Gayle Woodford, a  56-year-old nurse, originally from Stansbury on the Yorke Peninsula, was last seen alive when she and her husband went to bed on Wednesday night 24th March, at their home in the remote APY Lands community, 1,200 kilometres north-west of Adelaide.

She had worked for the Nganampa Health Council for more than five years, which meant often working alone and receiving late-night call-outs.

Forensic investigators were expected in the remote community today to examine the gravesite, which was under police guard overnight.

Police used GPS data collected from the ambulance to trace the vehicle’s movements and eventually located Mrs Woodford’s body.

(By Sarah Scopelianos and staff ABC)

I make my comment in the wake of the murder of remote area nurse, Gayle Woodford, just last month.  It’s absolutely gobsmacking that this woman was allowed to operate alone and in such a vulnerable positon.
Clearly she chose to do this job as a vocation and not for the remunerative reward, but at such great risk to herself.
Some professions, by definition, including policing, for example, place workers in a highly vulnerable situation, and should not be allowed to be occupied solo.
Given that our country now ‘enjoys’ an oversupply of local graduates, plus internationals who are keen to work here, how can we justify nurses like Gayle Woodford occupying these remote area placements alone?
Commonsense dicates at least 3 people in a place such as this, so that NO ONE operates alone.
It does not matter who the perpetrator of the crime is, in the case of Gayle Woodford, she should NEVER have been working alone, or placed in such a vulnerable position.
There needs to be a comprehensive view taken of the availability of nursing personnel available in Australia, taking into account the overall needs, geographical included, of nursing personnel.
This requirement needs to be applied to international nurses desiring to practice in our country, so that resources, overall, can be applied to where they are most needed.