Published on 1 June 2022

Edition 55: June 2022

  • Helpful contacts

    Employee Assistance Program: 1800 099 444

    Nurse & Midwife Support: 1800 667 877

    Nurse & Midwife Health Program:
    03 9415 7551 or 1800 888 236

  • Upcoming Dates

    June 2022

    3       Crazy Socks Day
    3       Reconciliation week concludes
    13     Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday
    14     World Blood Donor Day
    27     PTSD Awareness Day
    30    Final day for registration renewal

  • The Nursing & Midwifery Executive

    Adjunct Professor Shane Crowe
    Executive Director of Nursing & Midwifery
    Phone: 8345 1463
    Email: shane.crowe@wh.org.au

    Allison Lamb
    Acting Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Williamstown Hospital
    Division: Aged Cancer and Continuing Care
    Phone: 0421 950 501
    Email: allison.lamb@wh.org.au

    Professor Bodil Rasmussen
    Chair of Nursing, Deakin University/Western Health
    Phone: 8395 8163
    Email: bodil.rasmussen@wh.org.au

    Doug Mill
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery
    Divisions: Chronic & Complex Care, Drug Health
    Phone: 8345 1916
    Email: douglas.mill@wh.orh.au

    Helen Sinnott
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Sunshine
    Divisions: Women’s & Children’s, Clinical Support & Specialist Clinics
    Phone: 0435 962 716
    Email: helen.sinnott@wh.org.au

    Jo Mapes
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Footscray Hospital
    Division: Perioperative and Critical Care
    Phone: 0423  302 337
    Email: joanne.mapes@wh.org.au

    Kate Renzenbrink
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery Informatics (CNMIO)
    Phone: 0425 772 324
    Email: kate.renzenbrink@wh.org.au

    Professor Linda Sweet
    Chair of Midwifery, Deakin University/Western Health
    Phone: 8395  1178
    Email:  linda.sweet@wh.org.au

    Lisa Gatzonis
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery Workforce
    Phone: 9393 0127
    Email: lisa.gatzonis@wh.org.au

    Mandy Cullen
    Acting Director of Nursing, Melton Health
    Phone: 0413 867 065
    Email: MandyCu@djhs.org.au

    Nicole Davies
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery, Sunbury Day Hospital
    Division: Emergency, Medicine & Access, Western PHU
    Phone: 9732 8630
    Email: nicole.davies@wh.org.au

    Rohan Vaughan
    Director of Nursing, Bacchus March Hospital
    Phone: 0434 365 769
    Email: rohan.vaughan@wh.org.au

    Sue Sweeney
    Director of Midwifery Practice
    Phone: 0466 801 447
    Email: sue.sweeney@wh.org.au

    Associate Professor Tony McGillion
    Director of Nursing & Midwifery (Inspiring Innovation)
    Phone: 0466 925 108
    Email: tony.mcgillion@wh.org.au

From Shane

A huge welcome to our latest cohort of early career nurses and midwives that have just commenced the Graduate Program. I am really confident that you will be made to feel very welcome, and that you will settle into your teams very quickly. Starting a new role is always nerve-wrecking, but please make sure that you take full advantage of the significant supports that we have in place. There are huge opportunities and options for you to hopefully have a long and happy career here at Western Health.

This is a challenging time for healthcare, with widespread workforce challenges across the country. I absolutely acknowledge that things are challenging at Western Health too, with more overtime being used than what I’d like to see and our nurses and midwives working extra shifts. An enormous thank you to our nurses and midwives that have selflessly helped out your colleagues – it truly makes a huge difference. I know that you are fatigued, and we are working tirelessly behind the scenes to grow and support our workforce.

On the positive side, Western Health has grown by over 100 points of care over the past few months and despite this growth we are able to meet staffing requirements on the vast majority of occasions. Our Pool has recently grown, the additional 90 new graduate nurses and 20 new graduate midwives will also make an enormous difference, we have expanded the post-graduate midwifery program and the largest cohort of post-graduate course students in Western Health’s history are building skills and expertise each day. Our workforce is looking healthier than most – but we will actively continue to work to ensure that our nurses and midwives are supported to be able to provide our community with Best Care.

