We have introduced two new positions this year, those of Vice President and Correspondence Secretary. The position of Vice President has been filled by Bev Gaudie, and we are still calling for nominations for the other.
Like the other states, our major task for 1985 was fund raising, achieved in various ways, some of which were raffles, flea market stalls, a pie drive, a glamour show and a touch football match. We also received financial support from the Queensland Cancer Fund, and we thank them for this. Again, I would like to take the opportunity to thank all members who have contributed to the year’s activities.
On the educational side, the metropolitan girls combined their Christmas Party with an evening’s programme on incontinence, and I believe a good time was had by all. We are still in the process of organising some educational material to be put together, to benefit members Australia wide. “National Stomal Therapy Week” has been promoted State wide with different areas participating. This included static displays and publicity via the media. The Queensland Nurses Union are organising “ Nursing Awareness 1986 being held in Brisbane 21-22nd May,
and our Association will be well represented with the use of a static display and members being on hand to answer questions.

The conference “A Golden Opportunity” at the Gold Coast was pleasant and informative for all who attended. I would like to thank the members of the Conference Committee for their tireless efforts over the past year in creating such a successful Conference.
At the April meeting Lena Stillman produced an abstract from an article showing Research into
Fermentation in Ileostomy bags: Control of excessive gas with diet, PH and antibiotics. Congratulations Lena on being involved with this research.

The monthly meetings at the Mater have been well attended and have been followed with a guest speaker. Dr Wynne spoke about Anorectal Manometery following the October meeting. After the November meeting Dr John Herron gave an interesting talk on the J. Pouch and its complications.
Special mention to Olive Clarke who in 1987, with the support of the local Meat Works and other companies, conducted  two country dances. The proceeds of these went to our local branch. I would also like to wish Lesley Mitchell success and happiness with her new job as the ConvaTec Representative for North Queensland. Lesley previously was Stomal Therapist with the Blue Nursing Service Townsville.
In August, some of us attended a social evening at the Q.T. Association Headquarters. This
was an enlightening time as we were shown over their newly renovated building and were given an insight into the running of the organisation. This event has strengthened the rapport between members of the Q.T. Association and Stomal Therapists.

From this year there will be only one Stomal Therapy Course at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. This will commence sometime late in September. There have been changes at the Stomal Therapy Department at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. Pat Blackley has moved to the School of Nursing at the hospital and Donna Bull has resigned from the hospital in order to further her studies and now does Consultancy work also.

Stomal Therapy Awareness Week was well celebrated with displays at our larger Metropolitan Hospitals, and smaller country Hospitals, and Health Centres. Several stomal therapy nurses arranged on-air time with local radio stations. At our June meeting, Pat Walls presented her paper on Pyoderma Gangrenosum which was included at the conference in the segment “Why didn’t I think of that?”
Pat Blackley returned from Singapore in early June following her attendance at the
Singapore Cancer Society Conference and Ostomy Management – a comprehensive approach. Pat presented a  paper “Bringing Ostomy Care to the Community”. She also conducted a counselling workshop, visited the Cancer Society Stoma Club, and conducted an
in-service education session at the 45-minute University Hospital in Singapore.
Pat also presented a two hours lecture to second-yearNational nurses on the Psychosocial Problems resulting from Ostomy surgery and management techniques to the Singapore General Hospital staff. A meeting was held with nurse tutors to discuss the Role of Stomal Therapy Nurses looking at Managing Continence and Clinical Specialism. All in all a lot of hard work. We are proud to have such international representation.

Work has continued on the outline and suggested content for a core module for our National Stomal Therapy Course. This has been a difficult task due to distances and other commitments by members. The input via letters and telephone contacts have truly been appreciated, our thanks to Lena Stillman for correlating this information for the deadline in early November. Entries for the Jean Svenson Bursary closed in July with no applications received.
A motion was carried at the September meetings to allow the amount of funds to be doubled in the following year to encourage participation.

November saw the resignation of Pat Blackley, course co-ordinator at the princess Alexandra Hospital. A farewell luncheon was held at the Hilton Hotel and as expressed by Val Wright, our Chairperson, (Queensland Branch), we are very sad to see Pat leave us to live in South Australia. Our loss will indeed by their gain. We all wish to express our very sincere thanks to Pat for her years of hard work and dedication to the Queensland Branch.
We are very proud of Pat’s achievements both in Australia and internationally.

