The Small Research Grant (SRG) recipients of Round 23 are asking big questions.

Justin Wong, Orthopaedic Surgeon, wants to know if, “there’s a better way to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)?”

Shannon Smith, Clinical Nurse Specialist ICU, would like to know if, ‘alarm fatigue’ is affecting patient care.

Jenny Huynh, General Surgery Fellow, is asking, “Can a ‘one-stop’ Benign Breast Clinic further improve outcomes for women in the north?”

“How much oxygen is good for you?” asks Maureen Goodwin, Clinical Nurse Consultant Respiratory Medicine.

The SRG Recipients are hoping to find the answers to these and other research questions, which can develop and strengthen our research culture  and potentially benefit Northern Health’s community. Read about the big questions they are posing and join us in congratulating them:

 

Name: Dr David Liu, Dr Betty Lai and Dr Krinal Mori
Role: Senior General Surgery Registrar, Head of Acute General Surgery Unit and General Surgeon
Big Question: Can we use more thromboprophylaxis to reduce the risk of Venous thromboembolism (VTE)?

Venous thromboembolism (VTE), which refers to the development of blood clots within the deep veins of the body and arteries of the lungs, is a major hospital-acquired complication. The use of calf compression devices which promote blood flow, and pharmacological agents which inhibit blood from clotting, together termed thromboprophylaxis, have proven efficacy in reducing VTE risk.

This grant will fund the establishment and evaluation of a dedicated interdisciplinary thromboprophylaxis review team, embedded within the Acute General Surgery Unit (AGSU).

 

Name: Mr Justin Wong
Role: Orthopaedic Surgeon
Big Question: Is there a better way to reconstruct the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL)?

The (ACL) is a commonly injured structure in competitive athletes. In order to overcome the instability and return to sport, the ACL is commonly reconstructed using a hamstrings tendon graft.

Orthopaedic surgeons do not have a standard instrument to pull the graft through the knee. Instead, improvised instruments are utilised.

The aim of this project is to measure the force required to shuttle an ACL graft through the knee using standard instruments and compare that to the force measured when using a specially made ACL graft shuttling device.

 

Name: Ms Shannon Smith
Role: Clinical Nurse Specialist ICU
Big Question: Is ‘alarm fatigue’ affecting patient care?

High ‘false’ alarm rates in Intensive Care have been hypothesised to increase the likelihood of an alarm that is related to a severe deterioration (‘true’ alarms) being missed. The aim of this project is to investigate the number of alarms per day that staff and patients are exposed to. This project will investigate the impact that alarms have in an Australian Intensive Care Unit and develop strategies to minimise the rate of ‘false’ alarms.

 

Name Ms Caitlin Farmer
Role: Advanced Musculoskeletal Physiotherapist (ED)
Big Question: Do patient beliefs, influence presentations to Emergency Department (ED)?

Low back pain is extremely common, accounting for over three per cent of all emergency visits.

In the absence of signs of serious or specific disease (present in less than two per cent of patients), back pain is not an emergency situation, and is best manage by primary care practitioners in the community such as General Practitioners (GPs) and physiotherapists.

This study will identify whether low health literacy and back pain beliefs impact on whether an individual presents to the Emergency Department. This will in turn allow for the development of interventions tailored to improving the understanding of back pain and reducing unnecessary use of emergency departments.

 

Name: Ms Maureen Goodwin
Role: Clinical Nurse Consultant Respiratory Medicine
Big Question: How much oxygen is good for you?

Because oxygen is so easy to administer it is commonly used inappropriately. Overuse or underuse of oxygen could potentially cause harm or delay hospital discharge. There is very little information from Australian hospitals on how oxygen is used here. This study will examine oxygen use at Northern Health and determine how often it is consistent with local and international guidelines. The results will help to improve the use of oxygen therapy which will in turn improve outcomes for patients.

 

Name: Dr Jenny Huynh
Role: General Surgery Unit 2 Fellow
Big Question: Can a ‘one-stop’ Benign Breast Disease Clinic further improve outcomes for women in the north?

The majority of new referrals to Northern Breast Clinic are for benign breast disease (BBD), with numbers exponentially increasing yearly. Access to clinic is compromised with risk of delayed diagnosis for new breast cancers.