The next 5 years will be an exciting and challenging time for our health service, where we will almost double in size due to the new Footscray Hospital, Point Cook Community Hospital, Sunbury Community Hospital, becoming a designated mental health service and the recently announced Melton Hospital. Western Health will need to welcome over 4,000 additional nurses and midwives to our team to allow all of these new services to open – so we need a robust plan! To support this, we are in the final consultation phases of developing Western Health’s next Nursing & Midwifery Workforce Plan. We want to hear your views on what we can do to attract, support, develop and retain the best nurses and midwives – so a survey has been released so you can have your say. The information gained from the survey will add to analysis and literature reviews that we have undertaken and the detailed consultation with our Unit Managers, Nursing & Midwifery Leaders and the senior leadership group to inform this important plan. If you haven’t already, please share your insights today!

A reminder that we now only have until 30 June for all nurses and midwives to renew their registration. This can be done quickly and easily online, and must be completed before the end of this month. Western Health never employs anyone for any period into nursing or midwifery roles without a valid and current registration.

Finally, if you have yet to receive your Flu Vax, please take some time to get this over the coming week. Influenza vaccination has now become mandatory for Category A and Category B healthcare workers, which will now be on ongoing requirement. There is concern this year that influenza infections have increased at the same time that the Omicron variant is rampant in the community. Whilst the due date is not until August, please get vaccinated as early as possible to protect yourself, your colleagues, your patients and your loved ones.

Shane Crowe
Executive Director, Nursing & Midwifery

Recognising our nurses and midwives

During May we celebrated both the International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day, which were opportunities to recogise the impact that the professions have on the community. We held a celebration event on 12 May, where our nurses and midwives received a tote bag, chocolate and a pen as small tokens of thanks and appreciation and we released the virtual choir video (click on the image right to view).

The theme for International Nurses Day this year was Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Invest in nursing and respect rights to secure global health, which focuses on the need to invest in nursing and respect the rights of nurses in order to build resilient, high quality health systems to meet the needs of individuals and communities now and into the future. The theme of the International Day of the Midwife was Midwives: 100 years of Progress which celebrates the 100th anniversary of the International Confederation of Midwives and the accomplishments of midwives around the world.

We are so proud and humbled by the amazing efforts of our nurses and midwives, in the way that you have provided Best Care to our community through significant and evolving adversity. You have shared your skills, knowledge, expertise and kindness when they have needed us most, and you will be remembered by your patients and women for a long time after they leave us. We are also so inspired by how you have really cared for each other, and been kind to your colleagues through the tough times. Nursing and midwifery are team based professions – teamwork, camaraderie, kindness and care are central to our professions, are these professional values are core strengths. Working together you have been truly remarkable.

Words cannot express how grateful we are for everything that you do every day. With each action and interaction you truly do make a tangible positive difference. A very sincere thanks to all our nurses and midwives for your tireless work, professionalism, adaptability, creativity and endurance that you continually demonstrate.

Have your say and inform our new Workforce Plan

There is no doubt that the current local, national and international nursing and midwifery workforce challenges are greater now than any other time in most of our careers. Our Nursing & Midwifery Workforce Plan 2019-21 recently finished and has been instrumental in placing Western Health in a better position to most other health services when it comes to workforce. This not saying in any way however that things are not challenging – they absolutely are.

On top of these currently challenges, Western Health is a rapidly growing health service. Over the next 6 years we will almost double in size, with the new Footscray Hospital, Melton Hospital, mental health services and community hospitals coming on line.  It is therefore vital that we have a robust Nursing & Midwifery Workforce Plan for the upcoming 5 years to ensure that we build upon the successful initiatives of the past, to include actions that strategically meet the current and future challenges. The aim is that our nursing and midwifery workforce is well positioned to go from strength to strength.

Over the past few months a lot of planning has been undertaken, which has included consultation with our senior leaders and our Unit Managers. We now want to ensure that all of our nurses and midwives have a chance to influence this important Plan and shape our future.

Please take a few minutes to complete this survey, to have your say. Responses will be collated on 8 June 2022.

New Directors of Nursing & Midwifery announced

Western Health recently announced the appointment of 2 new members to the Director of Nursing & Midwifery team:

Monique Sammut

Monique was recently announced as the new Director of Nursing & Midwifery for Sunbury Day Hospital, following Nicole Davies moving to Williamstown Hospital. In this role Monique will support the Clinical Support and Specialist Clinics division and the Western Public Health Unit, and will have Infection Prevention within her portfolio. She will take a lead role in overseeing the Preventing and Controlling Healthcare-Associated Infection Standard.

