TERESSA NORMINGTON SCHOLARSHIP

Teressa Normington had a lifelong professional involvement in Sterilizing. She began her career in        Hospital sterilizing in 1990 at Bunbury Regional Hospital, Western Australia.  As the CSSD manager, Teressa realized that education was essential for developing the skills, commitment, and knowledge of CSSD staff in order to achieve the highest standards and safety for patients. She devoted the rest of her career to ensuring that staff working in CSSD got the best training and education available.

Teressa was instrumental, in the 1990’s in running education courses for CSSD staff through TAFE. Teressa taught much of the course herself during evening classes. Teressa’s passion for education saw her elected to the SRACA WA committee. Teressa was soon elected President and she continued in this role until 2021, serving for over 30 years. During this time Teressa organized sterilizing conferences or workshops every year, including the National FSRACA conference in 2012 held in Western Australia. This conference attracted delegates from all over Australia.

During her tenure as President of SRACA WA Teressa was required to also undertake the role of President for FSRACA. This role involved providing leadership to all of the states, and saw Teressa elected to the position of education representative on the World Federation for Hospital Sterilisation Sciences (WFHSS). Teressa represented Australia on this Committee. The WFHSS promotes CSSD staff education by holding international conferences each year and Teressa was able to assist in bringing the WFHSS congress to Brisbane in 2016.

Throughout her long career, Teressa was always approachable and willing to offer her help, advice, and assistance to anyone who asked. She was a fountain of CSSD knowledge and always happy to offer guidance or coaching to those who sought her help. Teressa devoted much of her spare time to improving the quality of CSSD staff education through her role as President of SRACA and FSRACA, and as education representative for WFHSS.

As a result of her long standing commitment and her concern that quality education be given the highest priority for CSSD workers, the FSRACA have created this scholarship in her honour. This award will fund an Australian CSSD worker to attend a WFHSS congress. Known as the Teressa Normington scholarship,  it will be held prior to each FSRACA national conference and will serve to acknowledge and commemorate Teressa’s long and unstinting service to education of CSSD workers. It is a very fitting tribute to one who gave so much to advancing our profession during her life.

The FSRACA invites you to apply!

Scholarship Application
The Teressa Normington scholarship, has been created to provide educational support to Sterilization department staff to attend a World Federation for Hospital Sterilisation Sciences (WFHSS) congress.
The scholarship will be awarded once every three years at the Federation of Sterilization, Research and Advisory Councils of Australia (FSRACA) national conference.

The FSRACA will provide one scholarships for attendance at any WFHSS Annual Congress taking place during the next three years. The scholarship will cover the conference registration, return economy airfare, and hotel accommodation for up to four nights (meals and sundry expenses are not included). The total value of the scholarship will be capped at AUD $5,000.00

Scholarship & Submission Requirements:

• The applicant must be currently employed in a Hospital or clinic Sterilizing department. The applicant’s principle work shall be reprocessing of RMD.
• The applicant must provide demonstrated commitment to continuing education by providing evidence of attendance at state or national sterilization conferences
• The applicant must be a full member of a State Sterilization, Research and Advisory Council Australia (SRACA). The applicant must have been a SRACA member for two years prior to the application.
• The applicant must submit the scholarship application form to the FSRACA secretary with a letter of recommendation confirming their membership status, from their State SRACA committee
• The application must be submitted before 31st December 2025

(Please note: any applications that do not meet the above criteria will not be accepted).

Completing am Application

Submit your responses to the questions below on a separate document by clicking the application form link.

• Explain why you want to attend a WFHSS Congress?
• Describe how you will share the education learned from attending the congress with other sterilization personal?
• Describe how your attendance at a congress will benefit your place of work and colleagues?

Completed Application Form to be emailed to committee@fsraca.org.au

Responses will be assessed by the FSRACA committee. Responses will be forwarded to committee members anonymously and independently assessed and scored, in order to impartially select the scholarship winner.
Correspondence with applicants will not be entered into, and the committee decision will be final.