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In trauma nursing, mental health is not separated from physical health, for patients and for medical staff.

Emily Ragus went from practice to research in order to improve mental health in trauma nursing.

Listening to disaster responders describe the mental health impact of their work supports their mental health.

In June 2016, a bus carrying Australian tourists crashed head-on into a local bus in Port Vila, the capital city of the Pacific island country of Vanuatu. Three people in the local bus died. A dozen Australians were hurt, including head injuries and open fractures. As one incident within her 15 years of trauma nursing, Emily Ragus helped evacuate some of them to Australia for medical care through CareFlight.

Emily recounts the epiphany, “The usual fairness issues appeared. Australian tourists received deserved world-class emergency help while the people of Vanuatu struggle with daily health services. But nor should tourists take away valuable healthcare resources from locals, so evacuations can help equity. And part of this balance is mental health connected to physical health, for the responders as well as for the crash-affected people and their families.”

This experience led Emily to apply for and win a Winston Churchill Fellowship in 2018 to earn a Diploma of International Humanitarian Assistance from Fordham University in New York City. She formulated ideas about keeping mentally healthy while being a trauma nurse, especially since mental health is not separate from the physical care she provides. Emily’s exploration into these topics led her to win a prestigious Sir John Monash........

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