October 2024
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Personality Disorder Service
In 2019, the Personality Disorder Service (PDS) received funding as part of a pilot program by the Victorian Department of Health and the Office of the Chief Psychiatrist. The initiative aims to enhance specialist capabilities of public mental health clinicians to assess, treat and support people with severe personality disorder who are at high risk of suicide or high lethality self-harm and/or aggressive behaviour. Due to the success of the PDS, at the conclusion of the four-year pilot, Northern Health maintained the funding to provide ongoing specialist input within Northern Area Mental Health Service (NAMHS). Since its inception, the PDS…
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It’s Thunderstorm Asthma Season
The arrival of October brings the start of grass pollen season, generally lasting until 31 December. Warmer weather, increased amounts of grass pollen in the air and certain types of thunderstorms, when combined, can result in an Epidemic Thunderstorm Asthma (ETSA) event triggering severe asthma. Thunderstorm Asthma can cause serious health impacts for people with known and unknown conditions of asthma, therefore it is incredibly vital to be aware of the Thunderstorm Asthma procedures and how to be prepared for a potential ETSA event. Symptoms of ETSA include an itchy and runny nose, sneezing, coughing, wheezing and/or chest tightness. Some…
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Get to know: Douglas Mponda
#WeAreNorthern Meet Douglas Mponda, Forensic Clinical Specialist/Registered Psychiatric Nurse. Q: What is your coffee order? A: I prefer a simple latte as I am not much of a coffee drinker. Q: Tell me about your work as a Forensic Clinical Specialist (FCS) – what does it entail? A: My work as an FCS is centered around what we refer to as the four pillars: Clinical consultancy, which can be primary (seeing the consumer face to face) or secondary consultancy where I meet with the clinician(s) and explore options with them. This way, we offer first line consultancy, offender specific risk…
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KISS: Keep-Ing Safety Simple
Every worker deserves a safe and healthy workplace. The Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) fundamentals is focused on keeping staff safe and healthy at work. Every worker has a right to a safe and healthy working environment, no matter what. National Safe Work Month, held annually in October, encourages all individuals and organisations to prioritise work health and safety and take preventative action to reduce the number of work-related injuries, illnesses and fatalities. National Safe Work Month is a time for employers and workers across Australia commit to creating safe and healthy workplaces. The theme for National Safe Work Month…
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Breast Cancer: Early detection equals better outcomes
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. The campaign aims to raise awareness of the disease, educate about its symptoms and prevention, and fund research into causes, treatment, and cure. This year’s focus is on metastatic breast cancer, where the cancer has spread beyond the initial tumour site of the breast and into other parts of the body. Melanie Bullock, McGrath Metastatic Breast Care Nurse Consultant (MBCN), who is based at Northern Hospital Epping, said, “Diagnosis rates continue to rise, but so has the survival rate. It’s all about early detection.” Australia has one of the best breast cancer survival rates…
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Embracing diversity through cooking at CCU
October is Mental Health Month, and we are ‘Celebrating Diversity, Healing Together’. It is a commitment to fostering an inclusive society where every individual, regardless of their cultural background, can access the mental health resources they need. Within our Community Care Units (CCU), which provide recovery-focused rehabilitation in a community residential setting, 24 per cent of participants were born outside of Australia, and six per cent are First Nations People. This in turn is reflected in our workforce, with 53.1 per cent born in a country outside Australia and 0.6 per cent First Nations People. The CCU team support individuals…