Margaret Nicholson & Ebony Lewis

Nurse Practitioner Margaret Nicholson and Emergency Nurse Ebony Lewis have made significant contributions to the fields of clinical and research nursing, particularly on end-of-life-care.

Margaret is an ICU nurse who over the past two decades has spent most of her days responding to emergency calls from wards to save the lives of inpatients who deteriorate unexpectedly. She is skilled at resuscitation, has saved many lives of adults and children and like Florence Nightingale has contributed to dissemination of her research findings in a book chapter and several peer-reviewed manuscripts.

Ebony Lewis is a diligent Emergency nurse with expertise in geriatric assessments in general practice and estimation of associated risk of death in hospitals. After more than a decade un busy emergency departments in Sydney, she moved on to gerontology and geriatrics research and has become a frailty expert. She has also published in peer- reviewed journals her findings on advance care directives, post- discharge follow-up of elderly patients and frailty measurements.

Both Ebony and Margaret are compassionate nurses who are committed to preventing unnecessary hospital admissions for people who could be dying peacefully at home surrounded by their loved ones. They can accompany dying patients through their journey and confidently talk about choices for older people near the end to minimise the suffering associated with futile treatments. We need more of these nurses to improve the quality end of life of our ageing population.

“Dr Magnolia Cardona-Marrell, supervisor, colleague and friend”.