Regular cervical screening is an essential part of women's healthcare. By understanding the importance of cervical screening and the options available, women can take proactive steps to prevent cervical cancer.
The vast landscapes of regional, rural and remote NSW can involve additional challenges for accessing healthcare services, such as cervical screening. These may include:
- having to travel long distances for tests or treatment,
- lack of public transport,
- limited availability of GPs, healthcare providers and specialists (including female providers, if preferred), and
- having to see a doctor or nurse who is part of your local community.
In Australia, only 67% of women living in in rural and remote communities participated in cervical screening. Women in these communities are at a higher risk of being diagnosed with cervical cancer and more likely to die from it.
By knowing the various options available in your local area, you can stay up to date with your cervical screening and be able to attend any follow-up tests or treatment that can save your life. Find out what’s right for you below.
Self-collection, a convenient and private option
Women and people with a cervix who are 25-74 years, and have ever been sexually active, should having a Cervical Screening Test every 5 years. There are two options:
- A doctor or nurse can collect your sample, or;
- You can collect your own sample privately (self-collection).
If you are interested in self-collection, talk to your doctor or nurse to find out more. Learn more about self-collection
You can have the Cervical Screening Test with many different health professionals, including:
- your regular local doctor or nurse (you could request a female provider or visit a different clinic, if preferred)
- a Women’s Health Nurse
- a community health centre
- a Family Planning Australia clinic
- a sexual health clinic
- an Aboriginal Medical Service or Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Service.
The important role of Women's Health Nurses in regional, rural and remote communities
Women's Health Nurses play a vital role in cervical screening, especially in regional, rural and remote areas. They can offer both self-collection and clinician collection options. Many provide outreach services and opportunistic screening through community events and mobile clinics.
Their clinical expertise, follow-up care and referral networks ensure high quality care and support across a range of women’s health issues
Where can I visit a Women’s Health Nurse?
Women’s Health Nurses operate in all regional and rural Local Health Districts. More information about locations, hours and contact details can be found via your Local Health District website, Medical Centres or the Australian Women's Health Nurse Association.
Meet some of NSW’s Women’s Health Nurses
Joanne Phillips, Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant, Western NSW LHD
Joanne Phillips is a Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant based in Dubbo. Her role involves providing expert clinical advice to patients, carers, and health care professionals, as well as conducting monthly women’s health outreach clinics to the northern sector of Western NSW LHD.
Joanne has been a Women’s Health Nurse in the district for 20 years, performing various roles which have provided her with great insight, skills, experience, and strategic knowledge in women’s health.
Read more about Joanne:
I always wanted to work within women’s health as a student nurse. I thought it would be on a gynaecological ward in the United Kingdom, but little did I know I’d be working on the other side of the world in Australia in such a wonderful program.
What I really enjoy about being a Women’s Health Nurse is working with community stakeholders to recruit under-screened and never-screened people in the three early cancer detection programs. I also love the diversity of the role; every day is different, and I meet some wonderful people.
I provide an outreach service and fly with the Rural Aerial Health Service to regional and remote towns. It has been a great way to connect with communities, provide access and address some of the challenges and barriers people in our LHD experience. It has also cured my fear of flying!
Western NSW LHD has a large geographical area that can be challenging. For 15 years, our team has worked with BreastScreen NSW to provide an opportunity for women and people with a cervix to attend both cervical and breast screening at the van’s pop-up clinics and at a fixed site in Dubbo. Through this initiative, clients have avoided travelling three to five hours to have these health checks performed.
As our program reaches communities often with no access to GPs, women and people with a cervix are very appreciative of our service. We have detected many cervical abnormalities and done timely referrals to gynaecologists which have resulted in better patient outcomes.
We also work with stakeholders such as GPs, Aboriginal Medical Services, and Primary Health Networks to run activities and events to improve the cervical screening experience.
I ran a regular clinic at my facility and found most women that attended were routine screeners. I found it challenging to recruit and engage women that had never screened or were under-screened. So I decided to adapt the service and started working with stakeholders to take clinics closer to women around the district.
Hosting pamper days and working with BreastScreen NSW have provided opportunities for more women to participate in cervical screening. The introduction of self-collection has also encouraged more people to participate that may not have done so before.
However, there is a small minority of women that still do not wish to participate in cervical screening. In this instance, we need to respect their wishes and let them know our clinic door is always open if they change their mind.
Morgan O’Reilly, Women’s Health Nurse, Western NSW LHD
Morgan O’Reilly is a Women’s Health Nurse and Midwife working in Central West NSW. She is based in Mudgee and as part of her role, she travels to other regional and rural towns including Dunedoo, Coolah and Gilgandra to provide Women’s Health Clinics and school-based programs.
