Today is R U OK? Day, a national day of action to remind everyone that every day is the day to ask ‘R U OK?’

It’s a day to reach out to your family, friends, loved ones and colleagues to have a meaningful conversation, and to ask the important ‘R U OK?’ question.

Caring for others is the first act that goes to the core of our humanity. It is also at the heart of our Northern Health values of Safe, Kind and Together. This makes it vital that we look out for each other and extend our care to those with whom we work side-by-side.

Northern Health is strengthening our culture of care through embedding ‘Joy in Work’ initiatives to support our staff and recognise their amazing contributions.

Here are some recent examples of staff bringing joy to the workplace:

Women’s and Children’s Nursing Division

From April 2023 to June 2024, OHS Wellbeing and People Experience supported the Women’s & Children’s (W&C) Division to participate in the Wellbeing for Healthcare Workers Initiative (WHWI).

This was a state-wide initiative facilitated by Safer Care Victoria and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement which aims to improve staff wellbeing by reducing burnout and increasing joy in work. The Joy in Work Framework encompasses nine domains including physical and psychological safety, wellness and resilience, and camaraderie and teamwork.

Staff completed monthly surveys and participated in ‘What Matters To You’ conversations to identify barriers to joy in work and make suggestions on how these might be improved. Monthly afternoon teas led by Directors and Nurse Unit Managers were established for staff from different areas to get together and provide feedback whilst receiving important updates and recognition of achievements.

Strategies to increase Joy in Work

Based on staff feedback, equipment ‘shopping lists’ were introduced in wards to assist with ordering items essential to patient care.

One staff member noted, “the shopping list is a good initiative where we can request equipment that will help our patients and make work easier.”

An employee-centred rostering system has been trialled to give staff more control over their rostering in line with personal preferences. Other change ideas implemented include an outdoor area for staff and a safety culture statement that is read at the beginning of each shift for nursing and medical staff.

As one staff member noted, “reading the safety statement creates a nice feeling and brings the team together before we get our handover.”

Overall, the project saw a nine percent improvement in joy in work and a 14 percent decrease in burnout.

Seda Kiroglu, Maternity Unit Manager reflects on what Joy in Work means to her.

“Joy in work for me means coming in to work and being able to provide a safe, respectful and supportive space for my colleagues and team. The initiative gave me an opportunity to provide this space and work together with the team to achieve it. My cup is full when I know that those around me are physically and psychologically safe at work.”

The Women’s and Children’s team continue to sustain the improvements and engage with staff at monthly afternoon teas.

“Participating in the project was a truly rewarding experience that offered valuable insights. The staff demonstrated a high level of engagement from the beginning and were open and honest in their feedback, resulting in meaningful conversations about what truly matters and a strong sense of unity within the team,” said Alecia Caddy, Ward 2 Paediatrics Nurse Unit Manager.

Mental Health Division (North West Area Mental Health Service)

The Mental Health Division (NWAMHS) included the Joy in Work framework in the 2020-2024 Strategic Plan, with the Broadmeadows Inpatient Unit (BIPU) being the first team to roll it out.

Although the framework is for staff, BIPU saw benefits that spread over the consumers they care for, as well as building joy and resilience, and making the unit a terrific place to work.

Some of the fabulous staff activities include Feel Good February, Jolly July and Self-Care September. The team has embraced the Joy principles and continue to implement both simple and fun events as well as more operational changes that allow staff to feel safe and supported.

CCU (Community Care Units – a residential step-down service) followed BIPU’s lead last year and are currently in the midst of creating their own unique joyful events and activities.

Now it’s the turn of the community teams at Broadmeadows and Coburg who have commenced a survey to discover where each team is at with feeling safe and supported at work.

The next step is to build on this understanding of our workplaces to develop actions, events, activities and behaviours that promote joyful workplaces. Both teams already enjoy opportunities to get together (be it an afternoon tea or Christmas in July).

The Joy framework will help these teams enhance what is working well, as well as address deficits or weaknesses that have staff feeling unsupported or unhappy. The framework encompasses everyone – from the enthusiastic support of management all the way down to tireless part-time support staff – and is an opportunity to hear every voice and value every person.

Thank you to all staff who participated and support these Joy in Work projects.

Take a moment from your busy day to check in with a colleague or team member this R U OK? Day, and every day. Take joy in the caring and healing work that we all do and support each other in our contributions to the wellbeing of the community.

Featured image: Staff implementing Joy In Work initiatives. 

World Sepsis Day, held annually on 13 September, is an opportunity for people worldwide to unite in the fight against sepsis.

Sepsis is a time-critical medical emergency that arises when the body’s response to an infection damages its own tissues and organs. It can lead to shock, failure of multiple organs, and death if not recognised early and not treated promptly.

