Nurse bags two PapScreen awards

A Springvale nurse has been applauded for her contribution to cancer prevention.
Van Dang took home two awards from the PapScreen Victoria Nurse Cervical Screening Provider Awards.
The first recognised that she completed the highest number of Pap tests in 2015, with 868.
She received additional praise because many of her patients at All Care Medical Practice and Dorevitch Pathology in Springvale were from diverse cultural backgrounds.
Ms Dang was also named the Quality of Practice winner, an honour she also received in 2013.
More than 97 per cent of the samples she collected were from the site where cervical abnormalities are usually found.
Ms Dang said the secret to her practice was to ensure her patients had regular screenings.
“For every woman I have seen, I always make sure that she understands the phrase, ‘every woman, every two years’ and to not wait for something to go wrong then get checked,” she said.
The awards recognised the contribution nurse cervical screening providers made to cervical cancer prevention.
PapScreen Victoria program manager Hiranthi Perera said many women preferred to see a nurse, in particular another woman, for their Pap tests.
“Thanks to nurse cervical screening providers, women have more options and better access than ever to this potentially life-saving test,” she said.
“When a Pap test every two years can reduce the risk of cervical cancer by 90 per cent, nurses’ contribution to engaging more women to screen cannot be understated.”
Ms Perera said that about 80 per cent of women diagnosed with cervical cancer had either never had a Pap test or had not had them regularly in the 10 years prior to their diagnosis.
“There’s simply no better reason for women to make sure they are up-to-date,” she said.