Sonia Martin MACN

Powered by a passion to decrease stigma around homelessness, Sonia Martin had a vision to step up and tackle the issues head-on and provide access to quality health care for thousands of vulnerable Australians.

A nurse through and through, Sonia has spent a lot of time with people on the streets who have been disengaged from health care for years, listening to their stories and their worries. She was struck by the loneliness of people sleeping rough and doing it tough and combined with witnessing hundreds of representations to the Emergency Department in the role of Nurse Unit Manager, she decided she had to do something different for vulnerable Australians. So, she made the courageous decision to resign from her permanent public health sector managerial role together with Dr Nova Evans, to address the gap in provision of care to people experiencing poverty and homelessness in Australia.

In 2018, Sonia and Nova, who passionately believe there had to be a better way to provide equitable, quality health care for vulnerable Australians, decided to put their vision into action and literally take health care to the streets.

Sonia began to change the lives of thousands of Australians by setting up a simple nursing kit and started providing health care from the back of a car boot. This led to the development of the innovative service we know today as Sunny Street.

Whilst many of Sonia’s friends and family told her it wasn’t possible to step out and truly make a difference, Sonia backed herself and found the way forward. Today, Sunny Street is an award-winning health care service and since 2018, has provided over 30,000 consultations.

Nikki Johnston OAM MACN

Nikki became a registered nurse in 1989 and a Nurse Practitioner in 2008. She was recognised in the 2019 Australia Day Honors as a recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia for her contribution to nursing.

Currently working for Calvary Health Care, Canberra Nikki believes all Australians deserve access to quality care in their last months of life regardless of their age, diagnosis or where they live. Currently end of life care experiences differ broadly for those living in residential aged care and access to specialist palliative care isn’t usual practice.

Nikki has initiated research through the INSPIRED trial which integrates specialist palliative care into residential aged care through the use of Palliative Care Needs Rounds. The trial found that regular rounds identified residents most at risk of dying without an adequate plan in place.

The INSPIRED trial has significantly reduced length of hospital stay and in-hospital deaths with significant costs savings to the community. Importantly, participants were more likely to experience a better-quality death (including better symptom control, advance planning, closeness with relatives and spiritual care).

Nikki’s approach improves Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) staff confidence in discussing death and dying with families and planning for symptoms and goals of care at end of life. It supports palliative care in RACF and normalises death and dying, while providing essential anticipatory prescribing and better decision-making leading to planned care for residents.

Nikki’s work was influential in the Commonwealth’s decision to provide $32.8 of funding in the 2018-2019 Budget to support older Australian living in RACFs. The INSPIRED model of care is being rolled out in three States/Territories in Australia and being tested in rural and remote areas. Nikki has been recognised for her work nationally and internationally for integrating specialist palliative care into RACFs.

Professor Sandy Middleton FACN

Sandy Middleton is Professor of Nursing and Director of the Nursing Research Institute, a collaboration between St Vincent’s Health Australia Sydney and Australian Catholic University. Professor Middleton was the lead investigator on the landmark NHMRC-funded QASC cluster trial demonstrating decreased death and dependency following implementation of nurse-initiated, multidisciplinary protocols to manage fever, hyperglycaemia and swallowing post-stroke. Working with the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation, Professor Middleton led the successful translation of these protocols into all 36 NSW stroke services. An independent economic evaluation demonstrated that over a 12-month period, if only 65% of eligible Australians received care in line with these protocols there would be a saving of $281M. This work now informs care recommendations in the Australian Clinical Guidelines for Stroke Management and internationally. These protocols now have been translated into 12 languages and are being implemented into 300 hospitals in 14 European countries. This program of work won the 2014 NSW Premier’s Public Sector Award for Improving Performance and Accountability, and multiple international awards. Professor Middleton also won the prestigious 2014 NSW Health Nursing and Midwifery Award for Excellence in Innovation Research. Professor Middleton has obtained extensive competitive funding and published in high impact journals including Lancet and New England Journal of Medicine. Professor Middleton is a member of the Board of Directors for the NSW Agency for Clinical Innovation and the Clinical Excellence Commission. She is leading the implementation science component of the Sydney Partnership for Health, Education, Research and Enterprise (SPHERE) one of Australia’s nine NHMRC-accredited Advanced Health Research and Translation Centres. She is also a Ministerial appointment to the NHMRC Health Translation Advisory Committee.