Across the world, sepsis affects between 47 and 50 million people every year and at least 11 million people die – one death every 2.8 seconds. Twenty per cent of all deaths worldwide are associated with sepsis. However, awareness is low with a recent survey finding 60 per cent of Australians had not heard of sepsis and only 14 per cent could name one of its symptoms.

Cassie Gilbert and Yasmin Sungkar – Step on Sepsis Project Coordinators at Northern Health, said many of those who do survive sepsis can face lifelong consequences which can impact their day-to-day functioning.

“To improve outcomes, community awareness of signs and symptoms, together with time-critical recognition and appropriate healthcare management, is essential in reducing morbidity and mortality associated with sepsis,” they said.

In 2013, Northern Health introduced the Step on Sepsis program. Since then, this program has been successful in helping clinicians improve recognition and treatment of patients with sepsis. The program focuses on optimisation of sepsis recognition and management through audit and feedback, education, and the development and dissemination of sepsis resources.

Here at Northern Health, the Step on Sepsis team is running a number of campaigns to promote sepsis awareness to staff and our community. You can participate in an online sepsis quiz, where you have the chance of winning one of 10 Henry’s Cafe coffee voucher.

Keep an eye out for our display boards in the foyer of the Northern Hospital Epping and Broadmeadows Hospital.

To find out more about sepsis management at Northern Health, click here.

If you would like to know more about sepsis and World Sepsis Day, visit:

https://www.worldsepsisday.org/

https://www.australiansepsisnetwork.net.au/

Featured image shows Cassie Gilbert and Yasmin Sungkar, Step on Sepsis Project Coordinators.

On Sunday, 8 September, Northern Health joined the global celebration of World Physiotherapy Day, a day dedicated to recognising the vital contributions physiotherapists make to healthcare.

With over 120 physiotherapists working across Northern Health campuses, our team provides essential care that impacts patients of all ages, from newborns to older patients, in settings ranging from emergency departments to community care, and even intensive care units.

Physiotherapy services here extend beyond traditional rehabilitation, addressing a wide range of health conditions, including chronic pain, cancer, vertigo, concussion, and more.

Our physiotherapists collaborate closely with exercise physiologists and allied health assistants, ensuring comprehensive care across various specialties such as musculoskeletal, neurology, women’s health, oncology, and cardiorespiratory therapy.

These dedicated professionals not only support physical recovery but also empower patients to regain control of their health and wellbeing. Their dedication is reflected in the patient feedback below:

“My physio’s expertise and support have helped us adjust to our new normal as parents of a special needs child.”

“Allied Health Physiotherapy is a fantastic service, from the receptionist to the physiotherapists, they are very encouraging and friendly. I feel my knee could not have healed and been rehabilitated without this wonderful service.”

“The physio staff were supportive and thoughtful. I have had much improvement in movements, and I achieved my goals.”

“My physiotherapist was very knowledgeable, careful and I felt that I was in the hands of a very capable and competent person.”

“Never forget the difference you’ve made.”

Join us in celebrating the dedication of our physiotherapists, whose work is central to the recovery and wellbeing of our patients and community.

For more information or to book an appointment, please visit the Intranet page or email staffphysio@nh.org.au.

Following a rigorous selection process, Vanessa Leonard-Roberts, Nurse Practitioner at Northern Hospital Emergency Department, has been offered a prestigious place in the Melbourne Academic Centre for Health MACH-Track Program in 2025.

MACH-Track is a structured, mentored, fully funded PhD pathway through the University of Melbourne Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences and eight affiliated Medical Research Institutes. The five-year program incorporates both advanced clinical and academic training, and seeks to develop future leaders of clinical innovation by offering an opportunity to integrate pre-PhD, PhD, and initial post-PhD research training with the completion of vocational training of the highest standard.

“MACH-Track is an established program that allows promising health practitioners to integrate career development in research, including a PhD, with the completion of postgraduate specialist or generalist training and clinical career development in their health discipline,” said Professor Sir John Savill, MACH Executive Director.

Ms Leonard-Roberts is delighted to have been selected for this prestigious program.

“I have been wanting to do my PhD for some time but struggled to find a program that would incorporate both clinical and academic training,” said Ms Leonard-Roberts.

“The MACH-Track program will mean that I can continue to work clinically at Northern Health while completing my PhD.”

“I was absolutely delighted to find out I was successful and have been experiencing a mixture of elation and nervousness, but really, I am overjoyed,” Ms Leonard-Roberts said.

“I would like to thank Eleanor Johnson, the current MACH-Track candidate, who put up with my million questions and encouraged me to apply.”

Lisa Cox, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Northern Health, congratulated Vanessa on this significant achievement.

