September 2020
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Child Protection Week: Putting children first
This week, the Northern Health social work team are celebrating National Child Protection Week (NCPW). Held annually in September across Australia, Child Protection Week raises awareness of child abuse prevention and all issues connected with child protection. The theme for 2020 is ‘Putting Children First’ and under this theme, all Australians are invited to look at how they can prioritise children in their lives and communities. Tanya Ellis, Senior Social Worker and Project Support Officer – Strengthening Hospital Response to Family Violence, said, “We know that child abuse and neglect is a significant social problem throughout Australia. Child abuse is…
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Women’s Health Week
This week is Women’s Health Week, an opportunity to take time out to check in on your health and to keep making positive changes, particularly with the stress of the current pandemic. We asked a cross section of women at Northern Health to share their advice on how they are coping with these challenging times, starting with Debra Bourne, Acting Chief Operating Officer, who says, “Do one thing, no matter how small, each day that brings you joy.” Debra goes on to say, “All of us in health care are often so focused on meeting the needs of others and it…
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Conversations Week: TREAT yourself to rest and mindfulness
Northern Health is celebrating ‘Virtual Conversations on Mental Wellness Week’, starting today, with numerous online sessions to help staff focus on their wellbeing and mindfulness. Jo Gibbs is no stranger to Northern Health. During the first Conversations on Mental Wellness in 2018, she stepped into the lecture room barefoot, holding a spray of refreshing citrus notes, and in a few seconds transported the whole room straight into a summer afternoon somewhere in the Mediterranean. “Inhaling orange scent instantly improves our mood,” she started her talk on healthcare workers’ wellbeing. By profession a nurse, Jo now runs popular Therapeutic Relaxation And…
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Q&A with Dr Megan Robb, Director of Emergency
Being the Director of an Emergency Department during a pandemic comes with many challenges. We sat down with Dr Megan Robb, Northern Health Director of Emergency, to talk about her and her dedicated team’s work during the COVID-19 pandemic. How has COVID-19 changed the work in your department? It has been a challenging time over the past six months but I’m very proud of our staff and how they are responding and adapting to the rapidly changing situation. There have been a lot of changes and we have had to learn how to work differently due to COVID-19. This has…
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Stroke Week: it can happen to anyone
Anne Rodda has worked at Northern Health for 18 years and has been a stroke nurse for over a decade. In her career, she has seen how a stroke can affect so many people, from children to older patients. “Twenty per cent of strokes happen to people under 55 years of age, and even children can have stroke, with the Stroke Foundation recently releasing guidelines on how to care for children with stroke,” she said. Anne explained one of the biggest concerns in Victoria, when it comes to stroke patients, is that people are not coming to hospital, and waiting,…
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TALS team: interpreting during a pandemic
Northern Health has a very broad culturally and linguistically diverse patient population. Many of our patients have Limited English Proficiency (LEP) in the health context, and our excellent Transcultural & Language Services (TALS) department, with 37 in-house interpreters, covers our most in-demand languages. Northern Health’s TALS team is the biggest in-house hospital language service team in Victoria. In these pandemic times, they are one of many non-clinical teams at Northern Health that had to quickly adapt to changes in their everyday work, while maintaining high levels of professional service to patients and clinicians. Yue Hu, Manager, Transcultural & Language Services,…
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Join the conversation and let’s talk about mental wellness
As an organisation, we started the ‘Conversations on Mental Wellness Week’ in 2018 and will be continuing those conversations this year too. Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director People and Culture, explained this year, due to COVID-19, all events will be held via MS Teams, offering our staff a chance to join numerous sessions from the comfort of their home or work space. “I would like to invite staff to participate in Northern Health’s ‘Virtual Conversations on Mental Wellness’ commencing Monday, 7 September through to Friday, 11 September 2020. This year, we are focusing on bringing mindfulness, yoga, nutrition and TREAT rest…
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Dry July team raise over $12,500 for Northern Health cancer services
This July, staff and community members joined together to take part in Dry July in support of cancer services at Northern Health, a national fundraiser that encourages participants to go alcohol-free during the month of July. Congratulations to the amazing team for their efforts, who raised over $12,500 for our cancer patients. All funds raised by Northern Health will go towards purchasing vital signs monitors and patient treatment chairs for our oncology units. The team proved that no matter how uncertain and challenging times can be, our staff and community continue to work together to support our patients. Eighteen Northern…