The WCET Congress in Toronto, Canada in July 1990 was a great success. Barbara Logan (Bundaberg Hospital), Muriel Fletcher (The Wesley Hospital, Brisbane) and myself (The Holy Spirit Hospital Brisbane) were three very proud Queenslanders who joined 23 other Australian Stomal Therapy nurses for a full week of education and hospitality. It was an experience of a lifetime and one that we will never forget, a chance to discuss, share with and learn from our overseas colleagues.
Our project at present is to update the membership booklet. Many thanks to the members who have responded so quickly with their current place of employment and home address The executive is at present negotiating with a supplier to sponsor the membership booklet.

At the November 1990 Graduation we welcomed 8 new Stomal Therapy nurses. Our sincere  congratulations to you all and also to Ellen Parle on her first successful course as co- ordinator.
We now start 1991 with anticipation. We are planning a seminar in March at the Mater Hospital. The programme looks interesting covering a variety of topics including sessions by medical personnel and Stomal Therapy nurses, and an opportunity to learn more about the Lithotripter.
Our monthly meetings resume in February. We have been encouraged by the good
attendance at these meetings and our problem solving sessions have been particularly helpful to us all.

The seminar “Stomal Therapy into the 90’s” held on March 2nd at the Mater Hospital Brisbane was a tremendous success. The auditorium was packed with standing room only. More than 100 people enjoyed this day of education and social interaction. Over $2000 was raised
for our branch, and plans are now underway for a repeat performance at the end of the year. Many thanks to Sister Fay McMeniman(RSM) resident Stomaltherapist at the Mater for providing such an excellent venue and her skills as a technician in the audio/visual and lighting area. Val Wright’s presentation of certificates of Honorary Membership of AASTN to Senator Doctor John Herron, Consultant Surgeon and Doctor Fred Leditschke, Paediatric Surgeon, Royal Children’s Hospital, was the day’s highlight. Both Doctors leaders in their respective fields were moved by this award and spoke highly of their involvement and interest in Stomal Therapy nursing over the years. Each expressed willingness to continue supporting and promoting Stomal Therapy nursing in Queensland.
There will be two Stomal Therapy courses in Queensland this year. Due to public demand, the number of courses studied has increased for 1991. coordinator Stomal Therapy course is conducted at the Princess Alexandra hospital in Brisbane, and Ellen Parle is the co-ordinator. There will be eight students in each course of 6 weeks duration.
Our monthly meetings at the Mater are well attended. This is an opportunity to meet, share
with, and learn from each other.

The focus of our activities at this time has been Stomal Therapy Awareness Week. Senator Dr John Herron expressed willingness to support and assist in the promotion of stomal therapy nursing so we took this opportunity and asked him to address us on “The Future of the Federal Government Appliance Scheme” Invitations were sent to the various ostomy associations and stomal therapy nurses to attend a special gathering at the Princess Alexandra Hospital School of Nursing on June 15. Approximately 50 people enjoyed an informative discussion and afternoon tea. Our special thanks to Senator Dr John Herron for his continued support, also to ConvaTec and Coloplast for sponsoring the afternoon tea and lucky door prize and Hollister for sponsoring the musical interlude.
Ellen Parle of Princess Alexandra Hospital certainly “did us proud” as a special guest on Ron
Henshaw’s ABC radio talk-back show on June 12. Ellen spoke about the speciality of stomal therapy nursing.

Promises to be a busy  but worthwhile year for us in Queensland. Our biggest project is planning for the National Conference in Brisbane in 1993. Although we may lack experience in this area, we are full of enthusiasm and motivation.  Planning will begin also for two seminars again this year. These seminars are well attended and very successful educationally, and a great fund raiser for our branch.
Rosemary Hickstein will retire on the 14th February 1992.  Rosemary was the first stomal therapy nurse appointed to the Royal Children’s Hospital in 1977. Over the past 15 years, Rosemary has given loyal and dedicated service to the hospital in all areas of stomal therapy nursing including spina bifida, bowel training, incontinence, consultation and teaching. Stomal therapy students spend one day with Rosemary during their training, and benefit
greatly from her experience. On behalf of all the Stomal Therapy nurses in Queensland, we wish you well in your retirement, and thank you for teaching so many of us the speciality of paediatric Stomal Therapy.

