Tasmania Vaccine Solutions

25/08/2026

Very grateful to have been named Highly Commended in the 2026 Aabi Award by the Immunisation Foundation of Australia.

Tasmania Vaccine Solutions was recognised for helping improve access to influenza vaccination across Tasmania, particularly in regional communities where accessing vaccination can mean a significant drive.

It’s lovely to see that work recognised alongside some exceptional immunisation programs and clinicians from around Australia.

Thank you to the Immunisation Foundation of Australia for the recognition and to the Tasmanian businesses, communities and individuals who continue to support Tasmania Vaccine Solutions.

19/08/2026

Throwback Thursday

Smallpox eradication (1980).
The ultimate flex in global public health.

A disease that killed an estimated 300 million people in the 20th century alone.
Disfigured survivors. High childhood mortality. Entire communities living in fear.

And then…… gone!
Not controlled. Not “managed.” Eradicated.

No fancy apps.
No real-time dashboards.
No social media campaigns or influencer messaging.

Just coordinated global effort, rigorous surveillance, ring vaccination, cold chain discipline, clear protocols, and clinicians and public health workers turning up again and again in some of the hardest settings on earth.

This wasn’t magic. It was systems.

Smallpox eradication worked because:

the science was solid and trusted

the strategy was clear and adaptive

surveillance mattered as much as vaccination

accountability existed at every level

communities were engaged, not bypassed

It’s also a reminder that eradication doesn’t happen by accident. It happens when public health is funded, boring, methodical, and relentless.

When people say, “we could never do that now,” what they often mean is:

we don’t like long timelines

we struggle with coordination

we underinvest in prevention

and we expect quick wins from complex systems

Smallpox asks a confronting question:
If we eradicated that, what could be possible today if we applied the same seriousness to other preventable diseases?

Different pathogens.
Different tools.
Same principles.

Public health works best when it’s built on trust, evidence, and systems that actually work on the ground.

09/08/2026

Myth Busting Monday 🌏💉

“You only need vaccines if you travel overseas.”

If that were true, half of Tasmania wouldn’t need half its vaccines.

You don’t need a passport to:

catch influenza

get whooping cough

pick up measles from someone passing through

get tetanus from a dirty cut

be exposed to hepatitis through work, injury, or close contact

Most vaccine-preventable diseases don’t care where you holiday.
They care about close contact, workplaces, schools, kids, injuries, and community life.

Let’s be clear:

Influenza is caught locally, every winter

Whooping cough circulates here, especially around babies

Measles outbreaks in Australia usually start with one traveller… then spread locally

Tetanus comes from soil, not overseas airports

You can pick up a vaccine-preventable disease:

at work

at school drop-off

in a community hall

at footy, childcare, or the local IGA

No Bali required.

Travel vaccines are one small part of immunisation.
Most vaccines are about:

protecting you in everyday life

protecting vulnerable people around you

stopping outbreaks before they start

So no, vaccines aren’t just for overseas travel.

They’re for living your life here, safely.

And in a small state where everyone’s connected?
That protection matters even more.

05/08/2026

There is something special about being surrounded by nurses.

Today I’m at the Australian College of Nursing Conference in Melbourne, and it has reminded me just how much I love this profession.

Nursing is the largest regulated health profession in Australia, but we’re much more than numbers. We are a community. We support one another, advocate for others, and have the privilege of caring for people during some of the most important moments of their lives.

I’m incredibly proud to be a nurse. I love the camaraderie that comes with this profession and the shared purpose that brings us together. No matter where we work or what path our careers take, we are united by a commitment to improving the health and wellbeing of our communities.

It’s wonderful to come together, learn from one another, celebrate each other’s successes, and remember why we chose this profession in the first place.

When nurses work together, amazing things happen. 💙

02/08/2026

We’re excited to be attending the upcoming Launceston Chamber of Commerce Business Excellence Awards.

Tasmania Vaccine Solutions is incredibly proud to be a finalist in the Innovation in Rural Healthcare category, supported by the Clifford Craig Foundation.

As a nurse-led business, our work is grounded in practical care, prevention and improving access. We take healthcare directly to workplaces and rural communities across Tasmania, helping people receive essential services closer to where they live and work.

This recognition is a meaningful acknowledgement of what nurses can build, lead and contribute beyond traditional healthcare settings.

We’re honoured to be recognised alongside so many outstanding Tasmanian businesses and innovators, and we’re looking forward to celebrating with everyone on the night.

28/07/2026

Business Wednesday 🚀

Entrepreneurship isn’t hard because the work is complex.
It’s hard because it constantly puts you where you don’t feel qualified to be.

I didn’t just start a business.
I started turning up to rooms where I knew no one.
Shaking hands at networking events feeling like an outsider.
Sending cold emails and making cold calls with zero guarantee anyone would respond.

And then there was the admin.
Budgets. Cash flow. Systems.
Staring at my laptop thinking, what the hell is Xero and why does it matter?

None of it felt natural.
None of it felt comfortable.
Most of it felt like I’d skipped a chapter everyone else had read.

But that discomfort is the work.

Entrepreneurship is the daily decision to stay in the room when it would be easier to leave.
To keep learning when your confidence takes a hit.
To trade certainty for growth.

Comfort is the real risk.
Comfort keeps businesses small, ideas safe, and potential capped.

