Metro South Health reinforced its commitment to the development and maintenance of a specialist addiction and mental health nursing workforce, on International Nurses Day 2025.
IND is celebrated around the world every 12 May which the anniversary of Florence Nightingale's birth, with AMHS using the opportunity to highlight its pipeline of dedicated nurses.
AMHS Director of Nursing Dr Fiona Dziopa said specialist addiction and mental health skills are crucial.
“They’re needed to provide safe, effective, and compassionate care to individuals experiencing complex, and often deeply personal challenges,” she said.
“This often occurs while navigating cooccurring physical health issues, stigma, and social factors.”
“Today we’re also acknowledging nurses who have reached various milestones on the way to becoming specialists, including graduate nurses who’ve completed the graduate support program, and nurses who’ve completed Post Graduate studies in the past 12 months.”
Staff were celebrated for their hard work and commitment, while the sense of pride continued with the reminder that Metro South AMHS was the first stand-alone AMHS service in Australia to achieve a Pathway to Excellence® designation in 2021.
The Pathway to Excellence® program empowers the voice of nurses and recognises their valuable contribution and acknowledges the importance of inter-professional collaboration.
AMHS Executive Director Kieran Kinsella, who is a mental health nurse by background, reiterated the positive impact addiction and mental health nursing makes.
“I never wanted to do anything other than work with people who are mentally unwell and provide support that those people deserve and need within our community,” he said.
“I think addiction and mental health nursing particularly is the best nursing you can work in because we have huge opportunities to work with people at their most vulnerable.
“Thank you to all the nurses for the work you do every day. You play a huge role across the service, being the largest workforce within Addictions and Mental Health and you should be extremely proud of the work you do each and every day.”
Happy International Nurses Day to all the remarkable nurses across AMHS.