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A women of substanceThe heroic feats of Australian war nurse Sister Vivian Bullwinkel are being honoured with the establishment of a palliative care professorship in her name, writes CHRISTINE GILES Australia’s World War II nursing heroine Sister Vivian Bullwinkel was not meant to survive the horrors of war. Her life should have ended – as it did for many of her Australian Army Nursing Service colleagues – with the bombing and sinking of the ship on which she was evacuated from Singapore in 1942, or with the Japanese gunfire that killed other nurses who struggled to shore with Sister Bullwinkel and left her wounded and feigning death in shallow waters off Banka Island, now part of Indonesia.
It is not yet a year – she died in July 2000 – since the nation mourned the death of Sister Bullwinkel (Mrs Vivian Statham), who epitomised the courage and commitment of wartime nurses and who, on her return to Australia, dedicated her life to caring for others through her profession. But already plans are afoot to ensure her legacy is not lost, with Monash University’s School of Nursing and the Peninsula Hospice Service in Frankston, Victoria, proposing to establish a Clinical Chair in Palliative Care Nursing in Sister Bullwinkel’s name. The professorship will pay fitting tribute to Sister Bullwinkel and – more importantly for the future care of our ageing population – the succesful candidate will spearhead research into how palliative care can become more supportive and comforting. The position will improve the research base for palliative care services already offered by the Peninsula Hospice Service to more than 1000 people annually. Sister Bullwinkel’s family has welcomed the proposal, according to her closest living relative and nephew, John Bullwinkel of Sydney. "Viv was very passionate about nursing and about caring for the human body and the human spirit," Mr Bullwinkel says. "Her own contact with patients through her ward rounds – and even doing away with the uniform – was all part of the process of breaking down formal barriers with patients. "She was determined to maintain that human connection, so the palliative care connection and treatment process is very consistent with her nursing passion. "This is a living memorial to Viv – something that is tangible, real and progressive – rather than something that’s cold, such as a statue, which she wouldn’t have liked." School of Nursing head Associate Professor Tony Barnett says that through links to local health services and others at state and national level, the new Chair will develop model research for use elsewhere. Research will measure the quality of palliative care services available, the burden on those caring for a dying relative and how to better allocate resources and services. "We hope the local research will have a national and international impact in terms of how other palliative care services can improve the care that they provide," Dr Barnett says. "Palliative care services are becoming more important as we’re dealing with an older population. People are looking to exercise more choice and explore options in both health care and in dying, and health care professionals need to expand their knowledge base." The successful candidate will be someone "eminent in the field", compassionate and understanding of the need for dying people to be empowered to make choices about where and how they want to die. "It will be a prestigious Chair that is widely recognised and supported in the field," he says. An estimated $250,000 annually will be needed to fund the new position. The hospice service and the Royal District Nursing Service have already given financial commitments, but Dr Barnett is also appealing for corporate backing and individual donations. ACTION: To find out more or to make a donation to the Vivian Bullwinkel Chair of Palliative Care Nursing, contact Mr David Ward, Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Services, on +61 3 9905 5971. |
But by surviving against all odds and
enduring more than three years of failing health as a prisoner of war
tening the needs of fellow prisoners, she understood better than most
the medical and emotional plight of the sick and dying.