Upcoming Events

PALLIATIVE CARE SPECIAL INTEREST GROUP - June 14
Planning for Palliative Care Week
Function Room, 2.30pm

NUTRITION INTEREST GROUP - June 15
Complementary Nutrition

BOARD OF MANAGEMENT - June 22
Board Room 7pm

News from Merlyn...

Security
All staff are reminded that any valuables brought into the Hospital should be kept to a minimum and kept in a locked locker. Under no circumstances should cash, handbags or wallets be left in an open accessible area.

ECG Central Monitoring Equipment
Mr Bob Cameron MP visited the Hospital on 17 May to officially announce the grant of $105,000 for the ECG Central Monitoring Equipment. The new equipment will enable staff to monitor more cardiac patients and have the flexibility of being in different rooms. This will reduce the need for bed moves thus decreasing staff time shifting beds. Also, all cardiac patients events will be monitored in the office on a central monitor.

Romulus my Father
Shooting of the film has created a great deal of interest amongst staff and I would like to thank you for your tolerance in curbing your curiosity and for your patience with the inconvenience of parts of the Hospital being out of bounds. We look forward with anticipation to this film being released and I’m sure staff will view it with great interest.

Pedometer Challenge
Congratulations to all staff who are participating in the Mount Alexander Workplace Pedometer Challenge. It is very encouraging to see so many of our staff clocking up the steps, with a number of people averaging over 10,000 steps a day.

Murray to Moyne Riders raise $39,200
Congratulations to all riders on a great effort. The annual Presentation Evening for our riders and support crew was again a great success, with a large crowd in attendance acknowledging their fantastic effort. Their focus and commitment to the Murray to Moyne Cycle Relay is to be commended and the Hospital is greatly indebted to them.

Regards

Orientation...

Welcome to our new staff members attending orientation in May.

News from the Directorate of Clinical and Community Programs...

In February, I was very privileged to work a clinical shift along side the staff in Thompson House. It was one of the best experiences I have had in a long time and reminded me how special aged care nursing is. Throughout the day, I saw staff working together as a tight team meeting the needs of the residents. The staff are amazing in the way they know their residents so well, with things such as their likes and dislikes, what triggers distress, verbal and non-verbal cues, any subtle physical changes, the families and hobbies, and this is all done with such genuine affection and respect. Staff come to work every day and look after the same residents year in year out, and all the while having to work hard at keeping their relationships fresh. Whoever said aged care nursing was not a speciality is very wrong – the skills needed by nurses to work with the frail aged are: the ability to form a relationship; to care and form a friendship; be very patient; provide care around lifestyle (not medical problems), and to constantly assess for changes. Staff are often challenged to come up with very creative solutions to problems and to keep their residents involved and engaged in life. I wish to express my thanks to staff who took me under their wing and showed me all the modern tricks to aged care nursing – thank you.

At the beginning of March, I worked a day with the Connolly Rehabilitation staff, and although completely different, it was just as good as the day in aged care. The focus of care in the Rehabilitation Unit is very much around encouraging the patients to do things for themselves. One lady had been working with the Physiotherapist and Occupational Therapist to develop a way that she could transfer herself from the bed to the chair and back again so that she could eventually go home rather than having to live in a nursing home. This plan has been carefully put together in consultation with the patient and her husband so that the mutual goal of going home could be managed (this takes a lot of lateral thinking and creativity). Again, I was very well looked after during the day – thank you to all.

The work of the Residential Care Medication Advisory Committee continues. The committee is responsible for overseeing all medication issues in the aged care areas and for ensuring the external contract with our community pharmacy provider is working well. The group meets on a three-monthly basis and looks at things like the medication variances and any opportunities to improve our system and review data that comes from audits completed. At the February meeting, we were pleased to review the results of the polypharmacy audit (any resident that is on 9 or more medications) and found that in the high care areas, 40% of our residents are on multiple medications (these include things like vitamins and supplements) and 29% of low care residents. This is below the national average, which indicates that generally, 50% of high care residents are on 9 or more medications. This is a good example of the good teamwork, usually started in the Rehabilitation Unit, in rationalising the number of medications people are on, and then between the general practitioner and nursing staff in the residential units. Another audit that examines the use of psychotropic medications (behaviour altering) reveals that we have 25% of high care residents and 11% of low care residents using such medications. At this stage, we do not have any national or sub regional data to compare this to, but will endeavour to establish how we are performing in relation to the industry standard. Once we have this information, we can start asking the question, can we do better?