Read more about Morgan:
There’s a lot to love about being a Women’s Health Nurse. I feel so privileged to sit and talk to a woman about her life and what has led her to this place and moment. Women come in for cervical screening and leave with so much more; it could be a debrief on their child’s birth, working through menopause symptoms, answering questions on menstrual bleeding, or just talking about their life. I often wonder, if they didn’t come in for the Test, would they have ever mentioned their concerns to anyone? We provide so much more than ‘just a [Cervical Screening Test]’ to women, particularly in our rural and remote towns where there are often no other resources for them.
I also feel lucky to travel to some amazing places. Flights to Walgett and Lightning Ridge will be a core memory admiring the landscape from above (I will also never forget the turbulence!).
Women’s Health Nurses have a crucial role in addressing challenges to cervical screening in Western NSW LHD.
Access to healthcare services in rural NSW can be limited due to distance and resources. There’s a huge demand for GPs and women often live more than an hour drive away from their nearest GP. There are also cultural and socioeconomic barriers that affect willingness to participate in cervical screening programs.
We provide education and outreach programs to raise awareness about the importance of cervical screening and debunk misconceptions surrounding it. We also work closely with community leaders and services such as Aboriginal Medical Services, GPs, and other LHD teams to ensure cervical screening services are accessible, safe, and culturally sensitive.
Our team services all Western NSW LHD - we are on the ground (or in the air) reaching communities to provide clinics and education around cervical screening. We partner with BreastScreen NSW and tour with them to provide education and screening in one spot. We also partner with established local services, such as Aboriginal Medical Services and GPs to run clinics. We’re constantly looking at more ways to reach priority groups to help support them and provide a positive, culturally safe, and inclusive screening experience.
It can be challenging at times, but I believe it’s about showing up in communities, being present and a reliable and safe place for information and support. I recently saw a woman for her first CST, she remembered me as the Women’s Health Nurse who visited her school to run the Love Bites program and felt safe to attend the appointment with me. That’s an example of why building relationships is so important in communities, and that’s what we do every day as a Women’s Health Nurse.
Jane Newman, Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant, Northern NSW LHD
Jane is a Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant in Northern NSW LHD. She runs clinics and outreach services across the district from Tweed Heads to Byron Bay and out to Murwillumbah. Jane has been caring for the community as a nurse for more than 40 years, including 24 years as a Women’s Health Nurse.
Read more about Jane:
There have been incredible changes in women’s health over the course of my career such as in cervical screening, menopause management and awareness. There is greater recognition of women’s health issues, like endometriosis, and guidelines are being developed to support better care and management of these.
While improvements around sexual and reproductive health have been made, particularly changes to oestrogen and progesterone that are better tolerated and safer to use, challenges still exist for the support of long-acting reversible contraception methods.
I love hearing stories of courage and resilience, as well as working independently. One of the great advantages is the time we have for discussion at consultation; appointments are mostly 45 minutes which allows time to explore issues and support women to make decisions about managing their health and providing informed choices.
A highlight of my work is validating women’s feelings about their health concerns, particularly for women who have not had positive responses around their menopause symptoms, as well as providing support and referral to women requiring abortion.
Through providing cervical screening, I’ve been able to give ongoing support to women who have been diagnosed with a Higher Risk Significant Cervical Abnormality and for me this is one of the most satisfying parts of my role. By providing them with information about colposcopy and a follow-up, this builds a strong connection and they return to the service to complete management pathways and beyond. I’ve also been able to assist in early detection of endometrial cancer and adenosarcomas as an incidental finding via the Test.
The introduction of self-collection has been very positive for women, particularly older women, who find this option easier. Many women have found speculum examination painful and avoided cervical screening, so it has been amazing to have these women attend after not screening for 10 or 20 years.
Jennifer McKay, Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant, Northern NSW LHD
Jennifer McKay is a Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) working in the Richmond Valley area. She conducts Women’s Health Clinics, including outreach services to regional communities such as Bonalbo and Tabulam Aboriginal Community, is co-chair of the Northern NSW Women’s Health Interagency and is an active member of the NSW Aboriginal Cervical Screening Network. Jennifer has experience in perioperative nursing and has also worked in the Torres Strait and Northern Peninsula area as the mobile Women’s Health CNC. In 2022, Jennifer received the Australian Women’s Health Nurse Association Award of Excellence.
Read more about Jennifer:
I love the diversity. I provide consultations with women about their health care needs, facilitate health information sessions, and act as a resource for staff on women’s health issues. I also love that the role encompasses an approach that offers person-centred, holistic health care throughout the lifespan.
A day in the life of a Women’s Health Nurse in Northern NSW can be varied in location and activity, yet in all circumstances I enjoy working towards optimal health outcomes for women and girls.
As a Women’s Health Nurse, I aim to increase women’s health literacy and their access to information that focuses on early detection and illness prevention, developing pathways that meet gaps in services, as well as provide clinical services, health screening, brief interventions, and referrals.
