{"id":851703,"date":"2026-09-18T04:12:18","date_gmt":"2026-09-18T04:12:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/851703\/"},"modified":"2026-09-18T04:12:18","modified_gmt":"2026-09-18T04:12:18","slug":"outback-nurse-credits-not-for-profit-counselling-service-with-saving-career","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/851703\/","title":{"rendered":"Outback nurse credits not-for-profit counselling service with saving career"},"content":{"rendered":"

An outback nurse who has worked across remote parts of Australia says a peer-to-peer counselling service for nurses and midwives was a “godsend” during the most difficult time of his life.<\/p>\n

Remote area nurse Dave Corstorphan previously worked in the Pilbara and Kimberley in Western Australia’s north, including in the state’s northernmost community Kalumburu.<\/p>\n

Mr Corstorphan said he almost left the profession due to work stress and following the death of his wife.<\/p>\n

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However, he credits the free peer counselling service Midwife Health Program Victoria (NMHPV) for providing crucial support.<\/p>\n

“I accessed that service, and it was an absolute godsend,” Mr Corstorphan said.<\/p>\n

“I would have just walked away completely from it [the job].”<\/p>\n

Mr Corstorphan said speaking directly to a counsellor who had been a nurse or midwife themselves was a game changer.<\/p>\n

“The fact they’ve worked the shift work, done time in hospitals, know the conditions you’re working under and seen all that, it makes a big, big difference,” he said.<\/p>\n

“You can say, ‘This is what is happening,’ and they go, ‘Yep, I understand.'”<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Dave Corstorphan says nursing in remote and regional health facilities is not without its challenges, especially for new nurses. (Supplied: Dave Corstorphan)<\/p>\n

Up to 60 consults a month<\/p>\n

Due to its success in Victoria, the Nurse and Midwife Program was extended across the country in 2024.<\/p>\n

The Nurse Midwife Health Program Australia (NMHPA) runs as an independent and not-for-profit service, funded by the Commonwealth government as opposed to being led by state and territory governments.<\/p>\n

NMHPA chief executive officer Lori-Anne Sharp and midwife Martine Kilday visited the Kimberley in August.<\/p>\n

They said 42 per cent of staff who asked for help worked in regional locations.<\/p>\n

Ms Sharp said counsellors received up to 60 calls a month from midwives, nurses and students.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

Lori-Anne Sharp and Martine Kilday say burnout, shift work, and isolation are common issues for nurses and midwives. (ABC Kimberley: Esse Deves)<\/p>\n

“The community really values the work they do, but they also need to be supported in the challenges of the work,” she said.<\/p>\n

“The shift work is another layer of that for rural and remote [workers]; it can be the large stints, long days, consecutive days.”<\/p>\n

An evaluation report into NMHPA’s impact found the top five challenges raised by employees were anxiety and depression, stress, psychological distress, occupational violence, bullying or harassment, and burnout.<\/p>\n

Ms Kilday said many staff were not aware of the service.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Nurses and midwives are very good at looking after others \u2026 they tend to put themselves last on the list of self-care,” she said.<\/p>\n

Mr Corstrophan encouraged his regional and remote colleagues \u2014 some of whom were the only nurse in a specific location \u2014 to seek help.<\/p>\n

“I think there is this fear of weakness, appearing weak, that we need to be stoic the whole time, particularly for our patients,” he said.<\/p>\n

\"Two<\/p>\n

WA Country Health Services says it employs about 4,200 nurses and midwives across regional areas. (ABC News: Keane Bourke)<\/p>\n

“The work can be quite confronting.”<\/p>\n

Culture shock<\/p>\n

Mr Corstorphan said nursing in remote and regional health facilities was not without its challenges, especially for new nurses.<\/p>\n

He said a perceived lack of support, burnout and feelings of isolation were common outside metropolitan areas.<\/p>\n

“They are full of energy to start with and they burn out very fast,” Mr Corstorphan said.<\/p>\n

“The people who live out there have always lived with what’s out there and are very accepting, but for a lot of nurses from the cities, it’s a culture shock.”<\/p>\n

‘Heart of healthcare’<\/p>\n

Both Mr Corstorphan and NMHPA said many staff may be cautious about raising their concerns while working within a state government department.<\/p>\n

According to WA’s Country Health Service, there are more than 4,200 nurses and approximately 240 midwives working across the state’s regional health facilities.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

More than 240 midwives are employed with the WA Country Health Service. (ABC North Queensland: Nathalie Fernbach)<\/p>\n

WACHS nursing and midwifery executive director Alison Weatherstone said supporting the workforce was important, while acknowledging the “rewarding” and “demanding” work.<\/p>\n

“Staff have access to confidential counselling through our Employee Assistance Program, as well as debriefing and peer support following stressful or challenging events,” she said.<\/p>\n

“We also provide targeted programs for particular teams, including specialist support through our 24\/7 Command Centre and reflective supervision for cancer services staff.<\/p>\n

“Nurses and midwives are at the heart of healthcare in country WA.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An outback nurse who has worked across remote parts of Australia says a peer-to-peer counselling service for nurses…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":851704,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[60],"tags":[359818,30035,359812,97,315860,359815,259,260,136565,359817,359816,70942,359811,47814,359814,54617,359813,297912,9819],"class_list":["post-851703","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-mental-health","tag-alison-weatherstone","tag-counselling","tag-dave-corstorphan","tag-health","tag-kimberley","tag-lori-anne-sharp","tag-mental-health","tag-mentalhealth","tag-midwife","tag-nhmhpv","tag-nmhpa","tag-nurse","tag-nurse-midwife-health-program-australia","tag-nurses","tag-outback-nurse","tag-pilbara","tag-remote-area-nurse","tag-wachs","tag-wellbeing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851703","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=851703"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/851703\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/851704"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=851703"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=851703"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=851703"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}