November 15, 2018
Justine Slattery, Senior Paediatric Speech Pathologist at Northern Health, recently received the award for ‘Innovation’ at our inaugural Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards.
Justine was nominated by Associate Director Speech Pathology, Audiology & Orthoptics, Emma Beer, for her continuous learning and development of best practices in the Neonatal Unit (NNU) and children services.
She has implemented initiatives such as the infant feeding scales, which promote developmentally supportive feeding practices for premature babies and their families.
“Justine is motivated, dedicated and positively engaged, serving as a true inspiration,” Emma says.
With over 25 years’ experience as a speech pathologist, Justine is considered a “guru” in her field. She has a particular interest in early identification and intervention for neonates and infants with feeding, swallowing and neurodevelopmental difficulties, and has research publications in this area.
On receiving the award Justine says, “It’s really nice for somebody out of the blue to acknowledge your efforts and contribution. It reinforces what you’re doing and the value of it – I found that really powerful for me.”
Continuing her strides in innovation, Justine, in collaboration with Janet Henry, Senior Paediatric Occupational Therapist, successfully received a grant for the DHHS Advancing Practice Allied Health Workforce Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) Initiative.
“It’s really nice to be in a health organisation where you can be contributing and also have the opportunity to look at ways to improve what’s going on,” Justine says.
The grant will improve the pathway from referral to diagnosis, providing a clear procedure that will support both families and clinicians to participate in early, open conversations regarding possible ASD assessment and intervention.
When asked why she enjoys working at Northern Health, Justine says, “I love that there is a really diverse community that access our services and I really like the people I work with.”
“I’ve worked in a lot of different organisations over the years and the strong focus on collaboration here is fantastic. Northern Health have a really good model that other health organisations would be happy to have.”
Sponsored by Maxxia and BankVic, our Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards have been designed to formally recognise outstanding contributions by our employees and celebrate staff excellence. Nominations for the next Quarterly Staff Recognition Awards will open December 2018.
