The Journal of Stomal Therapy Australia - Australian Association of ...

The Elinor Kyte Research Grant
Australian Association of Stomal Therapy Nurses Inc.
Sponsored by ConvaTec ®
For a research project related to stomal therapy practice
The grant (value)
$5000 to fund a research proposal into aspects of stoma management /
care that improves the quality of life of people with stomas (not product
specific).
This grant will be awarded annually to one project as nominated by the
selection committee.
ConvaTec will provide the following ancillary supports (if required):
• Professional liaisons.
• Secretarial support directly related to the research (via ConvaTec
Marketing Department Staff).
• Literature search.
• Assistance with presentation preparation (via ConvaTec).
• Registration at the following year’s AASTN Conference to present findings
of completed research.
Judging panel
• AASTN Executive Members – President, Secretary, Editor
• Marketing Manager ConvaTec
• Member of Education Subcommittee
• Guest member of specific expertise if required e.g. epidemiologist
Selection criteria
Research relating to enhancing the lives of people with stomas as
demonstrated by one of the below.
• Professional issues that further the quality of life of people with stomas.
• Education programme development of professional staff (i.e. nurses or
doctors) that furthers the care of people with stomas.
• Research that focuses on improving quality of life aspects of a person
with a stoma.
• Impact on the rehabilitation process of the client or development of stomal
therapy practice.
For full details contact an AASTN executive (listed on page 2 of this issue),
your ConvaTec Territory Manager or ConvaTec Support Centre on
1800 335 276.
Eligibility criteria
• The applicant must be a practising Full Member of the AASTN or NZNOSTS.
• The grant is NOT to be used as part of the current university study or with
any other research grant from other Corporate Sponsors.
• Research is to be completed within 12 months.
• Beneficiary to present outline of proposal at National Conference Annual
General Meeting.
• Completed research to be submitted to AASTN and/or WCET Journals for
publication.
• Applications must be submitted on the official application form which is
available from the Secretary AASTN or a ConvaTec representative.
• Applications should be submitted to the AASTN Secretary before
31 December for consideration for the following year’s funding.
• Prior approval from employer if utilising data collected from workplace
or ethics approval may be required (Ethics Committee letter attached to
application).
Notification of grant approval
• The judging panel will review the applications. If required outside expertise
will be sought in assisting with the final decision.
• The successful applicant will be notified in writing by February of the
following year with a formal presentation occurring at the following AASTN
Annual General Meeting.
Dispersal of the grant
• ConvaTec will present a cheque to the Executive Treasurer annually, for
dispersal as directed by AASTN Executive.
• The AASTN National Executive will require three monthly written progress
reports of the project.
• Funds will be released in increments, which will be related to the progress
of research; the incremental dispersement will not exceed $2,500.
• ConvaTec will provide registration of the beneficiary to National
Conference in the year the paper is presented providing the material is
presented within two years of its completion.
• The decision of the judging panel will be final.
Elinor Margaret Kyte
Elinor (Elle) Kyte was born 12 March 1930 and began her training as a nurse at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1953. Kyte’s interest in stomal therapy
began with the care of her first ostomy patient. This encounter occurred whilst she was working at St Andrew’s Private Hospital in Melbourne in 1959. The
patient’s surgeon was Mr Edward Stuart Reginald (ESR) Hughes, who many came to regard as the ‘Father of Stomal Therapy’ in Australia – Sir Edward
was knighted in 1977 for his services to surgery. Kyte’s commitment to the care of this ostomy patient was recognised by Hughes and he offered her a
position in his professional rooms – a position she took up in 1960. Thus, began a professional journey for Kyte which caused her to become Australia’s
first stomal therapy nurse.
In 1967 Kyte co-authored with Hughes All About an Ileostomy and, in 1969, All About a Colostomy, which was co-authored with Hughes and Cuthbertson.
In 1969 she was the first author on an article titled A post-operative colostomy and ileostomy appliance published in the prestigious Medical Journal of
Australia, and again in 1970 she was listed as the first author with Hughes on an article titled Peristomal skin protection with Orahesive.
This latter report revealed the revolutionary success Kyte and Hughes had achieved with the use of Orahesive bandage as a peristomal skin barrier.
Kyte had first applied the Orahesive bandage to the severely denuded perifistular skin of a young woman on 18 April 1969. The woman’s pain relief and
skin healing was so dramatic that Kyte had no qualms in applying it to the same woman’s peristomal skin ulceration on 9 May 1969. The peristomal results were found to be equally
as good as the perifistular healing.
As the adage goes – the rest is history. The manufacturers, E R Squibb and Sons Pty Ltd, adapted the size of Orahesive bandage from a three to four inch square so that it would fit
under flanges and changed the prefix in the name to Stomahesive in 1970. Kyte’s discovery not only revolutionised worldwide ostomy care, but impacted on wound management
in general.
Kyte’s other significant achievements for advancing stomal therapy nursing included an invitation in 1969 to present a paper at the Royal Society of Medicine’s International Conference
on Proctology in London, she was instrumental in the establishment of the Australian Association of Stomal Therapists in 1971 (renamed the AASTN in 1984) and was elected the first
President of this body and a Life Member in 1984. Kyte’s achievements position her as a nurse leader ahead of her times and rightly affords her the title of the ‘Mother of Stomal Therapy’
in Australia.
Editor
ConvaTec. A Division of Bristol-Myers Squibb Australia Pty Limited. ABN 33 004 333 322. Level 1, 352 Wellington Road, Mulgrave Vic 3170,
Australia. PO Box 63, Mulgrave, Vic 3170. Phone: (03) 8562 1300 Facsimile: (03) 8562 1343. ConvaTec. A Division of Bristol-Myers Squibb
(NZ) Company. AK 86171. Worldwide Tower, Level 8, 8-10 Whitaker Place, Auckland, New Zealand. PO Box 62663, Kalmia Street, Auckland.
Phone: (09) 306 8833 Facsimile: (09) 306 8831.