Current practice involves referral to breast surgeons with multiple imaging investigations and repeat review appointments. The proposed project will analysis current practice and patient satisfaction of services and implement a BBD ‘one-stop’ clinic for low risk patients, followed by an analysis of implementation and patient satisfaction.

 

The objective of the Small Research Grants is to support work that benefits Northern Health’s community and support projects that will lead to applications for external grants or funding. The grants will also develop and strengthen the research culture at Northern Health, support capacity building and staff development, support pilot projects or projects where traditional funding sources are difficult to attract and increase research productivity. Follow the journey of the Small Research Grant recipients Round 23 at https://bit.ly/31PyDOF

The Small Research Grants are powered by Northern Health Foundation, which also funds PhD research scholarships. These grants and scholarships  develop and strengthen research undertaken at Northern Health and benefit patients within the northern community. 

Five years ago, Jenefer Williams’ mother had a stroke and was treated at a Melbourne hospital. Jenefer’s personal experience of trying to access quality care for her mother, across various levels of health care, was her main motivation to get involved in health care as a consumer.

“Having ageing parents within the Victorian public health care system, I initially found it an intricate and often confusing place. It was frequently difficult and impossible to navigate and my family experienced many system failures that ultimately contributed to poor health outcomes,” she said.

“This was when I had a light bulb moment, and I thought that if I am struggling within a complicated system, how many more people are experiencing exactly the same thing and what can be done?” she added.

For Jenefer, the obvious answer was to work with health services to improve opportunities for consumers and community representatives to participate in quality and safety improvement activities.

When her mother received future care at Northern Health on several occasions, the ward nurse who looked after her mother was exactly how Jenefer imagined a nurse would be – caring, efficient and she seemed like a beacon of hope in trying times.

“If hospitals were football teams, this nurse would be the whole offence and defence. Vital to good patient care,” she added.

Jenefer became involved to make a change. She understands the importance of clinical knowledge, however, feels combining this with lived experience, or having the capacity or interest to take a humanistic approach to care will bring the best possible health outcomes. Now, she is involved with the PECAC (Patient Experience Consumer Advisory Committee) as well as the Family Violence Committee.

“The committees that I am privileged to sit on are platforms to provide and drive targeted change, for patients, carers and family members,” she said.

Jenefer sees health as a partnership between physical and psychological care, both needing attention for people to become and stay well.

“It is the holistic approach – the person and their condition – a person is not just their condition. I am advocating to build stronger and consistent partnerships with shared decision making. This is critical for the improvement in long term healthcare outcomes,” she said.

She loves that on the Family Violence Committee, Northern Health partners with Kilmore and District Hospital and they are an invaluable voice at the table to strengthen our overall response with the Whittlesea, Hume and Kilmore catchments.

“I was involved when Northern Health held its second family violence forum ‘Breaking through the Barriers’ which had excellent attendance from clinicians, stakeholders and the community. I am also proud to see Northern Hospital as the first Victorian hospital to install the Pink Box Dignity Vending Machine,” she said.

As a consumer, she is prepared to ask the hard questions and provide an alternate voice.

“Northern Health can do better, but we do better together, with consumers,” she said.

Northern Health Foundation Chair John Molnar was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the recent Australian Honours announced on Australia Day.

John received the award in recognition of his support and services to charitable organisations, including Northern Health Foundation. He is Director of Freemasons Victoria and Master of the Victorian Naval and Military Lodge 49.

“We congratulate John for your great support of Northern Health’s patients and services through the Northern Health Foundation over many years,” said Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive Northern Health.

“Your dedication and support is truly appreciated by Northern Health’s Board and Executive”.

Jennifer Williams Chair Northern Health Board of Directors said, “The award is a significant recognition of your contribution which is so much appreciated by us all at Northern Health.”

“I’m proud to have received this award,” John Molnar said.

“Many of my family came from around the northern suburbs and its been important for me to continue to be involved by supporting Northern Health in continually improving the health services for the northern community.”

“This honour actually reflects less on my efforts and more on the hard work of others involved with the charitable organisations I have tried to support – my thanks in particular to those patrons, supporters and staff who have worked so hard for the Northern Health Foundation,” John Molnar said.

“In a real sense I accept the award as representing the work you have done”.

