the 46th patricia chomley memorial oration 2012 - Royal College of ...

OrationRCNAThe 46th Patricia Chomley Memorial OratorEmeritus Professor Robin Watts AM FRCNAPhD(Colorado) MHSc(McMaster) BA(WAIT) Dip NEd(CoN, Aust) RNProfessor Watts is an Emeritus Professor of Nursing, CurtinUniversity and a Director of the Western Australian Centre forEvidence Informed Healthcare Practice, a collaborating centreof the Joanna Briggs Institute. She has been involved in nursingeducation for 42 years and served on or chaired numerousnational and state nursing education committees, reviews andprojects.Professor Watts commenced her basic nursing training at PrincessMargaret Hospital for Children (PMH) in 1962. Following hergraduation in 1965, Robin undertook her midwifery training at theRoyal North Shore Hospital in Sydney before travelling overseaswhere she gained valuable nursing experience in both Canada and the then war torn Honduras.Upon her return to Australia in 1971, Professor Watts undertook her Diploma of Nursing Education atthe Royal College of Nursing in Melbourne and in 1973 accepted an appointment as the Senior NurseEducator in the School of Nursing at PMH for Children. Following the transition of nursing educationto the tertiary sector, she left the hospital in 1976 to take up a Lecturer’s position in paediatric nursingin the School of Nursing at the Western Australian Institute of Technology (now Curtin University).Although promoted to various administrative positions within the university since then, ProfessorWatts has always maintained a close interest in the quality of health care provided for children in allhealth care settings in Western Australia and beyond.Professor Watts’ contribution to the nursing profession has been and continues to be immense.Of particular note is her involvement with the Australian Health Ethics Committee, the AustralianCouncil of Deans of Nursing, the National Review of Nursing Education, management of the SharedHealth Interactive Practice initiative and her work as the Director of the WA Centre for Evidence BasedNursing and Midwifery. These are current examples of her leadership and ongoing desire to progressthe nursing profession.The 46th Patricia Chomley Memorial Oration 2012RCNA1