Austin Health Chronic Kidney Disease Clinical Nurse Consultant, Katherine Cherry, has been awarded the 2021 Beverley Briese Nursing Scholarship.

Worth up to $55,000, it is one of the most generous nursing scholarships in Australia and is only available to an outstanding nurse at Austin Health. 

"I am honoured to have been selected as the recipient for this prestigious scholarship. I look forward to representing Austin Health nurses and am very grateful to Beverley Briese for supporting and believing in nursing at Austin Health. This opportunity would not have been possible without this generous scholarship," Katherine said.

When travel is possible, Katherine will attend the University of Ottawa School of nursing graduate program "Decision Making in Clinical Practice".

The University of Ottawa are world leaders in shared decision making, and this program will allow Katherine to gain theoretical and clinical knowledge.

She will then bring her learnings back to Austin Health to design, implement and measure a quality improvement initiative in shared decision making specifically in nephrology.  

The outcomes of Katherine’s work will improve patient experience, help achieve the health service’s strategic priorities and, ultimately, the lessons and frameworks would be applicable in many other areas across the organisation more broadly. 

Austin Health Chief Nursing Officer, Bernadette Twomey, said she was delighted with the quality of applications received this year and she looked forward to the opportunities and outcomes for the health service from Katherine’s scholarship.

"On behalf of Austin Health, I want to say thank you again to Beverley Briese who has always been a great supporter of Austin Health nurses and is also a big believer in sharing and learning expertise on a world stage,” she said.