I offer Women’s Health Clinics across the region including outreach, telehealth, virtual clinics, and video conferencing. On outreach clinic dates, I will pack my clinical equipment, load it into the fleet car and travel to outreach sites across the Richmond region – from Ballina on the coast to Tabulam and Urbenville in the west.
I work with other agencies and health services to co-facilitate the Love Bites program and am a member of the Positive Adolescent Sexual Health (PASH) consortium. As a Women’s Health CNC, I offer supervision to nurses in Northern NSW LHD to gain skills in women’s health examinations.
In collaboration with Cancer Institute NSW, TAFE, and Northern Rivers Women and Children’s Services Inc., I’ve co-facilitated events to target specific community groups to learn more about the option of self-collection for cervical screening. These have enabled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, recently arrived women and those from refugee backgrounds to learn in a safe and inclusive environment.
As a result, many women have had an opportunistic self-collection test and many more have attended their local Women’s Health Clinic. It has been wonderful building relationships between health providers and community members while celebrating diversity.
Roslyn Hollis, Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant, Northern NSW LHD
Roslyn Hollis is the Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant for the Clarence region. Based in Grafton, Roslyn runs local Women’s Health Clinics and outreach services to Maclean, Iluka and Yamba. She works with the Maclean Aboriginal Community to facilitate a monthly Women’s Business yarning circle and bi-annual visits to the Baryulgil Aboriginal community. Roslyn has worked in nursing for more than 35 years and was among the first nurses trained to do cervical and breast screening through the Well Women’s Screening Course. She is the current President of the Australian Women’s Health Nurse Association.
Read more about Roslyn:
What I find rewarding about the Women’s Health Nurse role is providing a service where women feel comfortable, supported, and in a safe space. I love empowering women to prioritise and to learn more about their own health. When they walk away from their consult, I want them to carry additional knowledge and an ability to look after themselves a little better.
Women generally do not prioritise themselves, usually putting family and children first, but for the time they are with me, I want them to feel like they are the priority.
Our LHD has a level 2 CNC allocated to each region; Clarence, Richmond and Tweed. While there are only three of us, we each have variables for our regions and we’re very connected and support each other in our roles. There is such diversity in my clinics - I could be on the coast in Yamba one day and then in an inland regional town the next, or in a yarning circle, chatting with high school kids, mentoring medical students, or talking to the local seniors group.
Women in Northern NSW are often isolated and have geographical limitations to accessing services. This means we need to travel to them, have thorough understanding and knowledge of women’s health and available referral pathways. We also need to have strong partnerships with GPs and other healthcare professionals to advocate for women and provide the best care possible in regional areas where access to specialist services can be limited and have long wait times.
It is also important to understand that when we connect with CALD women in our service, it is usually women from many culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds all in one place at the one time.
Women’s Health Nurses are unique in their ability to provide a confidential and supportive environment for women and people with a cervix. With limited access to GPs and cost of living pressures, having a free service for women to access cervical screening is a no-brainer.
We can also implement strategies to reach and infiltrate priority populations that have difficulty attending their cervical screening that other services can’t. This includes providing outreach clinics, home visits, interpreter services, in-service to NSW Health staff, and collaborating with community stakeholders.
Karen Gleeson, Women’s Health and Continence Nurse, Far West LHD
Karen Gleeson is a Women’s Health and Continence Nurse working in Far West LHD. She conducts women’s health clinics in Buronga and Dareton, and travels hundreds of kilometres throughout the LHD’s lower region to provide outreach services to small towns in Wentworth Shire and Balranald Shire. Karen has been a nurse for 16 years and held various roles in Far West LHD, including three years as a Women’s Health Nurse.
Read more about Karen:
The Women’s Health Nurse role is extremely important and rewarding as it helps to support all women in the healthcare of their life’s journey. I have met so many women and feel privileged to have heard their inspiring life stories. It has also been exceptionally fulfilling to provide information and education to women in all areas of women’s health.
I have had the opportunity to make a real difference in Far West LHD in promoting the women’s health service, especially to support the most vulnerable women in the community who lack access to or education about women’s health care. I promote it through social media, within the Buronga HealthOne and Dareton Primary Health Service buildings, promotional days, word of mouth, and other opportunities within my workplace.
I am driven to help reduce the incidences of women-specific associated cancers by working with other service providers to make my women’s health service more accessible. This includes collaborating with the district’s Multi-Purpose Services Program and supporting two Aboriginal Health Service providers in Dareton and Balranald.
An increasing number of women are participating in cervical screening in the Far West thanks to initiatives I’ve taken to make the women’s health service more accessible and to promote it further. What has also been especially supportive is promoting the option of self-collection being offered to eligible women, it has seen a rise in women coming forward to cervical screening who were either under-screened or had not been screened before.