“Vanessa is highly motivated and passionate about nursing research, and this offer is a fantastic opportunity for both Vanessa and Northern Health. Well done, Vanessa,” Ms Cox said.

#WeAreNorthern

Meet Saj Amerasinghe, Key Account Manager, ISS Facility Services, Northern Health.

Q: Can I start with your coffee order, please?
A: I start off with a small almond latte.

Q: Can you tell me a bit about your career?
A: I’ve spent over a decade in freight logistics in a national role with TNT and TOLL before transitioning into facilities management. I discovered my passion working with ISS, during my time at Canberra Health. Over the past 12 years with ISS, I’ve grown from a frontline supervisor to a Key Account Manager, currently overseeing the Northern Health portfolio. My journey with Northern Health has taught me various ways to ensure we continue to provide outstanding healthcare for our community. ISS and Northern Health have always supported my growth, and I’ve gained invaluable experience in both people and client management within the healthcare sector.

Q: What do you love most about your role as ISS Key Account Manager at Northern Health?
A: What I love most about my role as ISS Key Account Manager at Northern Health is the daily challenges that keep me focused and motivated. Each day brings something new, and I embrace these challenges eagerly. I’m deeply committed to improving the quality of care for our patients and their families. Knowing that the work my team and I do adds real value to someone’s life while ensuring we continue to provide outstanding healthcare for our community is incredibly fulfilling.

Q: Favourite childhood memory?
A: One of my favorite childhood memories is working alongside my dad as he fixed our family cars. Those moments taught me the value of hard work and the importance of sticking with a project until it’s done right.

Q: What is something that most people would not know about you?
A: I’m passionate about helping others through various humanitarian projects between Sri Lanka and Australia. I’ve been involved in building houses for displaced people and providing schools in rural areas with books and educational resources. I firmly believe that helping someone in need is one of the greatest things you can do in life. If anyone is interested in getting involved, I’d love to connect and collaborate.

Q: What is one place you would like to travel to and why?
A: One place I’d love to visit is Europe. The thought of spending time there and experiencing a white Christmas with my family is something I’ve always dreamed of, and I believe that dream isn’t too far off.

Our Electronic Medical Record (EMR) team is celebrating one year since go-live!

Ward 1 and Kath Atkinson Wing (KAW-Aged) at Bundoora Centre were the first wards to go live with the EMR on 5 September 2023, with other wards and sites following suit throughout the month.

In just 12 months, the EMR has transformed how clinical care is provided to patients and the community Northern Health serves. The system is used for clinical documentation, placing orders, viewing results and medication management, all helping to deliver significant benefits to the way healthcare is provided.

Terri Fiorenza, EMR Director, said celebrating EMR’s first birthday was like celebrating your child’s first birthday and surviving the first year of parenthood.

“The EMR team feel a great sense of achievement in delivering a successful EMR implementation at Northern Health,” she said.

“Throughout the year, we have further developed EMR build skills to work on enhancing and improving the clinical information system in further supporting our clinicians, staff and patients.”

The past year has been an eventful one for the EMR team, with many milestones achieved. In December 2023, the EMR project was officially closed and in January 2024, the business as usual (BAU) EMR team was established.

While establishing an EMR BAU structure, the team also delivered additional projects including implementation of the Victorian Perinatal Data Collection Statutory Extract, Anatomical Pathology and a Radiology bi-directional interface.

A business case for EMR phase 2 projects including EMR implementation at Kilmore District Hospital, Craigieburn Centre expansion, Whittlesea Hospital and devices for HITH and GEM@Home was endorsed by the Northern Health Board. Work has commenced with Northern Health key stakeholders and our third party vendors Oracle (Cerner) and Health Technology Services (HTS) for this project implementation.

“EMR adoption from a staff perspective continues to improve as staff continue to use and become more familiar with the system,” Terri said.

“Northern Health patients were very patient when the clinical information system was first implemented, and staff were learning to navigate through the system.”

“Staff have come a long way since the initial go-live, and patients would now see this as a seamless task.”

Looking ahead, Terri says the team is aiming to upskill EMR Analysts in EMR build skills in all EMR solutions, so that the team can continue to prioritise and build optimisation and enhancement requests received by staff.

Implementation of projects including EMR phase 2 projects for Community Hospitals and Australian Immunisation Registry EMR integration are currently underway, as well as other projects.

EMR phase 3 projects will be scoped which will include Specialists Clinics Outpatients and Community. The EMR team will work closely with Northern Health key stakeholders, Oracle and HTS to scope the requirements for EMR implementation. Time and motion studies were completed pre go live, with a plan to revisit this analysis 18 months post go live to measure the benefits of the EMR.

“The EMR team thanks Northern Health staff for their support and patience post go-live as staff become more familiar with the EMR, and the EMR team continue to improve on their EMR build skills in improving the clinical information system for our staff and patients,” Terri said.