Monique has over 30 years experience in healthcare, and has vast experience in a number of leadership roles across public and private healthcare.

Monique joined Western Health in 2021 and has been busy! She has recently been in 2 acting Director of Nursing & Midwifery roles, commissioned the new Ward 1B, transitioned Ward 1A into a SCOVID/COVID ward, has been in 2 acting Operations Manager roles, coordinated the ICU international recruitment and learner programs, and was acting Nurse Unit Manager of ICU Footscray.

Monique has a strong focus on patient outcomes and experience, leadership development, change management and achieving great outcomes. She is committed to collaboration and achieving high clinical standards of care and positive patient experiences.

Monique is a Registered Nurse with a Masters of Business Administration, Masters of Health Administration, a Graduate Diploma of Critical Care Nursing and a Diploma of Applied Science of Nursing.

Wendy Giddings

Wendy was recently announced as the new Director of Nursing & Midwifery for Bacchus Marsh Hospital. Wendy will support the Bacchus Marsh and Melton division, and will take a lead role in the Recognising and Responding to Acute Deterioration standard and Advanced Care Planning and End of Life Care.

Wendy comes to Western Health with more than 15 years of senior nursing leadership experience of over a variety of clinical settings. Most recently Wendy was the Director of Clinical and Quality Services at Maryborough District Health Services, and has had an exciting and diverse career in nursing and midwifery.

Having worked in metro, regional and rural across multiple settings, Wendy really knows the healthcare system and is passionate about working with teams to deliver quality patient care. She is a staunch patient advocate and is passionate about the consumer being central to their care decisions.

Wendy is a Registered Nurse was a Midwife, and holds a Masters in Health Management, a Graduate Certificate of Nursing Science, a Graduate Diploma in Advanced Clinical Nursing and a Bachelor of Health Science.

Wendy will commence on 27 June 2022.

We are super excited to welcome both Monique and Wendy to their new roles.

Renew your registration today

All nurses and midwives are required to renew their registration online prior to 30 June 2022 to allow them to continue to practice. Thank you to all of our nurses and midwives who have already done this.

If you have yet to renew your registration, you now need to pay a late fee. You are strongly encouraged to act fast to avoid risking not being able to work after 30 June.

Western Health does not employ anyone into any nursing or midwifery position without an active registration for any period.

Payment:

To ensure quick and effective renewal, nurses and midwives and encouraged to renew online.

Renewal fees can be paid by credit/debit card. If you do not have a credit/debit card you can purchase a pre-paid debit card from various retail outlets for a nominal fee.

Ahpra has announced that they will no longer accept payment by BPAY.

Tips and information:

Read the renewal FAQs on the Ahpra website for helpful tips and more information on what you need to do to renew.

If you have difficulty renewing your registration online or you have a query about your registration, please contact Aphra by making a web enquiry or by calling 1300 419 495.

Flu Vax now mandatory

In our strongest start ever, so far over 65% of Western Health staff have been vaccinated against influenza. 65.9% of nurses and midwives have been vaccinated (compared to 74.3% of medical officers), so we still have a way to go.

As an occupational group, nurses and midwives are at the front line of healthcare and are at increased risk of vaccine-preventable disease if not vaccinated. Additionally, if not vaccinated, healthcare workers may pose an increased risk of disease transmission to other workers and patients and our loved ones.

Influenza infections have increased at the same time that the Omicron variant causes a fourth COVID wave, sparking “Flurona” concerns. After a 2020-2021 flu season that saw an unprecedented decline in yearly cases, influenza cases have rebounded in 2021-22, spawning concerns of a COVID-19 and flu “twindemic.”

The introduction of mandatory vaccination of the influenza vaccination for Category A and Category B healthcare workers was recently announced by the Department of Health, and from 2022 will be on ongoing requirement.

Category A healthcare workers are those that have direct physical contact with patients, clients, deceased persons or body parts, blood, body substances, infectious material or surfaces or equipment that might contain these; or contact that might allow respiratory infections to be acquired or transmitted, for example workers with prolonged face-to-face contact with patients or clients or where their normal work is in a clinical area. Most Western Health nurses and midwives are in Category A.

