Overview:
Working Together was a co-design project that was designed to improve nursing and midwifery workload allocation and management practices, whilst working within both the prescribed nurse/midwife to patient ratios outlined in the Safe Patient Care (Nurse to Patient and Midwife to Patient Ratios) Act 2015, and the requirements of the Nurses and Midwives Enterprise Agreement.
Western Health piloted the project in 14 of our wards. With Western Health as the led-organisation, it was also implemented concurrently at Northeast Health Wangaratta. The two health services worked in partnership and with Deakin University as the project’s evaluator.
Outcomes:
The implementation and evaluation of the Working Together project were affected by several adverse events including bushfires in regional Victoria and the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, comparing the pre and post-implementation data, the following moderate changes were noted:
- An improvement in the quality of patient care, as perceived by nurses and midwives;
- An increase in the proportion of nurses/midwives who indicated that they will continue to work as a nurse/midwife;
- An increase in the proportion of nurses/midwives who believed their hospital is a good place to work;
- An increase in nurses’ and midwives’ job satisfaction;
- A reduction in nurses’ and midwives’ role ambiguity;
- A reduction in the number of missed elements of patient care; and
- A reduction in adverse events at the project sites, including medication errors and injuries post fall.
Next steps:
Given the success of the pilot, Western Health plans to support the extension of Working Together over the coming years to making the working lives of our nurses and midwives achievable and satisfying and to enhance the care we provide to our patients and women.