Dear CRANAplus family, 

I am delight­ed to be appoint­ed to this inau­gur­al role as Chief RAN, rep­re­sent­ing you, our ded­i­cat­ed nurs­es and mid­wives work­ing across rur­al, remote and iso­lat­ed set­tings through­out Australia. 

This role presents a unique oppor­tu­ni­ty to bring the voic­es of the remote health work­force into nation­al con­ver­sa­tions, con­sul­ta­tions, and pol­i­cy devel­op­ment. I’m eager to strength­en part­ner­ships with key stake­hold­ers, includ­ing gov­ern­ment, peak bod­ies, Abo­rig­i­nal Com­mu­ni­ty Con­trolled Health Organ­i­sa­tions, and ter­tiary edu­ca­tion and health services. 

Most impor­tant­ly, I’m com­mit­ted to sup­port­ing ini­tia­tives and explor­ing oppor­tu­ni­ties that improve recruit­ment, reten­tion, and well-being for remote health pro­fes­sion­als. For too long, it has been an expec­ta­tion that we will nav­i­gate our own paths to this area of prac­tice, with­out a recog­nised and accred­it­ed path­way, and often with­out ade­quate clin­i­cal super­vi­sion and sup­port. I don’t need to tell you that there is an over-reliance on short term agency staff, which is cre­at­ing enor­mous pres­sures for longer-term staff, and on the finan­cial via­bil­i­ty of the system.

Our recent pre-bud­get sub­mis­sion out­lines a plan to address these con­cerns and has huge sup­port across the reg­u­la­tion and edu­ca­tion sectors. 

Our aim at CRANAplus is to advance our work on these issues and to find solu­tions that will alle­vi­ate some of the pres­sures that you expe­ri­ence on a day-to-day basis. We have a fan­tas­tic team of clin­i­cians and sup­port staff to enable this to hap­pen; our edu­ca­tors and men­tal health and well­be­ing teams are sec­ond to none! 

In the weeks and months ahead, I encour­age you to engage with us. Be part of the change you want to see.

I look for­ward to con­nect­ing with more of you, many of whom I’ve already had the priv­i­lege to meet, as we shape the future together. 

I con­tin­ue to be impressed and amazed by the extra­or­di­nary skills, resilience and capa­bil­i­ty of nurs­es and mid­wives in our sec­tor. Please don’t give in or give up. Join us in design­ing and build­ing stronger foun­da­tions and bet­ter sup­ports for your­selves now, and for the future.

With deep respect and kind regards, 

Heather Keigh­ley, Chief RAN CRANAplus