This week will be challenging for some rural health workers as the first anniversary of the death of nurse Gayle Woodford is marked, a peak body says.
Ms Woodford, 56, went missing on March 23 last year from her home at Fregon in South Australia's Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands and her body found three days later.
Mimili man, Dudley Davey, 35, was charged with her murder and has since pleaded guilty.
Her death sparked a major push to improve the safety of nurses working in remote communities, with an online petition securing more than 130,000 signatures.
The chief executive of CRANAplus, an organisation representing remote health workers, says this week is likely to be "tough" for the whole industry.
"Gayle's death really shocked it to its core and it's been a really tough year for an awful lot of people," Christopher Cliffe told AAP.
Mr Cliffe said while Gayle could never be replaced, the tragedy of her death had led to people trying to seek improved safety for rural health professionals.
He said the industry had made strides over the past year but still had work to do.
"I think there are probably a lot of clinicians out in remote areas now that are safer because of what health service employers have implemented," he said.
"But some of these changes take a long time to implement so not everywhere is yet covered and I think we still have some outliers. Our job is to make sure that everybody gets across the line."
In January CRANAplus released a report detailing its investigation into safety concerns, which found staff should be accompanied on call-outs and at other times where risks are evident.
Within weeks it will release national safety and security guidelines for remote health practice to help employers and workers assess their own safety.
Davey, who has pleaded guilty to Ms Woodford's murder, appeared in the Supreme Court for the first time on Monday.
He will return again in May for sentencing submissions, with about 20 victim impact statements to be presented.
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