June 2020
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Hack Weekend – just two weeks away
Update 2 July 2020: Due to the current COVID-19 developments, Northern Health’s Hack Weekend has been postponed. What the Hack? – Northern Health’s inaugural hack weekend 11-12 July is just two weeks away, with over 80 people already signed up for the event. Over the last couple of weeks, our staff has been sending numerous ideas and problems they would like to see solved during the weekend. Ed Savill, Operations Director, says the Hack Weekend will present four problems that our patients and clinicians face, that virtual healthcare may be part of the answer. The theme of the weekend is…
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Keep the distance, stay connected
Physical distancing is a key part of the global clinical response to the COVID-19 pandemic. At Northern Health, it is very important that all of us, as health care workers, follow the distancing guidelines when moving around our campuses and in the cafés and set an example for our community. Dr Kirin Channa is an Emergency Department (ED) physician and is part of the leadership team, also about to take on the ED Quality Lead role. She feels our staff needs to maintain physical distancing and set an example for our patients, as well as colleagues. “As medical workers, we…
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Mother and daughter working in Fever Clinic: Jatinder and Parneet Kaur
‘Life doesn’t come with a manual, it comes with a Mother.’ Parneet Kaur is a ward clerk, who joined us only in March this year and has already been working on the frontline at both our Asymptomatic and Fever Clinic. It helps that she often has her mum, Jatinder working alongside her. Jatinder has been working at Northern Health for three years, first as a Personal Service Assistant (PSA) and now as a ward clerk, who proudly takes credit for Parneet, a final year student of International Business Studies, working at Northern Health. “Obviously with a mum working in health…
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Career STEPs at Northern Health
Last year we welcomed graduate nurse, Lauren Parkinson, to Northern Health. Since then, she has been exposed to many opportunities that have helped her transition into a registered nurse. We caught up with her to find out what she loved most about her graduate year and her next career STEPs. Nursing is something Lauren has always wanted to do from a young age. After being accepted into the graduate nursing program at Northern Health, she was placed on a rotation in the emergency department (ED) and on Ward 4. Lauren says one of the highlights of her graduate year was…
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Q&A with Emiliano Zucchi
Emiliano Zucchi, Director of our Transcultural and Language Services (TALS) and Narrun Wilip-giin Aboriginal Support Unit, has co-authored a chapter in a book titled ‘Interpreting in Legal and Healthcare Settings: Perspectives on research and training’. The book is said to address, ‘issues arising from interpreting in legal and healthcare settings by presenting cutting-edge research findings in interpreting and interpreter education in a number of countries around the world.’ We sat down with Emiliano to talk about his contribution to this book. Firstly, tell us what the significance of this book is to our current times: The book seeks to establish…
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Former patient donates face mask straps
Adrian Lee Gacek, a former Northern Hospital patient, found a innovative way to give back to his hospital during the times of a pandemic. “I was just seeing online how people were helping hospitals, particularly with Personal Protective Equipment (PPE). Then, I realised I can make something with my 3D printer and donate to medical staff,” he said. Adrian first started making face shields. After a while, he came across face masks straps and after researching how useful these are to nurses, he started printing them too. “I purchased three more 3D printers and started producing the straps and donating…
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15 Minute Exercise – Challenge starts today!
Northern Health’s six-week 15 Minute Exercise Challenge starts today, and all staff are invited to register here and compete. Alison O’Sullivan, Wellbeing Coordinator at Northern Health, explained staff can compete by simply finding at least 15 minutes a day to do an exercise of their choice for as many days as possible throughout the six-week challenge and logging their progress online. “You can join as an individual or form a team of five to eight with your workmates. Once you register, you need to log your progress every day on the platform and the OHS and Wellbeing team has prepared…
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Dr Joshua Butt introduces new flavours to Victoria
Dr Joshua Butt, a gastroenterologist and Head of Endoscopy Service at Northern Health is also a farm owner and the state winner of the prestigious “delicious. Produce Awards”. He has been working at Northern Health for five years, and has been a farmer for only three. “The land where my small South Gipsland farm is on actually used to belong to my wife’s grandparents. They sold it in 1990 to another family and I just happened to just come across the farm for sale, not knowing it used to be in her family, until she looked at the photos,” he…