Three nursing trailblazers are in line for Melbourne award
Three nursing trailblazers finalists have been named ahead of the Health Minister’s Award for Nursing Trailblazers 2026, with the winner to be announced in Melbourne on 5th August.
The Australian College of Nursing said the finalists were recognised for nurse-led innovations in cardiac care, allergy treatment and paediatric vascular access. The recipient will be announced by the Minister for Health and Ageing, the Hon Mark Butler MP, at the National Nursing Forum in Melbourne.
ACN Chief Executive Officer Adjunct Professor Kathryn Zeitz FACN said, “These finalists show the potential of nurses to design better ways of delivering care. Each of these innovations is expanding access, lifting the quality of care, and reshaping how services are delivered, particularly for people in rural and regional Australia.”
The 2026 finalists
Ms Catherine Baring MACN was named for the Fast Advice and Access for Intravenous Routes with Imaging Service, a nurse-led vascular access service for children with difficult intravenous access in a tertiary paediatric hospital. The service provides ultrasound-guided cannulation, midline and peripherally inserted central catheter insertion, and vascular access management.
Professor Andrea Driscoll RN, NP was selected for nurse practitioner models for high-risk heart failure populations. The model delivers specialist heart failure care across inpatient, outpatient and virtual settings, with a focus on continuity of care and specialist access for people in rural and regional areas.
Mrs Sigrid Pitkin MACN was recognised for the Rural Allergy Group Nurse Practitioner-Led Oral Immunotherapy programme, which delivers oral immunotherapy for food allergies in a regional primary care setting. ACN said the programme has expanded access for patients in regional Victoria and interstate, including Queensland and South Australia.
Nominations were assessed by a panel including Adjunct Professor (Practice) Alison McMillan PSM, MACN, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer at the Department of Health and Aged Care, ACN President Ms Kathryn Stein FACN, and Zeitz.
