Nominee - Mr Bill McGuiness

Thankyou for the opportunity to present my thoughts regarding the Presidency of AWMA. Whilst the demands on the organisation are many I believe that two central foci should form the agenda for AWMA in 2010/11. The first is to build on the excellent work undertaken by Michael Woodward and the current committee to promote AWMA on the national and international stage. Many of the patients we care for go unnoticed by policy makers. Their age, living conditions or “press worthiness” often limits their political potential. AWMA must continue to be an active public voice for this vulnerable cohort. This can only be achieved by a strong national body. To that end I intend to strengthen the bonds between the AWMA groups by seeking members views about a structure that preserves local autonomy whilst strengthening the National impact. I also intend to explore formal affiliations with “like minded” organisations such as the vascular groups, infection control and enterostomal groups or geographic groups such as New Zealand or the South Pacific wound management organisations.

The second focus is to continue the development of AWMA members. High quality educational events at a local level coupled with award and non-award courses offered by accredited providers are an important platform for achieving this goal. Equally involving members in the many activities undertaken by AWMA provides additional avenues. This needs to be facilitated via transparent process for selecting members from the various AWMA groups. My observations of the AWMA committee are that too much is being done by too few. We need to involve a large number of members in the various activities. Expressions of interest coupled with active head hunting are strategies that will be pursued vigorously to ensure that we have the correct people for the job and adequate resources to achieve the aims within tight time frames.
I believe that as president I can contribute to the above endeavours by drawing on my past and current experiences which include:

Being aware of the national priority via my membership on the Australian Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel and the Venous leg ulcer guideline development committee of AWMA .

Activity engaged in state initiatives such as the Victorian Department of Health steering committee for the regional clinical nurse consultant project and providing ongoing support to the consultants.

Holding a number of senior appointments including president of the Wound Management Association of Victoria, Head of School of Nursing and Midwifery at La Trobe University, and currently the Associate Professor of the Nursing and Allied Health Alfred Clinical School for La Trobe University.

Keeping abreast of the clinical challenges via my practice as a Wound Clinical Nurse Consultant at the Alfred providing a nurse lead outpatient clinic in collaboration with medical and allied health services, and an outreach service to aged care facilities and individual patients.

Having consistent exposure to the national, regional and clinical context combined with my management experience I believe provide the necessary qualities to further facilitate the development of AWMA.

Please feel free to contact me to discuss further

w.mcguiness@latrobe.edu.au

<< Back to News & Events Page