Annual General Meeting & Executive Meetings

The CL SIG meets at the Annual General Meeting which is held in conjunction with the annual CL SIG conference.

The CL SIG Executive meets 4 times per year via teleconference.

Events

The ACMHN CL SIG annual conference will be held in conjunction with the NQ Tropical Symposium on June 18 and 19 at Magnetic Island.

Please link here for Conference Registration.

Please link here for CL SIG Call for Abstracts.

3rd Annual Psychopharmacology Institute and the International Society of Psychiatric-Mental health Nursing's 12th Annual Conference

April 13-17, 2010

St Louis USA

7th CLSIG Conference Report

2009 scholarship winners with CLSIG executive: Shelley, Ann, Cathy, Julie, Carey, Blair, Simone, Leigh, Jenni & Deb

The 7th CLSIG conference was held in conjunction with the SA branch at Glenelg Golf Club on 4-5 June. The combined meeting allowed for both groups to enjoy the keynote speakers and then break and join their respective streams. The conference dinner was set in the beautiful seaside promenade at Glenelg.

The CL presentations varied and included clinical and conceptual presentations related to practice. The feedback from participants was again overwhelmingly positive, highlighting the need for this ongoing opportunity for networking, being exposed to how other CL nurses work, presenting for the first time in a supportive environment and having fun with people we often only have contact with on email. CLSIG members were provided with scholarship support to attend the conference. This was a great opportunity for the scholarship recipients to not only contribute to the success of the conference through their participation but also take a great deal away from it.

Shelley Saunders and Cathy Daniel from the Royal Melbourne Hospital commented that:

'This year’s conference’s scope and variety of presentations was impressive to say the least with Joy Finlayson’s workshop on how to explore and control our breath, timed perfectly to precede the moving reflection on Blair Hobb’s CL role at The Alfred, Melbourne, during Victoria’s bush fires disaster and its aftermath. The contrast of Mujahid Ahmed entertaining us with his stand up comedy at dinner on Thursday evening to his keynote speaker presentation, the following day on mental health and migrant African youth also demonstrated the cohesive and collegial environment of the conference. Although his humour was still evident throughout his presentation the serious and often traumatic experience of refugee’s and immigrants prior to arriving in Australia and indeed their experience upon arriving and settling here was a message for us all to be mindful and respectful of an individual’s cultural background and needs. Thanks to the executive for organising such an enjoyable and informative event.'

Simone Harvey who works as a CL nurse in maternal care said:

'I thoroughly enjoyed attending and presenting at the conference and wish to thank the CL group for supporting my attendance with the scholarship. It was a great opportunity to speak to other CL nurses working within perinatal mental health as well as across an amazing array of other sub specialities and contexts, as well as different locations across Australia. I came away once again impressed by the diversity, passion and in some cases creativity with which CL nurses practice, as well as fond memories of Adelaide.'

Debra Papoulos is a relative newcomer to CL nursing and found attending the was extremely valuable:

'As I had just a fortnight before commenced a position with Country Health SA as a Nurse Practitioner Candidate (NPC). I and was able to meet other NPCs whose journey is much further along than mine. As a result I felt reassured and supported and was able to build links with people I may not have otherwise had access to. In addition it was wonderful to hear other clinicians in the CL role articulate their thoughts, opinions, research and skills surrounding the role, in turn providing me with solid validation for my own practice. My sincere thanks for the scholarship support I received. This conference had so many interesting and talented speakers from diverse backgrounds around the country. It was great to hear what my colleagues are doing in other states, as well as meet some of the characters I correspond with from time to time, through our email network.'

Joy’s experiential workshop, The Breathing Body - Exploring Breath Awareness and Control was also a favourite of Kim Hooper. She also found Blair’s presentation on Disaster – a look at the 2009 Victorian Bushfire Tragedy, “…offered profound insight into the CL role. I know I am not alone in saying I shared an emotional outpouring of both grief and joy when listening to the stories of hope and optimism, he shared with us.”

And finally Blair, whose presentation was warmly received, said:

'I thank you again, for considering me a worthy recipient of the scholarship and I greatly appreciate the opportunity to attend. It has certainly helped me to enhance my clinical practice and to better support to the very vulnerable I am privileged to care for. This year’s CLSIG conference was a great experience again with a rich program full of interesting speakers. It is a rewarding and worthwhile event, and having such an enthusiastic and supportive audience to present to is fantastic. I would recommend this conference to any mental health nurse.'

The CLSIG has joined with local branch symposia and this has enabled the provision of a richer program and the opportunity to show case CL nursing to other mental health nurses. The CLSIG conference aims to be a low cost opportunity for networking and ongoing development of the role and the collaboration with branches has supported this aim.

The annual general meeting is held at the conference and Ann McElroy (Secretary) and Jenni Bryant (Education officer) were elected for another term. Carey Blaik continues as Finance Manager and Julie Sharrock continues as Chairperson. These two positions will be up for election in 2010. Planning for next year is under way, date and venue to be announced.

Our thanks are extended to Eli Lilly for their ongoing support of the CLSIG conference and the SA Branch symposium for collaborating with us on this event.