There will be two Stomal Therapy courses at the Princess Alexandra Hospital this year. The demand for places is still very high, and the hospital has introduced a fee of $300.00 per student. Candidates will be accepted from both public and private institutions. The course will continue to be of six weeks duration and will accept ten students in each intake.  Ellen Parle, course co-ordinator, has made some changes this year, one being that each student will visit other hospitals in the metropolitan area for further clinical experience. The hospitals that will participate will be the Royal Brisbane, The Mater, The Wesley and the Holy Spirit Private Hospital.
Stomal therapy nurses are slowly being invited to lecture student nurses in University and Colleges. This is a real breakthrough in Queensland. In 1990 I began to lecture at the Catholic University, then in 1991 Margaret MacKenzie commenced lecturing at the University of Southern Queensland, 1992, Lena Stillman will lecture at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT), and Cecelia Prout will lecture at the University of Central Queensland, Rockhampton.

The State Conference committee meetings are frequent and it is all coming  together very well.  Jenny Matthew has the programme well planned and just about finalised. David Dunster the conference manager has done some great deals with the Brisbane Sheraton Hotel for very reasonable accommodation prices.

All the Queensland Branch Executive have done a sterling job, balancing the books, dealing with the queries and getting the minutes of meetings out to the far flung Queensland members. The executive members remain unchanged apart from the retirement of Shirley Daly from the position of vice president.  We are sad to see Shirley leave and are grateful to her for all the hard works she has put in over the years, hopefully she will continue to come to the meetings whenever she can. Her place will be taken by Cathy Fritz.

July 24th brought the retirement of Lena Stillman from the Royal Brisbane Hospital, where she set up the first Stomal Therapy Department, originally servicing all three hospitals in the complex. No easy task, when you consider the size of the complex and the steep hills she had to race up and down. When the “Hospital Board” separated into 3 different areas, Lena continued to look after the many patients and their carers at RBH, where she coped with all their counselling and teaching needs, referrals to Community, supplies, (until very recently all the RBH clients were supplied from the hospital) and support when they needed a helping hand.  At the same time she taught nursing staff at all levels (including the STN course students during their visits to RBH), medical students, medical and paramedical staff, she was called on by all the difference ward staff for consultation on wound care, appliance, skin care, ulcer dressings and a multitude of other problems.

Queensland members continue to meet in Brisbane monthly and, while our membership is spread throughout the state, the meetings are well supported.
Members recognised Stomal Therapy Awareness Week with displays in their hospitals. We
took the opportunity to entertain our friends from the various stoma associations with an afternoon tea held at the Queensland Colostomy Association’s new facility, and members were able to admire the new premises. Barbara Calcott was our guest speaker, she introduced the new video (A Beginning not an End) and talked about how it was made.

Jenny Matthew has resigned from State Rep and I have volunteered to ‘stop gap’ until
the end of the term.
Ellen Parle has resigned from her position as CNC Stomal Therapy at The Princess Alexandra Hospital. She was also coordinator of the stomal therapy course at PAH so it is a great loss.
Cathy Fritz (CNC Royal Brisbane Hospital) has also resigned to complete her degree

course and Shirley Jones recently graduated from the Stomal Therapy course at the PAH appointed to a position at the RBH. Our meetings at the Mater have been poorly attended during the last few months and we might have to resort to clowns and door prizes if numbers do not increase. We understand that everyone is under pressure to study and to join other groups and distances are against all but those of us living closest to the metropolitan area, but it would be a dreadful waste to let the AASTN’s Queensland branch become extinct.

The election of the 1996-1998 Queensland branch executive comprises:

• Chairperson: Brenda Sando 
• Vice-Chairperson: Pat Walls 
• Secretary: Shirley Jones 
• Treasurer: Louise Dufficy
• State Rep: Val Wright 
• Education Representatives (unchanged): Cynthia Smyth and Ros Probert 

We were rather distressed recently to hear of the postponement of this year’s Princess Alexandra Hospital Stomal Therapy nurse training course. Due to financial constraints it appears for a while that we might lose this excellent (and currently the only) Queensland-based course. Now, however, we are quite hopeful that the hospital’s discussion with Griffith University will result in the formation of a new course, run under the auspices of Griffith, at the Princess Alexandra Hospital. It may take the form of external studies or ‘on site’ lectures but either would include a practical component. Clinical competences will have to meet standards approved by the AASTN and PAH.
Some members of the AASTN Queensland executive have been invited to be present at meetings between the interested parties. Since these members include Ros Probert, who has been involved with the PAH course and who is also on the AASTN Education Subcommittee, we feel we will be well-represented. Proposals for a conjoint lecturer and the credit points allocated for subjects appear to be appropriate and we are very appreciative of the fact that the PAH included us during the early stages of planning. Things may have changed by the time this goes to print, but we are very hopeful that the changes will bring positive support for the new course, which is set to begin 1997.