Category B healthcare workers are those that work in patient areas who rarely have direct contact with blood or body substances. These employees may be exposed to infections spread by droplets, such as influenza.

Category A and B healthcare workers (current and newly commencing) are required to be vaccinated against seasonal influenza by 15 August 2022 and annually by 15 August each year following.

Western Health’s Flu Vax program:

All Western Health staff are eligible to get free Influenza Immuniation. Fixed and roaming immunisation clinics are occurring at all sites and the session times can be found on the Infection Prevention Calendar on the intranet webpage. Don’t forget have your Medicare card number handy.

If you’ve been vaccinated at another hospital, by your GP or elsewhere, please complete a quick Redcap survey, attach your immunisation certificate or alternatively, you can consent for us to check your AIR immunisation record.

Category C staff who want to decline the vaccination must complete their declaration on this Redcap survey.

Staff who have evidence indicating that receiving the influenza vaccine is contraindicated MUST complete a Redcap survey, complete and attach the medical certificate from a medical practitioner.

Make sure you receive a sticker and attach it to your name badge to indicate that you have been vaccinated.

Have you identified a unmet need in healthcare?

The third round of Western Health’s Innovation Acceleration Program will be launched July/August this year. The program is a joint initiative between Western Health and the University of Melbourne established to encourage and support innovation and entrepreneurship between the health care sector and research teams. This exciting opportunity links compelling problems and unmet needs from the health sector with world-class research and commercialisation expertise at the University of Melbourne.

The first challenge is to identify a real unmet need in the health system requiring an innovative solution. It is a great time to start thinking about your great idea and identify a potential unmet need ahead of this launch. You are not expected to have the solution, only to have identified the problem.

Successful applicants then partner with the a University of Melbourne research team with relevant expertise and availability, to work on the project and a mentor will be assigned to each team. The teams will be provided with information on other support and resources available.

The project team then work closely with their mentor during a 3-month period to conceptualise their product and address some key commercial questions. Pitch training and a template pitch will be made available to the teams during the program. The pitch session will be a formal event where teams outline their innovative idea and commercialisation plan before a panel of experts. The panel will judge each pitch against specific criteria. Successful teams are awarded seed funding to develop their innovation.

To find out more please visit the Western Health Innovation Acceleration Program site.

New Melton Hospital fully funded

On Wednesday 4 May 2022 our CEO Russell Harrison and Board Chair Robyn Batten joined Premier Daniel Andrews and Minister for Health Martin Foley at our Melton Health and Community Services site for the announcement that the Victorian Government will invest at least $900 million to deliver a new Melton Hospital.

This announcement is exciting news for families in the Melton and surrounding region, where the healthcare needs are growing exponentially in line with the extraordinary population growth in what is now the fastest growing area of Australia.

The new tertiary hospital will include a 24-hour emergency department, more than 100 medical and surgical beds, an intensive care unit, maternity and neonatal services, more mental health services, interventional services and ambulatory care.

Western Health commenced planning for the Melton Hospital as soon as the Victorian Government announced (around two years ago), that a new hospital in Melton would come under the management of Western Health.

The Melton Hospital will boost access to the very best specialists and deliver excellent patient-centred care for locals in Melbourne’s outer west. It will also generate hundreds of new jobs both in construction of the hospital and its operation when it opens its doors in 2029.

Premier Andrews said while the opening date is planned for 2029, everything possible will be done to enable it to be completed ahead of that schedule.

The hospital will be built on a greenfield site at 245-267 Ferris Road, Cobblebank and it is anticipated that 4,000 staff will work on the site.

Reconciliation Week

The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme, “Be Brave. Make Change.” is a challenge to all Australians— individuals, families, communities, organisations and government—to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for the benefit of all Australians.

Last year Reconciliation Australia encouraged all Australians to take action; not just in National  Reconciliation Week but every week of the year.

We saw unprecedented response to our suggested actions for everyday and for braver action.

This year we are asking everyone to make change beginning with brave actions in their daily lives – where they live, work, play and socialise.

National Reconciliation Week is held between 27 May to 3 June, and is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Reconciliation Week follows National Sorry Day which was held on 26 May 2022, which acknowledges and raises awareness of the history and continued effect of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from their families, communities and culture.