John Molnar has practiced law for thirty-five years and during that time, became heavily involved in the field of law relating to health service providers and hospitals. He has also served on the Boards of a number of public and private hospitals, including Northern Health and the Nurses Board of Victoria.

Recognising the need for the additional support for Northern Health to meet its commitment to the rapidly growing northern community and establish itself as a major teaching and research centre, John was instrumental in the establishment of the Northern Health Foundation. He remains a passionate advocate of the Northern Health and the dedicated medical clinicians who work within it.

Northern Health’s Ideas Lab is a creative and fun monthly workshop, open to all staff who wish to contribute to problem-solving with their ideas. Every month, the Chief Executive led Ideas Lab features a different topic and staff are encouraged to thing innovatively, brainstorm in teams and present on creative solutions.

Ariana Carrodus, Project Manager, who hosts the Ideas Lab, says we are the only public health service in Victoria that has an Ideas Lab.

“While Ideas Labs are common in the private sector, they are very rare in public sectors. It is a purposefully designed space, away from the main hospital, and open to all staff. During the Ideas Lab, we are seeking out of the box inspiration and thinking, and learning from each other. It’s a space for innovation in health care and we often have guests from other health services or health organisations who brainstorm with us,” she said.

The idea for an Ideas Lab came from Canterbury Hospital in New Zealand, which has whole wards built from cardboard before they are actually built in hospitals.

Our Ideas Lab is on Level 3 at the NCHER building, which makes it additionally unique. When people walk into the room, they often think they’ve stepped into a kindergarten or that it’s an unfinished space. All of these factors contribute to thinking differently.

Since the first workshop in March 2018, Ariana has hosted over 80 sessions and discussed various topics, including focuses on staff wellbeing and a simulation of a cyber attack.

The creativity doesn’t stop once the workshop is over. All the ideas from these sessions are noted in the Ideas Scale software, accessible to all staff and completely anonymous. This means that staff can continue to share ideas, comment on other ideas, engage in the creative process and monitor the progress of the projects.

The Ideas Lab at Northern Health is part of an organisation-wide strategy to achieve high reliability. Together, with numerous initiatives across the organisation focused on improving quality and safety, it contributes to our vision of providing trusted care and creating a healthier community.

If you have a problem to solve in your ward or department and you think the Ideas Lab can help, please email Ariana and her team at ideaslab@nh.org.au.

Next Ideas Lab session: Tuesday, 11 February, 12.30 pm – 2 pm, NCHER, Level 3. 

Topic: Reducing waste and increasing trust
All staff welcome – just drop in!

Featured image (left to right): Clare McCarthy, Project Manager (HRO); Sophie Argiriou, Director (HRO); Ariana Carrodus, Project Manager (HRO).

When Michelle Morrow, Nurse Unit Manager, Maternity, identified that introducing a Pepi-Pod safe sleep space program at Northern Hospital could prevent infant falls due to co-sleeping, she approached the Northern Health Foundation to seek funding.

The Pepi-Pod is designed to sit on a bed alongside a new mother, with safety rail up, so mothers can attend to baby’s needs in those important first hours or days of life. Pepi-Pods are especially important if a new mother has had a caesarean section and her mobility is decreased.

“From a midwife’s perspective, we encourage mothers to take as much care of their infants as they can, as the time from having a baby to going home can be a very small window,” explained Michelle.

Recently, Michelle welcomed The Salvation Army ‘Sew Beautiful’ Craft Group to the Maternity Ward along with Josie Verga, Fundraising and Engagement Manager, Northern Health Foundation.

Joan Mathews, Co-ordinator of the Craft Group learnt about the Pepi-Pod project from Josie and together with her members agreed it was a worthwhile project to support.

“We already support Northern Hospital and this is a continuation of what we do,” Joan said.

Michelle was thrilled to welcome the group and be able to thank them personally for their support. At the time of their visit, there were six mums using the Pepi-Pods. The ladies met a new mum Heidi and were ‘blown away’ to see first-hand, the Pepi-Pod in use.

As they explained: “I think the practicality of the pods for new mums is great and to hear a young mum say that she got some sleep with her baby, thanks to the Pepi-Pod is very heartening. It is good to see them in use, because all we knew was that they were containers and now we can see they are so much more than that!”

