Bold plan to help women with big issue

One hundred endometriosis nurses will be trained and stationed in regional, rural and remote areas to help improve the outcomes for the hundreds of thousands of Australians afflicted with the chronic disease. An estimated one in seven women and girls are affected by endometriosis, a condition where tissue similar to the lining of the womb grows outside the uterus. It takes about 6½ years on average for someone to be diagnosed, while those living in regional and remote parts of the country experience more significant delays.

Now, Endometriosis Australia, with the Australian College of Nurses, will launch a scholarship program to train nurses to help hasten diagnosis.

A trained endo nurse is able to help identify the signs and symptoms of endometriosis and assist in the treatment of management.

Lucy Downey, who recently graduated from the Australian College of Nursing with a specialisation in endometriosis and chronic pain and works in the rural community of Woolgoologa, on the NSW midnorth coast, said the move would improve lives.

“Nurses are advocates for patients, and we have so much more time to spend with them than doctors or other healthcare professionals,” she said.

Endometriosis Australia will use government grants and community donations to deliver the 100 trained nurses, with each scholarship to cost $2900.

It follows an announcement from the federal government that Tuesday’s budget would include a $49.1m investment into helping to tackle the disease.