So if you’re showing up before you feel ready, pitching before you feel polished, and learning things you never planned to learn, you’re doing it right.

Growth rarely feels good in the moment.
But it compounds.

One day you realise you don’t belong in the room
because the work you’re doing requires a different table entirely.

21/07/2026

Business Wednesday

You can’t scale chaos.
Ask any nurse who’s walked onto a shift with no handover, no equipment list, and “we’ll just wing it”.

In healthcare, chaos doesn’t look edgy or creative.
It looks unsafe.
It looks exhausting.
It looks like one person holding the whole thing together with caffeine and goodwill.

Same deal in business.

SOPs, checklists, templates, and workflows aren’t corporate nonsense.
They’re clinical safety for your business.

They’re the difference between:
• “Only I know how this runs”
and “Any competent nurse can step in and do this properly”

• Last-minute panic
and calm, predictable clinics

• Carrying everything in your head
and actually being able to breathe

Every checklist is future-you saying,
“I don’t want to relearn this at 6am in a cold Tassie hall with patchy reception.”

Every SOP is how you protect patients, staff, and yourself.
Every template is one less decision on an already full day.
Every workflow is how you stop burning out the good people.

If your nurse-led business feels heavy, fragile, or constantly reactive, it’s rarely about motivation.
It’s a systems problem.

Good systems don’t make care colder.
They make it safer, kinder, and sustainable.

This is how we keep services running in rural Tasmania.
This is how we scale without breaking people.

You can’t scale chaos.
But you can build calm, one checklist at a time.

19/07/2026

A new chapter for Tasmania Vaccine Solutions

Over the past few years, Tasmania Vaccine Solutions has grown through the support of workplaces and communities across Tasmania.

While delivering workplace vaccination programs, I was often asked whether I could also provide services such as spirometry, audiometry, respirator fit testing, drug and alcohol testing, and health surveillance for workers exposed to substances such as lead and cadmium.

Those conversations planted the seed for something bigger.

After more than 20 years as a nurse, I have always believed strongly in prevention. Keeping people well, identifying risks early and supporting healthier workplaces can improve quality of life, reduce avoidable illness and help take pressure off our hospitals.

So, I invested in further training, travelled interstate for specialised courses, purchased new equipment, developed policies and clinical protocols, and established pathology, specialist and referral pathways.

I am now very excited to introduce Worksite Health Tasmania.

Worksite Health Tasmania will provide mobile, nurse-led occupational health services to workplaces across Tasmania, with GP clinical oversight and a strong focus on safe, practical and evidence-based care.

Tasmania Vaccine Solutions is not disappearing. It will continue to deliver workplace and community vaccination programs during flu season, while Worksite Health Tasmania will operate year-round, expanding the services available to workplaces.

This next step allows me to keep working for myself while continuing to provide the kind of care I am passionate about, especially for rural communities across Tasmania.

Thank you to every workplace, client, supplier and supporter who has helped me build Tasmania Vaccine Solutions. Your trust and encouragement made this possible.

Please follow Worksite Health Tasmania to stay updated as the new services are rolled out.

Where Tasmania works, we go.

15/07/2026

Who says healthcare only happens in clinics?

Prevention is about making healthcare accessible. Sometimes that means setting up in a workplace. Sometimes it’s a community hall.

Today, it was the library.

13/07/2026

Immunisation at a Critical Moment and It’s a Team Sport

Australia is at a critical juncture in its immunisation trajectory. After decades of strong coverage, we’re now seeing declines in vaccination rates for children and adults all while diseases like measles and pertussis remain real risks. ATAGI and others are warning that reversing these trends will require coordinated action across the entire health system.

Much of the conversation rightly focuses on GPs and general practice is central. GPs are trusted, they know their patients’ histories, and they deliver the majority of routine vaccines.

But here’s the truth from the clinical frontline:

We cannot just rely on GPs to do it all.

In communities right across Australia especially in regional, rural, and underserved areas — nurse practitioners, practice nurses, pharmacists, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health workers, community nurses, and allied health staff are already stepping into the gaps:

Practice nurses and nurse practitioners are embedded in clinics and community settings where opportunistic vaccination makes a difference.

Pharmacists are often more accessible than a GP appointment, especially for adults needing annual flu shots or catch-ups.

Community and Aboriginal health workers build trust in places where people might otherwise fall through the cracks.

Allied health and support workers help reinforce vaccine confidence and follow-up.

Our immunisation workforce isn’t a one-node system, it’s a network. And when that network is activated with clear funding, good data systems, strong governance, and with shared responsibility coverage improves.

We need:
✔️ Team-based preventive care across outpatient, community, and regional settings.
✔️ Funding and training that support all qualified vaccinators, not just GPs.
✔️ Care pathways that let every clinician which means that NPs, nurses, pharmacists, allied health staff act at the point of contact.

GPs do a great job but expecting them to carry immunisation alone is like asking one player to win the whole game.

If we want to bend coverage curves upward, we need to share the love and the load across the whole health workforce.

Because protecting communities isn’t just medicine. It’s teamwork.

Reference:
Burge, K. (2025, December 9). Australia at ‘critical juncture in its immunisation trajectory’. newsGP. Royal Australian College of General Practitioners. https://champ.ly/iyMjfefh

As vaccination rates continue to fall, ATAGI is eyeing GPs to help spark a turnaround, leaning on the GP-patient relationship.