Safeguarding Project featured at the MCaFHNA Conference 2022!

I was very excited to share my research poster at the Maternal, Child and Family Health Nurses Australia’s (MCaFHNA) biennial conference in Canberra (1-3rd September). The 2022 MCaFHNA Conference was attended by 450 child and family health nurses from across Australia and my attendance was supported by a Healthy Development Adelaide Travel and Development Grant. My poster highlighted key findings from the Safeguarding Project (funded by a Flinders Foundation Health Seed Grant 2020) which aimed to build consensus of the nature and scope of Australian nursing and midwifery practice in safeguarding children from abuse and neglect. Key findings showed that participating nurses and midwives were committed to safeguarding children from abuse as demonstrated by achievement of 80% consensus after two rounds. The findings highlighted the essential but invisible roles of nurses and midwives in advancing the Safe and Supported: National Framework for Protecting Australia’s Children 2021-2031. Findings will increase visibility of nurses’ and midwives’ roles in safeguarding children to inform professional practice and enhance interdisciplinary collaboration. Attending the MCaFHNA conference was a key step towards increasing visibility of nursing and midwifery roles to inform inter-professional collaboration and better support children to thrive in their families and communities.