The proposed new stomal therapy course to be run by Griffith University with the Princess Alexandra Hospital, is expected to be available next year, although finalisation of plans is still in the pipeline at the time of writing. Brenda Sando (Queensland branch Chairperson, CNC. STN at the Wesley Hospital); Cathy Fritz (CNC STN at the RBH); and Ros Probert (CNC STN and previously STN Course Coordinator at the Princess Alexandra Hospital), have all been involved in the planning stages.
We say farewell to Sister Fay McMeniman in December 1996; she will be retiring from the Mater Public Hospital where she has been the stomal therapy nurse since 1975. That makes 21 years of regularly attending the AASTN meetings, arranging accommodation for our seminars and meetings, getting the rooms ready for us and making sure the tea arrived to keep us going. Those of you who know Sister Fay from working with her, seeing her at conferences or talking to her on the phone, will know what a loss this will be to her patients and to the AASTN. We wish her every happiness in her retirement and hope that her wicked sense of humour will continue to see her through all that life holds in store.
The problem of attracting members back to the meetings just will not go away, despite us advertising the educational sessions to be held at the meetings and offering incentives like afternoon tea. In fact, we are still struggling to get enough members for a quorum.

The year has begun with a good turnout of members and some bright ideas on how to increase interest in the association.  Unfortunately, the stomal therapy course at Griffith University has not met our expectations – not enough registrants had applied to do the course. The commencement date was delayed to allow for late registration, the program was changed without any consultation with some members of the consortium (specifically the Queensland AASTN executive members, who were omitted from discussions about the changes) and our lecturers were given minimal notice of the changes in the required lecture content. As the present arrangements leave inadequate time to complete the course requisites during the university semesters, the clinical aspects of the course appear likely to suffer.

At this stage, we are hoping that one of the other universities might show some interest
in taking up a more appropriate course, one acceptable to the associations Education Sub-
Committee and the WCET as a ‘certified’ training course.

‘The course’, a regular topic at our meetings, is once again on the agenda. The Wesley Hospital hopes to have a course up and running by next year, with the content being put together right now. It will, of course, go to the AASTN and WCET education committees for ratification before it starts. We are delighted that the NSW College of Nursing distance education course has begun, and are most appreciative of the hard work the education subcommittee has put in on that project. As loyal Queenslanders, work we wish Cynthia Smyth all the best as the new chair of this group.

Margaret Mackenzie resigned from her stomal therapy position in Toowoomba. Margaret trained at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane in 1976 – the course run by Sue Noller. She has worked as a stomal therapy nurse for 22 years. The highlights of her career, says Margaret, have been the satisfaction of seeing patients rehabilitated back to their original lifestyles. Margaret will be missed by her colleagues and clients throughout the area.

We are delighted to be able to report that the first ostomy visitor training course has passed the interview stage and should be well on the way to completion by the time this goes to press. The Queensland Cancer Fund has been wonderfully supportive, as have the stoma associations. Metropolitan Queensland branch members must now make every effort to be involved, both in training and using the volunteers. It has taken such a long time to reach this point that we have to make it work well. If the pilot scheme proves successful we hope country areas will also be involved within the next couple of years (due to the tyranny of distance it has been necessary to restrict the scheme to the metropolitan area initially).

The Queensland course did not get underway this year, despite all the hard work by Brenda Sando and her colleagues at the Wesley Hospital. Now, though, it is all ready to go having been approved by both the AASTN education committee and the WCET, Congratulations to Brenda and all involved; we hope it is ‘on’ for early 2000.
During the last 6 months we have managed to keep our meeting attendance high enough to achieve a quorum on most occasions. The numbers have dropped by one with the retirement of Mary Latimore (a very long standing member), who has finally decided to spend some time doing her own thing, after many years dedicated to nursing.