June 2021
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A tale of two sisters at Northern Health
On orientation day last month, 56 new graduate nurses and midwives began their Northern Health journey. The orientation consisted of a two day program, containing a mixture of theory and practice, covering important aspects such as occupational health and safety and wellbeing, infection prevention, safe patient handling, recognising the deteriorating patient, medication safety and basic life support. Time is also allocated to commence many of the mandatory competencies such as Fire and Emergency Training, Respecting One Another and Hand Hygiene. Among the group who took part in the orientation are sisters Jessica and Laura Scuteri, who finished their studies together…
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Siva Sivarajah: NAIDOC Week
Wominjeka. NAIDOC Week recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year, NAIDOC Week will be celebrated from 4 to 11 July. The theme this year is ‘Heal Country’. It calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protection for our lands, waters, sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration and destruction. The highlight of our NAIDOC Week celebrations at Northern Health is a virtual session by Nova Peris OAM. Nova was a trailblazer in her sporting pursuits, competing at Olympic level in two sports while juggling the demanding role…
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Volunteers helping to protect our community
Northern Health’s dedicated volunteers have been helping out at our new COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic site in South Morang since it opened on Friday, 7 June. Enduring the colder weather, volunteers greet community members as they arrive and assist them with checking in and directing to where they need to go. “Some people don’t know how to use their mobile phones or don’t have phones with data, so our volunteers sit down with them and help them to fill in the online survey,” explained Henni Wade, Manager Volunteer Services. “The volunteers chat to everyone in the line and help make our…
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Ward 15: When “cleared” is your favourite word
For Margaret Ash, Patient Services Assistant (PSA) on Ward 15, Northern Health’s ward for suspected COVID-19 (SCOVID) patients, one word has become a favourite in the last four weeks – ‘cleared’. “We had many high-risk and quarantine patients since Ward 15 re-opened again. Hearing the word ‘cleared’ just brightens up my day,” she said. At the end of May, Ward 15 or the SCOVID ‘Red Zone’ had to quickly be recommissioned due to the latest Melbourne outbreak. For staff, working in the Red Zone meant they needed to quickly adapt to a different working environment, as well as the new…
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NAIDOC Week: Heal Country
NAIDOC Week recognises the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year, NAIDOC Week will be celebrated from 4 to 11 July, with the highly topical theme of ‘Heal Country’. It calls for all of us to continue to seek greater protection for our lands, waters, sacred sites and our cultural heritage from exploitation, desecration and destruction. The highlight of our NAIDOC Week celebrations at Northern Health is a virtual session with Nova Peris OAM. Over the past three decades, barely a year has passed where Nova has not displayed excellence in some area of…
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Health navigators helping promote COVID-19 vaccination
Since December 2020, Northern Health has been working with Melbourne Polytechnic to improve understanding of our health system among students enrolled into the English As An Additional Language (EAL) program. Morteza Fayyazi and Fatima Ait Bela Ouali are new migrants to Australia and EAL students, curious to learn more about the Australian health system and share the information with their communities. For Morteza, who holds a Bachelor of Nursing degree from Iran, interest in health systems comes natural. “I started working as a health navigator two weeks ago. We talk about COVID-19 vaccination and safety, and we share information with…
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Get to know Andrew Gay, Chief Financial Officer
Andrew Gay, Chief Financial Officer (CFO), is new to the Northern Health Executive Team, and says there is never a typical day for those in a CFO position. “You need to digest lots of information about the health service including activity, employees, financials, risks and opportunities. There are lots of meetings and discussions driven by whatever the hot issues are at the time,” Andrew said. “You need to keep in touch with fellow team members to respond to questions or provide help. If time permits, you get out of the office and walk to the hospital floor to observe how…
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Telehealth: Q&A with Tracey Webster
We spoke to Tracey Webster, Telehealth Project Officer, about the digital transformation journey Northern Health is on. Read on to find out how Northern Health is using digital transformation to give patients real choice in their modality of care. What’s your coffee order? I love English breakfast tea. There is not much that a cup of tea cannot sort out! What are some of the milestones in your time here? Working as part of a team to implement Telehealth at Northern Health has been an important milestone. Ensuring that we made it patient-centred and safe for patients was the priority.…