This Women’s Health Week, St John NT is celebrating the women who continue to take the next step in their careers, their confidence and their own wellbeing.
The 2026 theme, do it anyway, encourages women to take small, realistic steps towards better health, even when life is busy, demanding or imperfect.
For Darwin paramedic and Intensive Care Paramedic intern Rebecca Muir, taking the next step has meant committing to St John NT’s new two-year ICP Training Pathway.
Rebecca is one of six paramedics undertaking the pathway, which began with a six-week specialist training program in Darwin and will continue through supervised clinical practice, local mentorship and ongoing assessment.
The role of an ICP requires advanced clinical knowledge, strong decision-making and the confidence to work in some of the Territory’s most complex and challenging environments.
Rebecca Muir said pursuing intensive care paramedic training was something she had wanted to work towards, even though taking the next step came with new challenges and expectations.
“I knew it would push me clinically and personally, and I don’t think you ever reach a point where you feel completely ready for something like this,” Rebecca said.
“But at some point you have to back yourself, be willing to learn and take the opportunity in front of you. The last six weeks have definitely challenged me, but they have also reinforced why I wanted to take this next step in my career.”
Supporting the current group is Intensive Care Paramedic Kelsey Squire, who has made the same transition from developing clinician to experienced ICP and is now helping guide those following her.
Kelsey Squire said progressing into advanced practice meant learning to trust her skills, even when she did not feel completely ready.
“There are always moments where you question yourself, but that is often where the most valuable development happens,” Kelsey said.
“It is really rewarding now to support Rebecca and the other interns through that same process and see their confidence grow.”
For both women, professional development also comes with the realities of shift work, demanding clinical environments and finding ways to look after their own health while caring for others.
That is part of the message behind Women’s Health Week this year: improving your health does not have to mean doing everything at once.
Across the week, Jean Hailes for Women’s Health is sharing practical information around five everyday areas: fuelling, moving, resting, breathing and connecting.
Resources are also available specifically for First Nations communities, including materials translated into Western Arrarnta, Central-Eastern Arrernte, Pintupi-Luritja, Pitjantjatjara and Warlpiri.
St John NT encourages women across the Territory to use Women’s Health Week as a prompt to take one step for themselves, however small.
Because whether it is making time to rest, reaching out to someone, looking after your mental health or backing yourself to take on something new, sometimes the most important step is simply to do it anyway.
Find Women’s Health Week resources at: www.jeanhailes.org.au/get-involved/womens-health-week/