Joan said that, “The craft group come together to share in fellowship, connect with others and undertake craft projects to raise vital funds to support their local community, including projects like the Pepi-Pod safe sleep space program at Northern Hospital”.

Yvonne Amos, Northern Health Foundation Director, informed Michelle, “The Salvation Army Whittlesea Craft Group left the ward very impressed with the Maternity Wards support and work with new mothers and will be wonderful community advocates for our service.”

This week, we welcomed six Certificate III Students to Northern Health for 2020.

The students will be working across many different departments, including pathology, finance, HRO, allied health and engineering/gardening services.

Alysha Spencer, Advisor, People and Culture, explained this program provides our students with business administration experience, recognised business experience and qualifications through our partnership with Apprenticeships Group Australia (AGA).

“These students have joined us from various high schools in the northern catchment area. A highlight for Northern Health this year is welcoming our first Engineering student, Blake Dennehy. Blake is currently completing a Certificate III in Parks and Gardens, and he will work across all four sites to ensure our grounds are kept well maintained,” she said.

Penelope Grellet, Director, Organisational Capability, explained how partnering with AGA has proven highly successful for Northern Health in previous years.

“A number of former AGA students are now full-time team members at Northern Health, and we are genuinely pleased to be able to continue this opportunity in 2020. We look forward to supporting our students, who are mostly successful graduates of our Certificate II program, in achieving their goals and setting them up for future success,” she said.

Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director, People and Culture, said over the last four years, the program has not just been developed at Northern Health to include nurses, clinicians and allied health, but to also ensure that we have succession planning for the non clinical workforce.

“This is certainly a valuable group within the administrative and support services side. This is our next crop of Northern Health employees who I am sure will have 10, 15 or 20 years of service at Northern Health,” she said.

One of the students completing their Certificate III, Amanda Samuela, said, “I am really excited to start working in Pathology and learning a lot in administration.”

If you see any of the students around Northern Health, please say hello and make them feel welcome!

Featured image (left to right): Dawn Comerford, AGA Field Officer; Michelle Fenwick, Executive Director; Amanda Samuela, student; Penelope Grellet Director; Alysha Spencer Advisor; Vesna Amituanai Tafili, student; Chloe Moorcroft, student; Siva Sivarajah, Chief Executive; Blake Dennehy, student.  Absent: Alexandra Price, student.

In this month’s Get to know: Q&A with…we catch up with Jenny Christof, HARP Care Coordinator from Bundoora Centre.

• What is your coffee order?

I have become a tea drinker of late – so I normally order an English Breakfast or Earl Grey – white with one.

• What does a typical work day look for you?

I work for the HARP complex needs program based at the Bundoora Centre. A normal day for me would be to come in and check emails and also check if any of my clients have presented back to hospital. I also look to see if any of my admitted clients have discharged home and give them a follow up phone call. I normally have one or two home visits booked in to assess new clients and also visit existing clients. This gives me an excellent opportunity to really see how they are managing at home and what issues I can help them address. We have a multidisciplinary team, so often once I get back from my visits I will be completing internal referrals and also work on aged care referrals. On some days, I assist my younger disability clients with their NDIS applications and accessing services. I also enjoy speaking to my clients about Advance Care Planning and ensuring that their end of life wishes are well documented. It is a busy but rewarding job!

• Tell us about your Northern Health journey?

I stared my nursing career at PANCH in 1996 where I completed my graduate year. Then, I accepted a position on 3 West – a medical ward under the amazing leadership of Anne Fraser.

We transferred across to Northern Hospital where I worked on Unit B (now Ward 4).

In 2000, I commenced a position in Care Coordination – which was a new role within the hospital. I was the only Care Coordinator within the inpatient unit and had to develop and shape the role to meet the patients needs. This was probably my most challenging job as no one had been in the care coordination position before. The Care Coordination job has been through many changes and is now known as the Acute to Community Coordination team. In 2006, I went back to working two days a week ward nursing, again on Ward 4, and did three days a week in Care Coordination.

In 2015, an opportunity became available to be trained in haemodialysis. I was a dialysis nurse in the inpatient dialysis unit for two years and completed my post graduate degree in renal nursing. After that, I secured my current job as a HARP Care Coordinator in the HARP complex needs team.

