CRANAplus is pleased to welcome Katrina Seng as a new member of the Board. A nurse, midwife and senior health executive with more than 20 years’ rural and remote experience, she is currently serving as Regional Director of Nursing and Midwifery with WA Country Health Service in the Pilbara. Katrina brings operational insight, governance expertise and extensive experience of remote practice to the Board.
When the bull charged the gate, the young ringer tried to hold it closed. The impact dislocated their shoulder.
After an hour, Katrina and the ambulance driver reached the site. The shoulder needed urgent reduction to restore circulation.
Crackling through the satellite phone came the message that there was nowhere nearby for the RFDS to land.
“Katrina, you need to do this now,” said the doctor’s voice.
She gave it her best pull, but the shoulder wouldn’t budge. The swelling was too extreme.
“Is your partner with you?” the doctor asked.
“Yes – why?”
“He’s stronger. Get him to pull while you support.”
The ringer’s face said it all, and a second round of medication and a countdown made the procedure no less daunting. But this time, the pair successfully reduced the shoulder and restored circulation.
Crisis averted, they drove the ringer back to the clinic for retrieval.
It is an anecdote Katrina and her now-husband – then her ambulance driver – still tell. As Katrina says, it captures “the good, the bad and the ugly” of remote nursing.
She first learned about the rewards and challenges of country living growing up in Chinchilla, where she saw how the occasional bad and ugly parts could be redeemed by the good of country people.
Her parents, owners of a small business employing more than 20 people, showed her the way with their values of service and responsibility.
Since then, Katrina has evolved from country girl with a dream to an influential, respected nursing and midwifery leader. Not dissimilarly, she says, excellent healthcare can arise from humble beginnings – even something as simple as washing your hands.
“From little things, big things grow. Either good or bad,” she says.
“If you do the simple things right and consistently, you’ve ticked the biggest box for governance.
“With hand hygiene, for example, the flow-on effect is monumental in potentially preventing catastrophic events. Washing your hands may prevent an infection that could seriously harm or kill someone.
“Once you get the basics in order, you can then work on building your foundations and focusing on the finer details – like aseptic technique, environmental cleaning and PPE.”
Building from the ground up also means listening to those on the ground. This principle underpins one of the service improvements Katrina is most proud of, namely being part of the team that sustained Kangaroo Island’s birthing service (while in a previous role).
“This service, like many remote birthing sites across Australia, was in jeopardy,” she recalls.
“The community rallied and voiced their commitment to island life and expected birthing services to remain open.
“With commitment from the local Health Advisory Committee, the Board, the CEO and all levels of the service, we developed a sustainable plan to ensure the three main pillars of birthing services (midwifery, obstetrics and theatre) could be ongoing.
“To date, the service is still open and servicing the community, which means the island has access to midwives, obstetrics and theatre teams.”
Katrina brings this same commitment to community to her current role as Regional Director of Nursing and Midwifery with WA Country Health Service in the Pilbara. Community includes her fellow team members.
While the distances are vast, Katrina aspires to bridge them and remain accessible through debriefs, scheduled weekly catch-ups, site visits and regular video calls.
After all, she knows what isolation can be like. Katrina first encountered CRANAplus in 2009 while working as the single nurse in Boulia.
She made use of the organisation’s resources then and, as her leadership responsibilities have grown, has increasingly encouraged colleagues to do the same.
She hopes to bring the experiences mentioned above to her role as a CRANAplus Board Member. These experiences have shown her that, as much as things change from place to place, the core is often the same.
“No one is special, we all face similar issues,” she says. “Workforce pressures, community expectations, evolving governance.
“All health professionals who choose remote area work share the same passionate approach.”
Alongside her clinical and leadership experience, Katrina holds a Master of Health Administration and is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Combined with her wide-ranging nursing, midwifery and leadership experience in rural and remote, these qualifications place her to contribute meaningfully as a Board Member.
