The Women’s & Children’s Hospital Foundation (WCH Foundation) are honoured to announce Georgia Campagnale (pictured left) and Melissa Thompson (pictured right) as the two recipients of the 2026 Matthew Scriver PICU Nurses Scholarship, a milestone year that marks what would have been Matthew Scriver’s 21st birthday, and the first year the scholarship has expanded to welcome allied health professionals alongside nursing staff.

Established in 2006 by Matthew’s parents in his memory, the scholarship has grown into a cherished part of the Women’s and Children’s Health Network (WCHN). The scholarship supports projects that place holistic and psychosocial care at the centre of the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU) experience, with a particular focus on long-stay patients and their families. While a single recipient is typically recognised each year, the significance of this milestone birthday combined with the expansion of eligibility made two awards a meaningful tribute.

Improving nutrition care for critically ill children

Georgia Campagnale, AHP2 Clinical Dietitian with Allied Health, Nutrition and Dietetics, has been recognised for her project Audit of Enteral Feeding Practices in the Paediatric Intensive Care Unit (PICU).

Georgia’s project will conduct a pre- and post-implementation audit of enteral nutrition practices in PICU. Enteral nutrition is the delivery of liquid nutrition directly into the stomach or gut through a feeding tube and can be a vital part of care for children who are critically ill. The audit will assess the impact of introducing a standardised enteral nutrition pathway, looking at how quickly nutrition is initiated, how well it meets prescribed targets, and how often feeding is interrupted. A follow-up audit will then measure what has changed.

Expected outcomes include earlier initiation of enteral nurition, better achievement of energy and protein targets, reduced variability in practice, and fewer avoidable interruptions. Together, these changes aim to improve nutrition management for some of the hospital’s most vulnerable young patients.

Georgia’s project also supports the professional development of healthcare staff and promotes a more holistic approach to care, one that recognises every team member’s role in supporting children and families through a difficult time.

As an allied health professional, Georgia is among the first recipients under the scholarship’s newly expanded eligibility criteria, a milestone in itself.

Bringing compassionate care home

Melissa Thompson, Clinical Nurse with DPCCM/PICU and the Division of Paediatric Medicine, has been recognised for her project Compassionate Extubation at Home or Outside of the Hospital.

Melissa’s work addresses an important gap in care for children in PICU who are transitioning from curative to palliative care. Compassionate extubation, the planned withdrawal of ventilation as part of end-of-life care, is a critical part of this transition. Yet it is rarely offered outside a hospital setting, despite many families expressing a wish to be at home, or in a familiar place, when the time comes.

Barriers have included limited clinician awareness, perceived complexity, and the absence of a formal clinical procedure. Melissa’s project aims to change that by developing a clear clinical procedure that enables compassionate extubation in community settings, allowing children to be surrounded by the people, pets, and places that bring them comfort.

Families who have experienced community-based compassionate extubation describe it as deeply meaningful, offering a sense of peace and connection during an unimaginably difficult time. The project is expected to improve clinician confidence, strengthen coordination between hospital and community services, and better support the psychosocial needs of children and their families.

Melissa’s recognition this year carries added significance: she is a previous Matthew Scriver PICU Nurses Scholarship recipient, and her return as an award recipient is a powerful reminder of the lasting impact this scholarship has on the people it supports.

Looking ahead

Both projects reflect the spirit of the Matthew Scriver PICU Nurses Scholarship, a commitment to care that is not only clinically sound, but deeply human. As the scholarship reaches this significant milestone year, the recognition of Georgia and Melissa ensures Matthew’s legacy continues to shape the lives of critically ill children and their families at the WCH and across the WCHN.