Rural clinicians both give and receive a wholesome slice of positivity in this month-long initiative.
After dealing with a succession of natural disasters – drought, fire, flood, pandemic and (lest we city-slickers forget) a mouse plague – on top of workforce shortages, many rural doctors are feeling the strain of the past two years.
“We don’t expect to be thanked by every patient that we see, and we haven’t got time for that anyway,” said the NSW Rural Doctors Network (RDN) Chair Associate Professor John Kramer OAM.
“We don’t expect it, but just the odd bit of gratitude keeps you going.”
While members of the NSW RDN would typically congregate for their annual conference in Coogee during November, covid restrictions have put a stop to the gathering two years in a row.
In a somewhat creative response, Professor Kramer and his team made the decision to pivot to a virtual conference spread out over a month, broadening the scope from just clinicians to nurses, practice managers and allied health.
Among the various initiatives running throughout November is #ruralpositive, an online space for people to post messages of thanks to rural healthcare workers.
“I’m only 13 and was worried about getting my covid-19 vaccine,” one message addressed to a pharmacist reads.
“But you made the whole thing so easy and were so kind to me – I even got a lollipop even though I’m way too old.”
Another message thanks Jindabyne GP Dr John Curnow.
“Hi Dr Curnow, thank you for all you have done in recent times to support the Snowy region,” it said.
“We all know that you go above and beyond and give many hours of support to community and the sector well beyond work hours. We hope you know how appreciated you are.”
There are also video messages from National Rural Health Commissioner A/Professor Ruth Stewart, Health Minister Greg Hunt and none other than beloved musician Daryl Braithwaite (of The Horses fame).
“[It’s a way] to acknowledge the hard work that’s been done by everybody involved in rural health – not just doctors, but nurses, practice managers, receptionists and all the allied health people that we interact with on a daily basis,” Professor Kramer told The Medical Republic.
Post a message of thanks (or look to see if you have one yourself) on the #ruralpositive website.
RDN NSW members can also tune into a virtual Braithwaite gig on Friday 19 November.