• Can you tell us a bit about your career before starting at Northern?

I think I was always destined to be a nurse. My mum was a nurse and worked in a nursing home, and I have early memories of mum taking me to work with her and lining up the nursing home residents dentures and getting me to wash them all! I think I was around eight years old.

I obtained a job in that same nursing home when I was 15 years old. I worked there until I was 21 years old and had multiple roles including afternoon chef, bed maker, cleaner and eventually a nurse. It was the best preparation for my nursing career, as I went into this career with my eyes wide open.

• What is your greatest achievement or favourite memory since working here?

My favourite memory in terms of working at Northern Health is working as a nurse on Unit B and forming long lasting friendships with many of the Unit B staff who I still regularly catch up with today. The Unit B gang had such camaraderie and you could always rely on the team to chip in, help out and get the job done. It was such a pleasure to work there and I was always proud to call myself a Unit B nurse.

• What are some things people don’t know about you?

I am fanatical about the Tour de France. I have been watching the tour for over 25 years. In the early days everyone thought I was crazy as I would take three weeks leave in July, just so I could stay at home and sit up to all hours of the night watching this race. I just find it such a tactical and amazing sport to watch.

• What do you like to do after work?

I love cooking, reading, catching up with family and friends for a meal and planning holidays for my lovely husband and me.

• Do you have a bucket list item? Something you would love to do?

I would love to go to France during the Tour de France and hire a camper van to follow the Tour around for three glorious weeks. ​

• How would you describe Northern Health in one sentence?

A health service that allows it’s staff to grow and explore many work options.

• Who would you nominate next for a staff profile and why?

I would like to nominate Robyn Johnson, Reception Services Manager at Bundoora Centre. She is like a human Google equivalent – if you need a question answered about the ins and outs at Bundoora she is your go-to person. ​

Unit 3 at Broadmeadows Hospital manages aged care patients with acute medical issues, as well as dementia and delirium and gets them back to a stage where they can go back home or into Residential Aged Care.

Lucia Bento, Nurse Unit Manager explains how Unit 3, a  28 bed ward has implemented a quality improvement activity called ‘diversional therapy’. This project has been developed to provide patients with activities to help keep them occupied, as well as assist in managing behaviours of concern.

“We have introduced things like colouring and doll therapy, which helps anxious or agitated patients,” Lucia said.

As part of the GEM (Geriatric and Evaluation Management) service, the staff also look after patients from the community who need multidisciplinary care with an allied health clinician. These clinicians come from a multi-disciplinary team and are made up of social workers, dieticians, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and speech pathologists, just to name a few. The aim of this program is to return patients to as close to their baseline function as possible and promote their independence with a view to returning home where possible.

“We have a lot of good stories with patients. For example, the team works hard to find the long-stay patients an appropriate place to go. We had a patient who was with us for a few months and we got her a guardian and found her a nursing home. That was a good achievement and we have numerous stories of successfully getting our patients back to their community,” she said.

One of the success stories Lucia and the team are proud of is getting a seventy year old patient back to eating regularly at home.

“We had a patient who was in and out of hospital. She was on nasogastric feeds and the team here worked hard to get this patient to a point where she could eat and get back home. That was a great outcome for the family too. The family gave us a lovely thank you card to show their appreciation of the care and support,” she said.

The team works in a challenging environment but is very well trained and great at what they do.

“We do aggression training and numerous study days, especially with dementia and delirium. The staff work as a team – we have introduced a buddy system on the ward through a quality project. Nurses know who they buddy is and they work together,” she said.

Lucia is proud that people want to come and work in the ward and that graduates who come to work there want to stay.

“It’s a good place to work,” she added.

Grant Taylor, Director of Nursing and Operations at Broadmeadows Hospital agrees with Lucia and speaks highly of the work that Lucia and her team of nurses and allied health clinicians undertake every day.

“Unit 3 is a dynamic, challenging and rewarding place to work. The care that the Unit 3 team provides on a daily basis, assists patients and their families greatly and helps our aged care population recover after an acute illness and get back on their feet,” he said.

Featured image (left to right): Nurses Lorraine Pearson, Jian Huo, Ann Lotrionte, Shine Kurian and the NUM Lucia Bento.