Earlier this week, the Victorian government announced the launch of the Urgent Concern Helpline, a new family escalation system to ensure concerns are heard. This service will allow patients, and their families, to raise concerns about a patient’s care, condition or deterioration, and get an immediate response.

Northern Health is proud to have been chosen to run the first trial of this service from next week, before rolling out at other select Victorian health services.

The helpline, part of the Safer Care for Kids initiative created by Safer Care Victoria, will be run by the Victorian Virtual Emergency Department. It responds to a report that investigated devastating outcomes resulting in child deaths across the state when early opportunities to intervene were missed. The helpline will provide an important escalation process for patients and their families when they have concerns about a patient’s condition deteriorating or feel their concerns are not being heard.

Dr Joanna Lawrence, Director of Paediatrics for the VVED, has been instrumental in establishing this service, alongside Director, Dr Loren Sher and support from the Department of Health.

“This is a great opportunity for each health service in Victoria to revisit local escalation policies, and for the helpline to act as a safety net when local escalation fails. By partnering closely with all hospitals across the state, we hope to see the use of the helpline in the future become almost redundant as each service strengthens it’s response locally,” said Dr Lawrence.

Northern Health was selected as a pilot site to test the helpline. Not all approached sites accepted the opportunity to be involved and it is testament to Northern Health’s safe, kind and together values that this was recognised as in the best interest of our children, but also as an opportunity to look at where Northern Health can do better.

Northern Health Resus Coordinator Elise Sutton has championed the cause locally and pulled together the key stakeholders to allow a robust response to any escalation.

Minister for Health, Mary-Anne Thomas earlier this week said, “It’s our responsibility to learn from every sentinel event to ensure it never happens again and that Victorians are receiving the best possible care.”

“We’re making significant changes to the way our health services respond to patient deterioration because we know this has historically, and unacceptably, been a significant factor in paediatric sentinel events. The new Urgent Concern Helpline will support families and patients and ensure they have somewhere to turn if they feel their concerns aren’t being heard.”

Featured image: VVED Nurse Julius.

In a collaborative effort between allied health education and medical education, first-year medical students from University of Melbourne have been granted a unique opportunity to observe various allied health disciplines at Northern Health.

The initiative aims to deepen students’ understanding of interprofessional practice and the crucial roles of allied health professionals. By providing early exposure to these disciplines, students can gain insights into how different professionals contribute to patient outcomes, fostering a more integrated approach to future patient treatment.

Earlier this year, Dr Rachael Coutts, Director of Medical Education and Emergency Physician, approached Allied Health Education to collaborate on offering medical students the chance to shadow Allied Health professionals and learn about holistic, patient-centred care.

Tameeka Robertson, Allied Health Clinical School Coordinator, has been instrumental in facilitating the establishment of the program from an Allied Health perspective, coordinating the shadowing program with staff from Allied Health disciplines.

“When Rachael contacted me to assist in coordinating an observation placement for University of Melbourne first year medical students within the Allied Health sector, I was immediately enthusiastic about the opportunity,” Ms Robertson said.

“Immersing students in interprofessional environments is incredibly valuable, as it fosters a deeper understanding of teamwork, communication and collaborative practices skills that are essential for effective healthcare delivery. This initiative was aimed to enrich students’ educational experiences and better prepare them for their future roles in the healthcare system.”

Over the period of one month, 62 first year medical students shadowed 16 allied health clinicians across physiotherapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, social work, orthotics and speech pathology.

“The participants were able to, very early in their learning and medical careers, gain insight into what multidisciplinary care looks like, which forms a strong impression about how they want to work as doctors in the future. This will benefit the patients in our community by teaching best practice from the beginning,” said Dr Coutts.

Students completed two activities during each day of the program. The first was to observe the clinicians in their work, and to discuss the extent and breadth of their work. The second was a reflective debrief, where the students come together to discuss and learn from each other what they have experienced.

“During the debrief the students talked about what their preconceived ideas of their allied health clinician was, and what they learnt about them. They observed how critical the work of the Allied Health team is to holistic, patient centred care, the time that clinicians spend with their patients and the strong advocacy for their patient’s goals.”

“By shadowing allied health clinicians, students have learnt about the importance of teamwork in addressing complex patient needs and how important it is to work together to achieve the best patient outcome. This awareness has led to a more coordinated care approach and a greater understanding of each team member’s role, ultimately benefiting patients through more cohesive treatment plans,” Dr Coutts explained.

“I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the Allied Health clinicians who dedicated their time and effort to make this observation placement opportunity a success for our future medical practitioners. Your commitment and involvement have been instrumental in providing valuable learning experiences for these students,” Ms Robertson concluded.