Further information about National Reconciliation Week this year is available on the Reconciliation Australia website.

Ongoing shortage of some blood products

The previously advised supply shortages of some blood products continues, especially some specific groups of RBC including Group O Rh (D) Negative RBC and some groups of platelets.

Any requests for these products are triaged and approved by a Lifeblood Transfusion Medicine Specialist. The Sunshine laboratory currently has one unit (usual inventory is two) of  irradiated Group O Rh(D) Negative RBC for urgent neonatal transfusion.

It is envisioned that this situation will worsen over the next couple of months as more donors cancel due to colds/flu/COVID.

As previously advised in this current situation it may be necessary for the laboratory to issue Group O Rh (D) Positive RBC rather than Group O Rh(D) Negative with Haematologist approval for some patients.

Judicious attention to patient blood management for all transfusion decisions for RBC, platelets and frozen blood products i.e. FFP and cryoprecipitate and meticulous attention to the transport and storage of blood products to negate avoidable wastage is always important, but it is critical in times of supply shortages such as we are currently experiencing. For more information on the management of blood products during this time please click here.

 

Celebrating diversity on IDAHOBIT Day

Western Health recently celebrated International Day Against Homophobia, Biphobia, Intersexism and Transphobia (IDAHOBIT) Day on Tuesday 17 May, showing our collective support and solidarity for LGBTQIA+ staff, volunteers, patients and visitors.

There was IDAHOBIT stalls at Bacchus Marsh, Footscray, Sunshine and Williamstown Hospitals, as well as cool purple t-shirts, rainbow socks and heaps of rainbow biscuits to enjoy. There were also pronoun stickers that staff can put in their badges.

IDAHOBIT was designed to increase awareness and unite people against homophobia, biphobia, intersexism and transphobia. Organisations around the world join forces with allies, activists and campaigners to spread the message of acceptance and stand in solidarity with victims of discrimination.

It was great to see so many staff showing solidarity, and it’s immensely important to acknowledge how lucky we are to live in a more accepting society, but millions of people around the world aren’t so lucky. Did you know that it was only 31 years ago – on May 17, 1990 – the World Health Organization removed homosexuality from the Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems? There are still 69 countries that criminalise homosexuality, while transgender people still face severe punishment in at least 26 countries! IDAHOBIT raises awareness for the work still needed to combat discrimination.

Help is a revamped click away

The Nursing & Midwifery Health Program Victoria (nmhp.org.au) recently revamped its website after a significant consultation process, which included taking guidance and advice from consumers and stakeholders, to inform the development of the new site.

It is aimed at being easy to use, and most importantly, a helpful place to source information about the health and wellbeing of our nursing and midwifery workforce, and if needed a quick and simple avenue to seek free, confidential, independent and tailored one-to-one support.

If at any time as a nurse or midwife you recognise a need to seek support from a skilled and experienced peer, don’t hesitate to contact NMHPV on 9415 7551 or email admin@nmhp.org.au. Alternatively, call Nurse & Midwife Support 24/7 on 1800 667 877 for confidential advice

Palliative care nursing research fund launched

The University of Melbourne Department of Nursing recently announced the launch of a new research fund targeted to support research in palliative care nursing.

The Dame Quentin Bryce Palliative Care Research Fund will offer Master of Philosophy (MPhil) or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) students the opportunity to apply for up to $30,000 per annum in funding.

Palliative care nursing adopts a ‘whole of person’ approach to the care of people diagnosed with serious illness, focusing on pain management, spiritual, emotional and social needs. Palliative care nursing also supports family members, coordinating care alongside other members of the interdisciplinary team. This important scholarship aims to provide palliative care nurses with the support to further their research and encourage more nurses to explore career pathways in this field.

“The Dame Quentin Bryce Research Fund will support nurses undertaking research to generate robust evidence to inform the delivery of high quality palliative and end of life care,” says Professor Marie Gerdtz, Head of the Department of Nursing at the University of Melbourne.

The Dame Quentin Bryce Research fund is open for applications until 25 June 2022.

Crazy Sock Day - 3 June

Friday 3 June is Crazy Socks Day. As many of you will already be aware, Crazy Socks 4 Docs was started several years ago by Dr Geoff Toogood in an attempt to address the stigma around mental health in doctors.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted that all health professionals are at risk of facing poor mental health, and burnout is rising across all areas of the healthcare system.

