Boasting a track record dedicated to nursing and midwifery, Lee Thomas, the incoming Federal Secretary of the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) is looking forward to the next phase of her career with the same commitment she has shown for the professions since an early age.

When she officially takes up her new role on 1 July (replacing outgoing Federal Secretary Ged Kearney – who is moving on to the role of ACTU President), Lee will inherit the leadership of the union representing the interests 170,000 members including nurses, midwives, assistants in nursing and students. With members employed in health care and other settings, both in urban and rural or remote communities, the ANF’s remit covers hospitals, health and community services, schools, universities, the armed forces, statutory authorities, local government and professional organisations.

A passionate advocate of nursing and midwifery, the former ANF Assistant Federal Secretary 2008-2010 brings to her new role a lifetime’s experience of the issues surrounding the professions. Apart from a brief, youthful flirtation with hairdressing, Lee has been involved with the care professions in some form or other from an early age. Her very first step on the professional ladder took the form of work experience at a nursing home in Adelaide while she was in year 11, she confirms.

“I was then fortunate enough to obtain some part time work in that nursing home. The experiences during that time helped me make the final decision to apply to a few Adelaide hospitals to commence my RN education.”

From such beginnings to becoming head of the third largest union in Australia (the Shop Distributive and Allied Employees Association is the largest with a membership of around 230,000 members, and the Australian Education Union is the second largest with around 180,000), is quite a journey. When asked if she could have anticipated arriving at her impending role, Lee is both unassuming and frank. “Absolutely not!” she confirms, although she does concede that she has been actively involved in the union for most of her career.

If the hands-on business of nursing and midwifery has always been her passion, her enthusiasm for the profession and the experiences she has gained through it make her ideally suited for the next phase of her career.

“Some of the characteristics that I have gained through my years of nursing and midwifery are things like being able to communicate well with many different people, as well as a healthy respect for fairness and equity and a sense of humour,” she says.

Meanwhile, with much having changed for the better since she first entered the profession, there is good reason to be optimistic for the future, she adds.

“The way we are educated has changed and that is a good thing, making nurses into professionals and recognising that education for registered nurses should take place in a university was a huge change. But medical technology has changed the most significantly; the extension of procedures by laparoscopic or keyhole surgery for instance has a significant impact on length of stay and recovery rates for patients. Also, the advent of Nurse Practitioners who can diagnose, prescribe and order diagnostics is another fantastic achievement.”

Over the long term, Lee has high hopes for further developments, among them cures for diseases like cancer and diabetes and more extensive roles for nurses and midwives. Meanwhile, her more immediate objectives include continuing to build on groundwork already achieved by the ANF, in particular in aged care and promoting the professional and industrial concerns of the nursing and care professions.

“My key aims are to ensure that in aged care we meet our members’ objectives through Because We Care [the ANF’s campaign to improve aged care funding and conditions, for the benefit of aged care nurses and care staff] and to continue to strive for fairness and equity for nurses and midwives and assistants both professionally and industrially.”

Armed with the experience to undertake these tasks, Lee says her career to date has contained both lows and highs. However it’s clear that none of her early enthusiasm has waned.

“I think the most difficult moment in my career was assisting with the delivery of still born triplets and the most inspiring moment was every time I helped a woman and her partner to have a baby. Birth is definitely a miracle and I never tire of just how amazing it is.”

By Belinda Smart