September 2020
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Great care appreciated at Broadmeadows
Two warm patient experience stories are coming from our Broadmeadows Hospital, where both patients and staff have been working hard to make the hospital experience and recovery as quick and pleasant as possible. Elinor Fonovic was admitted to the Rehabilitation Ward on Unit 2 at Broadmeadows Hospital from Northern Hospital Epping 412 days ago, after being diagnosed with Guillain Barre Syndrome, a disease involving rapid onset muscle weakness. Belinda Nash, Nurse Unit Manager, explained Elinor was not able to move her arms or legs when she was admitted and embarked on her rehab stay. “It was through tenacity and hard…
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GEM@Home: Nursing in the community
As part of Nursing in the Community Week, we celebrate our community nurses, who give special meaning to the phrase “frontline heroes”. GEM@Home has been operating since March 2015. Mathew Wood, Manager Transition Services, TCP, GEM@Home, and GEM@Resi says, “We provide interdisciplinary aged care and rehabilitation services after an illness or injury to older people and their families. Patients are visited in their home on a daily basis while on the program, and may be seen by one or multiple staff from the team.” “The program aims to reduce time spent in hospital and provide care in their home, which…
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World Patient Safety Day
Today, the World Health Organisation is commemorating World Patient Safety Day. The COVID-19 pandemic has unveiled the huge challenges and risks health workers are facing globally, and that is why the World Patient Safety Day 2020 theme is ‘Health Worker Safety: A Priority for Patient Safety’, with the official slogan “Safe health workers, Safe patients”. Our High Reliability Organisation (HRO) transformation puts patient safety at the centre of everything we do. To help increase patient safety, as well as to work on developing and implementing HRO quality and safety projects, the ‘HRO Champions Network’ was formed a year ago. The…
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HARP: Nursing in the Community
This week as part of Nursing in the Community Week, we celebrate our community nurses, who give special meaning to the phrase “frontline heroes”. Community nursing is a very broad description of many roles undertaken by nurses outside of the hospital setting. “The work community nurses do is not unlike the work of nurses in a ward; it includes highly technical procedures such as those done by nurses in Hospital In The Home (HITH) program or in Wound Clinic, and expert assessments such as those done by Clinical Nurse Consultants working in the Hospital Admission Risk Program (HARP),” says Johanna…
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Staying in touch with loved ones
The COVID-19 pandemic has made spending time with loved ones challenging for everybody, especially those being cared for in hospitals and aged care facilities. John Wakim, Recreation Officer at Bundoora Centre, has created a new program to help families stay connected to their hospitalised loved ones during this difficult time. He initiated the program, ‘Staying in touch with loved ones’ in July this year, using Skype video calls whilst current visiting restrictions are in place. “With visitor restrictions in place, families aren’t able to visit for safety reasons. But even if they can’t physically be with their loved one in…
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Cathy and Judy: a tale of two community nurses
This week is Nursing in the Community Week, celebrating those who work in a wide range of areas outside of hospital settings. To highlight this week, Northern Health will focus on some of our amazing staff and services that support our patients in the northern community and give special meaning to the phrase “frontline heroes”. Cathy Edgar, DipApp (Nursing), GradDip Neuroscience, MNS, PhD, works in our Chronic Wound Service Centre at Bundoora Centre and operates an In-Reach Program on Thursday and Friday. Cathy has been a nurse for 47 years. Judy Constantine has been an enrolled nurse for just over…
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Ward 16: Embracing the challenge
From March to July this year Ward 16, a 32 bed surgical/medical ward, cared for both suspected and confirmed COVID-19 patients ranging from the ages of 20 to 98 years. Elizabeth Schultz, Associate Nurse Unit Manager (ANUM) for Ward 16 says, “Our ward, prior to COVID-19, was predominantly a surgical ward, caring for colorectal and urology patients. Our surgical nurses quickly needed to learn new skills and familiarise themselves with medical and respiratory nursing.” “The staff embraced the challenge, took full advantage of the additional resources and education provided to us while preparing for a potential influx of patients.” Liz says…
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Grab a virtual coffee with a colleague and ask: R U OK?
Today is R U OK Day, a national day of action when Australians are reminded that every day is the day to ask, “Are you OK?” if someone in your world is struggling with life’s ups and downs. R U OK Day at Northern Health started with a Grand Round talk on the ‘Pandemic of Kindness Movement’, presented by A/Prof Jane Munro, Head of the Rheumatology Unit at The Royal Children’s Hospital. Jane is passionate about the wellbeing of her colleagues and staff working in medicine and health care. Along with some of her colleagues nationwide, Jane set up the…