should be a great evening. Thanks again to National Surgical for the venue and supper!

Before we know it we’ll be meeting again at the National Conference in Melbourne. I am looking forward to the conference, to visiting Melbourne and to catching up with the OHNNG committee and nursing cohort. See you there.

Cheryl Kelly
Queensland Chapter Co-ordinator

Once again we have seen consistent membership numbers for SA with many joining up at our quarterly seminars. Our Education sessions our kindly sponsored by Medtronic ENT Australia. On average 30 members have attended each meeting and enjoyed the following guest speakers and topics

In November we assisted with a worlds first. A Micro vascular Injuries Workshop and the 13th Advanced FESS Course.These courses are both instructional and theory based and all of the nurses and surgeons who participated in the day learnt a lot and had a great experience.

Johnson & Johnson sponsored a second educational evening in September for us with

We have already had our first educational evening for 2011 “Airways & Aural Health”. This was shared session between our myself, SA state coordinator and ENT registrar Dr Trish Macfarlane. The night covered paediatric airway and complications, to aboriginal ear health. Trish told us about the findings and mission of the travelling medical team which set off six monthly to address aboriginal ear health and care on the missions in far north South Australia. This session was extremely well attended with 32 delegates.

We would also like to acknowledge with regret the sudden passing of one of our esteemed ENT surgical colleagues Mr Sam Robinson. Sam devoted his life to the advancement of surgery and treatments for our OSA patients. His work will be carried on and his devotion will be remembered.

We have locked in another 5 dates and speakers for 2011 and details are available on the web site. We are currently discussing the possibility of a full day study day for later in the year and we have begun planning for 2012 when the national meeting will once again be in Adelaide. Any one who would like to be part of the planning committee please let yourselves known, many hands make light work.

I am sure it will shape up to be another great year and we hope to see you all in Adelaide

Silvia O'Connor
SA & NT Coordinator

Another year has passed and numerous ENT activities have taken place over 2010. In February a ENT evening was held at Casey Hospital for two hours exploring ENT emergencies from a paediatric and adult perspective, from both a ward and surgical perspective. The role of the ENT liaison nurse was also explored during this evening. In October an ENT Nurses Study morning sponsored by Johnson and Johnson in OHNNG in conjunction with Johnson & Johnson put on an ENT Nurses, Education Day was run at the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. The day focused on FESS Surgery, Sinuplasty techniques as well as Pituitary Surgery. This was also very well attended. I was one of three speakers for the day. Our president Tracey Nicholls spoke on FESS surgery with Mr Chris Brown on Balloon technology in ENT surgery and Mr Nick Martins on the advances of Transphenoidal surgery. The rest of the year has been preparing for the 2011 national conference in April.

It was a fantastic venue with very generous support and sponsorship from the company. In October, our other fantastic company supporter, Medtronic’s, ran an ENT study day. This focused on surgery of the Head and Neck area. Feedback from those who attended indicated it was a great day. I would like to say thank-you to all those staff who actively contribute to the OHNNG group and further the development of ENT knowledge for their patients.

Lana Tutin
Victoria Chapter Coordinator

2010 has come and gone. The year has been a busy one for everyone!

The WA OHNNG Chapter has 4 clinical sessions. They were held in February, May, August, and November. We continue to get support from Zomed, Conviden, Smiths, Hartman and Convitec.

The first presentation this year was an Otology presentation from one of our visiting American Fellow DR. Michael Gluth. He did a very interesting presentation on inner ear disorders. A very informative talk.

The second presentation was from our WA head and Neck Nurse coordinator Julie Saunders. Julie presented a very interesting case of a young lady with a nasal tumour. She went through the trials and tribulations of a person being confronted with such great facial changes. Also about the treatments and side effects. Our patient had to travel at least 5 hours for each appointment. Julie discussed these issues. I presented on the surgical procedure and the out comes we had on the ward. I discussed the psychological and physical effects that our patient was confronted with. The presentation enhanced plenty of discussion as a few of the nurse present had a few cases the same.

The third presentation was by DR. Paul Bumback one of the senior trainee Registrars. Paul gave an interesting talk on lightning, transmission of sound, iPod’s and hearing. A very interesting and informative presentation. There was plenty of discussion from the audience as it made everyone think! The final presentation of 2010 was from Dr. Zenia Chow one of the senior trainee registrars. Zenia presented on Obstructive sleep apnoea. Zenia discussed the assessment and diagnosis of these patients. Also the surgical interventions that are available for patients. We see so many of these patients that we don’t fully appreciate the complexity of these cases.

It was a good year with our numbers of people attending the education sessions on the up and up. Due to the expanse of WA it is difficult to get staff from the country to attend. We will work on this issue in 2011. The dates for the OHNNG education meetings for 2011are 23 Feb, 11 May, 17 Aug , 16 Nov. We are hoping to get a study day organised in March 2011 to get everyone from around the state.

We are very proud that there is likely to be at least 7 nurses attending the OHNNG conference in Melbourne. It is with great pleasure that 4 of these fantastic nurses will be presenting. There is presentation from the 3 major hospitals in Perth. Unfortunately I will not be attending. But I am sure plenty of knowledge, laughter and sharing will be done over the 4 days. Best of luck.

Hope that everyone had a great 2010. I am sure that 2011 will bring challenges and achievements in Nursing and in our ongoing practice of ENT.

Leanne Simpson
WA Chapter Coordinator