October 10, 2018
Wednesday, 10 October marked National Emergency Nurses Day, an opportunity for Northern Health to honour the commitment and hard work of our nurses in Victoria’s busiest emergency department.
As part of the celebrations, the Emergency Department launched their new motto – ‘we are a family caring for our community’ – a department-wide initiative, which underpins the team approach our nurses adopt to provide the best care in a high pressure environment.
Northern Health experienced a 7.9 percent increase in emergency presentations in the last financial year, with 99,400 presentations and 28,800 ambulance arrivals.
For the last 12 months, Northern Health has sustained a 95 percent rate of ambulances offloaded within 40 minutes, making our performance now the best in the state.
Janice Fernandes, Nurse Unit Manager Emergency Department, explains the importance of celebrating our nurses.
“We are the busiest in the state, and to be able to meet the demands of our patients, families and the community in a timely manner can be challenging.”
“October is a time to thank all Emergency Department nurses for their resilience and service they provide,” she said.
Janice adds that even though her role is both physically and mentally demanding, she enjoys mentoring staff and having the ability to change people’s lives.
“We are here to serve our patients and their families, and be able to make a difference to our community,” she said.
Emergency Nurse, Tyson Mcleod, was pleased the emergency staff are being recognised for their hard work.
“It’s quite a demanding job and you’ve got a lot of responsibility, so just to be recognised for that is a reward in itself,” he said.
Jane Poxon, Acting Chief Executive, expressed her gratitude to Northern Health’s Emergency Nurses – “thank you to everyone on the team for your dedication and commitment to your patients and families within our community. It’s very much appreciated,” she said.
“Every time I come into the department, even though everyone is very busy, all staff are always welcoming and willing to assist. I am very proud to be working with a great team,” she added.
