Winner of Helen Bailey nursing scholarship announced

The relationship between a nurse's actions and the patient's reports of pain following an operation will be investigated by the winner of the Health Department's Helen Bailey nursing scholarship.

She is Nancy Rees, of Doubleview, a lecturer at Curtin University's School of Nursing.

Her research on post-operative pain management aims to accelerate patient recovery and so reduce the stay in hospital with its associated costs.

The Helen Bailey scholarship, worth $10,000, is named after a prominent Western Australian nurse educator.

Health Minister Keith Wilson said today the annual scholarship reflected the State Government's commitment to raise the professional status of nurses.

Mr Wilson said that nursing, like other health professions, needed people with specialised skills to further improve standards of patient care.

He congratulated Ms Rees on the quality and calibre of her professional commitment.