This year, more than ever, it is important for all of us to remove the stigma around mental health and acknowledge the challenges we are currently facing working in healthcare.

Whilst we are celebrating Crazy Socks Day on Friday, we all have a responsibility to continue to address – with our colleagues, our peers and those around us – the importance of protecting and maintaining our wellbeing every day.

Next week, we’ll be sharing a series of short videos with me in conversation with colleagues about what we can do to better support mental health and wellbeing in our staff.

Please remember to get your crazy colourful socks ready for next Friday, strike a pose with your colleagues and get your picture taken by our roving photographers to be in the running for some prizes.

Finally, a reminder to everyone that if you or your colleagues are ever feeling distressed or in need of support, please visit our intranet for health and wellbeing resources including contact information for Caraniche at Work, Western Health’s Employee Assistance Program that provides a free and confidential counselling service for staff.

 

TLC for Kids

TLC for Kids have kindly donated 5 distraction boxes to be utilised in paediatric areas at Western Health.

Our paediatric educators have delivered the boxes  on behalf of TLC to SHED, Children’s Ward, Paeds Specialist Clinic, Melton Urgent Care and Footscray ED earlier this month.

The boxes contain engaging items in them to assist our health care workers by distracting children when performing procedures on them.

TLC for Kids is a children’s charity providing relief and much-needed distraction to sick children and their families during stressful and traumatic situations

 

EMR Phase 2.1 - what does it mean for clinical nursing/midwifery documentation?

Clinical documentation has always been a vital Nursing and Midwifery role. Accurate and timely clinical documentation aids in the communication of critical clinical information within and between teams, and enables episodes of care to be summarised for safe and efficient handover and discharge to primary and community care. Clinical documentation also aids in clinical coding, drives funding and research, informs service planning and is used for clinical incident investigations and legal proceedings.

Western Health’s EMR Phase 1, including optimisation projects and uplifts, was the beginning of our digital journey. It has changed the way that nurses and midwives document clinical care for the majority of our inpatient areas – now it’s time to extend this change to other parts of the organisation. From Go-Live of EMR Phase 2.1, nurses and midwives working in Emergency, Perioperative Services, Critical Care & ICU, Women’s & Children’s, Outpatient Clinics and Cancer Services will complete their clinical documentation in the EMR. Future phases of the EMR will complete the transition to a fully integrated system.

Having all clinical documentation completed in a single system is an important part of achieving a seamless electronic patient journey – facilitating safe and effective patient care, reducing clinical risk and improving efficiency. Here are some of the benefits of integrated nursing/midwifery documentation:

  • In our Emergency departments, a Behaviours of Concern (BOC) assessment is completed during triage. A BOC score greater than 2 will trigger a BOC alert on LaunchPoint – the ED tracking board that will be used to track, manage and monitor patients in the department
  • In Women’s & Children’s, triage documentation in Maternity Assessment Centre will be viewable by clicking on an icon on the Maternity Tracking Board. Documentation for expressed breast milk will be completed in the EMR ensuring greater visibility of information and features which support positive patient ID
  • Patient notes in outpatient clinics will be documented in the EMR and viewable by clinicians across the organisation
  • In Cancer Services, documentation of Chemotherapy Patient Education will be standardised and viewable by all clinicians involved in the patient’s care

For further information please contact the Nursing and Midwifery Informatics Team, Kate Renzenbrink –Kate.Renzenbrink@wh.org.au and Kylee Ross – Kylee.Ross@wh.org.au

Benchmarking Best Care

The latest benchmark reports from the Health Roundtable that go up to December 2021 have recently been released, that show how our delivery of Best Care compares to other health services across Australasia.

In our continuing series looking at nursing and midwifery key performance indicators, this month we will look at how we perform in the area of medication complications. Medication complications include opioid related respiratory complications/depression, haemorrhagic disorder due to circulating anticoagulants, movement disorders due to psychotropic medication and serious alteration to conscious state due to psychotropic medication.

Medication Complications:

Sunshine Hospital

The rates of medication complications per 10,000 episodes at Sunshine Hospital is consistently green, and is some of the best outcomes in Australia. This is a wonderful result.

Well done to our Sunshine Hospital teams.