Jane Davies, Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Specialist, Far West LHD
Jane Davies is a Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Specialist based at Broken Hill Community Health Centre. Jane has worked as a nurse for more than 40 years, starting her career in Sydney before moving to the bush. She has experience in perioperative nursing, midwifery, justice health and sexual health, in addition to seven years as a Women’s Health Nurse.
Read more about Jane:
Six years in the goal doing Transition to Specialty Practice and then seven years working in sexual health set me up nicely to undertake the Women’s Health, Clinical Nurse Specialist role. It is a very rewarding job in so many ways and one that I will be fortunate enough to retire from in three years.
The Women’s Health Service in Broken Hill has a very good reputation, the nurses are well respected in the community and being a small town, women know they can get help here. While our core business is cervical screening, the clinic sees a range of women for various reasons such as medical termination of pregnancy (TOP) and post-natal checks.
Cervical screening services are readily available in Broken Hill at both my place of work, the Community Health Centre, and GPs. The local Aboriginal Medical Service also has a Women’s Health Nurse who offers cervical screening. Our services have a very good working connection, and women can be referred to the other when required.
The changes to the Cervical Screening Test in the last few years have been very positive, women have really warmed to the option of self-collection. I have also found women are happy to screen if they are due or come in for screening if they are overdue and have received a reminder from me.
Renee Bell, Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant, Mid North Coast LHD
Renee Bell is the Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) for Mid North Coast LHD (MNCLHD). She works with a team of Women’s Health Clinical Nurse Specialists to provide services to women and girls, particularly those at higher risk of poor health outcomes, across the district via health clinics and phone consultations.
Renee has worked as a Women’s Health Nurse for almost eight years and has a background in intensive care, paediatrics, and drug and alcohol nursing specialties.
Read more about Renee:
Women’s Health Nursing is the best job in the world. It’s always challenging, however the privilege of working with women and girls is constantly rewarding.
I love caring for women and girls across their lifespan. A big part of the role is sharing information and knowledge with women who appreciate being given the agency and choice of their healthcare options. Women and girls possess knowledge and experience of their own health and when they share this, I learn. I am with them in their moments of care, planning and facilitating outcomes that meet their potential for health.
Recognising that women are more than their reproductive years, or their pregnancy, is something I find women and young girls appreciate in contemporary society. Working in the dynamic spaces either side of these years is where our role thrives, embracing women’s individual healthcare needs and experiences.
MNCLHD covers a large geographical area, and our small team of WHNs work autonomously, using their diverse knowledge and experience, to ensure best healthcare outcomes for local women. Our team consistently reinvents ways of working, using integrated networks to ensure efficient and contemporary information, practice and future planning of services is available to our clients.
Our LHD embraces and encourages innovation in women’s health, supports clinical outreach to communities, champions free, accessible and equitable healthcare, as well as facilitating projects and group education to women and girls. The MNCLHD leadership team has provided us with unwavering support, and we’re blessed to work for a team with a genuine interest in providing high-level community healthcare to women.
There are many important points to share with a woman who has concerns around cervical screening. Firstly, explaining they are safe in these moments, and that they have choices. Ensuring the woman knows they are in control, not rushed and reassured at all points of care throughout whichever cervical screening option she chooses. It’s also important to validate their previous experiences of cervical screening, provide opportunity and time for questions either side of the consult and explain that results will be shared with them.
Lizz Gerlowska, Clinical Nurse Specialist Women’s Health, Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD
Lizz Gerlowska is a Clinical Nurse Specialist for Women’s Health in the Illawarra Shoalhaven LHD. As the District’s Women’s Health Nurse, Lizz delivers women’s health outreach clinics to women and people with a cervix who live along the coast from Helensburgh in the north to Durras in the south. Lizz has worked in nursing for eight years and has previous experience as a paramedic.
Read more about Lizz:
Women’s Health Nurses provide holistic and integrated care that is complex, essential, and evolving. What I love about the role is the diverse group of women that I get to see and learn from every day. Through running outreach clinics across the District, I bring women’s health services directly to women and people with a cervix from all walks of life and priority populations including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, refugee women, women from culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities, and many more.
ISLHD provides services to a diverse community across a 250 km stretch of coastline. This large geographical area makes the outreach services I deliver all the more important, as I am able to care for people as close to home as possible.
The outreach model for Women’s Health clinics allows for women and people with a cervix to be seen in an environment that is culturally safe and builds trust. Through my experience, I’ve come to specialise in cervical screening that encompasses trauma-informed care and that is so important for the communities I service.
I am also able to offer opportunistic cervical screening through the educational sessions and events that I run in collaboration with a range of service providers. I always make sure there is a private space available after the event to offer this to women and people with a cervix in attendance.