If a medication error or complication does occur, ensure that you undertake reflective practice to identify the contributing factors that led to the error, and what you need to personally change in your practice to ensure that it does not happen again.

 

 

Footscray Hospital

Rates of medication complications per 10,000 episodes at Footscray Hospital has been bouncing up and down a bit, and most recently is green. Whilst this is good, overall we are in the middle of our peers – which means that our outcomes are acceptable, but there are opportunities for improvement.

When administering medications, always ensure that you have minimal distractions because being distracted is a primary cause of errors. Medication errors can be lethal, so extra caution should always be taken to avoid a potentially devastating result.

You can take numerous preventive actions to reduce the likelihood of a medication error or complication:

  • Utilise the bar coding medication scanning system. This allows nurses and midwives to verify correct patient, time and documentation more accurately.
  • Take an active role in consulting with the interdisciplinary team, including the pharmacy, to ensure all look-alike or sound-alike medications aren’t stored near each other.
  • Double check all high-alert medications with another nurse.
  • Understand and know the medications that are being administered, along with adverse reactions. Tell each patient what he or she is receiving and the reason for each medication.
  • Consult with other healthcare team members, such as senior nurses and midwives, for their insight and advice.
  • If you have questions about a medication, ask. There are several resources that are available from the pharmacy to drug guides.
  • Keep in mind that even if the healthcare provider orders the wrong medication, wrong route, wrong dose, or wrong frequency, the nurse and midwife still retains culpability.
  • Trust your instincts!

Emerging Evidence

The Western Health Library Service is a great source for locating the latest nursing and midwifery related evidence based practice and research. The links below work best with Microsoft Edge or Chrome.

  • The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Australian hospital-based nursing and midwifery educators. Collegian. 2022: June. Full Text  Western Health Author
  • COVID-19 Special Issue – The Impact of COVID-19 on women, babies, midwives, and midwifery care. Women and Birth. 2022: May. Full Text   Western Health Author
  • Childbearing women’s experiences of the maternity care system in Australia during the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic. Women and Birth. 2022: May. Full Text   Western Health Author
  • Receiving maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic: Experiences of women’s partners and support persons. Women and Birth. 2022: May. Full Text   Western Health Author
  • Midwives’ experiences of providing maternity care during the COVID-19 pandemic in Australia. Women and Birth. 2022: May. Full Text    Western Health Author
  • Patient preferences using telehealth during the COVID-19 pandemic in four Victorian tertiary hospital services. Internal Medicine Journal. 2022: May. Full Text      Western Health Author
  • Needs of young adults with type 1 diabetes during life transitions – An Australian-Danish experience.  Patient Education and Counseling. 2022: May.  PubMed Link      Request Full Text Copy   Western Health Author
  • The introduction of registered undergraduate students of midwifery in a tertiary hospital: Experiences of staff, supervisors, and women. Women and Birth. 2022: April. Full Text  Western Health Author
  • Nurses’ Perceptions of Recommended Fall Prevention Strategies: A Rapid Review. Journal of Nursing Care Quality. 2022: Jul-Sept. Full Text
  • Effects of non-pharmacological interventions for preventing delirium in general ward inpatients: A systematic review & meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. PLoS One. 2022: May. Full Text

New Nursing/Midwifery eBook Titles:

  • Communication in nursing and healthcare: a guide for compassionate practice. London: Sage, 2017.
    Communication is an essential skill for nurses, midwives and allied health professionals when delivering care to patients and their families. With its unique and practical approach, this textbook will support students throughout the three years of their degree programme and on into practice, focussing on how to develop person-centred and compassionate and collaborative care. Key features include: * students′ experiences and stories from service users and patients to help readers relate theory to practice * reflective exercises to help students think critically about their communication skills * learning objectives and chapter summaries for revision.
    Click Here to View Similar Titles on our catalogue.


Evidence-Based Care Sheets (CINAHL Database)

  • CINAHL (Cummulative Index of Nursing and Allied Health Literature) includes over 150 Evidence-Based Care Sheets, which provide summaries of what is known about a disease or condition, as well as the best treatment options.

You can browse the list of Evidence-Based Care Sheets from the toolbar at the top of the database page. Or link directly here.

Off-site or home access to the library eBook titles and databases, require free library membership. If you are not a member you can Join Online. For more information Click on our FAQ page.

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