Barb Gregory, Alex Mactier, Lee Mason, Fiona Moait,
Leon Williams, Kathy Sheridan, Heather Silvagni,
Carol Porker, Ann Allenby and Rod Coupland.
Absent: Kendall Chislett

We had a wonderful evening on 27 February where six staff groups put together and presented the work they had done in improving the service they provide or how they provide that service. We had a good number of people from the community, our residents, volunteers and staff groups come and listen. Kendall Chislett gave an overview of the improvements made in the Laundry and in particular the use of the ‘tug’ to move around heavy trolleys; Heather Silvagni and Kathy Sheridan presented their research which examined the rehabilitation process; Barb Gregory talked about the work that has been happening in mental health care over the last few years; Alex Mactier outlined all the information technology improvements including the intranet; Lee Mason, with the assistance of Carol Porker, talked about the healthy eating programs TOWN and PASSION that have started up over the last few years and Fiona Moait and Rod Coupland presented the Strength and Balance Program that has been implemented for the low care residents. We also had some poster displays from the REX team highlighting the art project that the residents exhibited last year and General Services displayed their quality improvement projects.

The presenters did an excellent job and very professionally represented some of the work we do – thank you.

Ann Allenby
DCCP

Training Room...

There is a computer training room set up next to the cafeteria which is available to all staff at any time of the day, unless it is in use for a specific training session. The computers can be used for accessing the Intranet.
When you switch a computer on, it automatically starts up and displays the Intranet. Our systems are very robust so no damage can be caused by the Operator.
You can use MS Word & Excel on the computers, but there are no printers attached to print. However, printing can be completed elsewhere in the Hospital.
Please note that the generic login ‘mtalex’ does not have Internet access.
Please advise your supervisor if you have any difficulties or need assistance.

Accessing the Intranet.
As you are all aware, we have an Intranet site which can be accessed from any computer within the Hospital. If you don’t have a logon of your own, you can logon using ‘mtalex’.

For Computers outside the Training Room
Switch on the computer, if not already on, and wait for the login screen.

  • At the login screen, hold the Ctrl and Alt keys down and press the Delete key.
  • In the ‘User Name’ box type mtalex
  • In the ‘Password’ box type mtalex (make sure Caps Lock is off).
  • The computer should log into the network and display the Intranet automatically.

    • Using the Intranet via the navigation bar on the left

  • The Home page has important news items and information applicable across the Hospital.
  • The Communications page features the “Communications Directory” where the Hospital’s telephone extensions can be found.
    • Tip: the Communications Directory also has a fast link on the home page in the aqua coloured box.
  • On the Forms page, up-to-date copies of forms used across the Hospital can be printed.
  • The Hospital’s Policies & Procedures can be viewed on the Policies/Procedures page.

    • These are just some examples of the information available on our Intranet. Explore other pages. Please talk to your supervisor if you need assistance or ring the Systems Officer on ext 509.

    The new look No Lifting Team...

    Additional recurrent funding has been secured for the Hospital's no lifting program. The program is co-ordinated and implemented by clinical nurse educator Elizabeth Morley, clinical support nurse Linda McKenna and Thompson House nurse Helene Gerber. Helene has one day a fortnight dedicated to no lifting activity. The team attended a two-day “Train the Trainer” workshop in late January and early February and held a planning day on 23 February. The planning day included a review of the existing program and brainstorming how the additional resources can be put to best use. Subsequently, the team has revamped the entire no lifting program. The revamped program was presented to the February MnMs meeting where it was well received. 3½ hours no lifting training has been added to orientation for new staff. This is in addition to generic manual handling. In accordance with the commencement of combined orientation/staff development days, the monthly no lifting training sessions are open to existing staff who are encouraged to attend. The 3½ hour sessions are a ‘one off’ followed by an annual no lifting competency test. More information about the no lifting program, including education and training, is available from the Learning and Development Unit on extension 683.

    Quality Corner...

    Continuous Improvement

    Mt Alexander Hospital recognises that the provision of healthcare occurs within a very complex environment where things can go wrong. We aim, where possible, to reduce the risk by learning from our own and other people’s mistakes. This involves analysis of reports from other facilities and our own incidents and near misses.

    The Clinical and Risk Management Committee meets monthly and is chaired by the Chief Executive Officer. The Terms of Reference, Audit and Review Schedule and minutes are available on the intranet under “Committees”. The approach of the committee is to identify circumstances that put clients at risk of harm and act to prevent or minimise risks where possible.

    Following is a list of some of the achievements of this committee in the last 12 months:

  • Publications such as “Risk Watch”, “Coronial Communiqué”, “Medication Safety Briefs” which provide information about risks identified, or errors that have occurred, in other facilities are analysed for lessons we can learn and recommendations we can implement.
  • A medication administration-learning package has been developed for Division 1 nurses. The percentage of staff completing this competency is monitored.
  • Ampoules of potassium (a medication that can cause heart problems) for intravenous use were removed from the units to reduce the chance of them being administered incorrectly as deaths/complications have been reported in other facilities.
  • Medication procedures have been developed considering recommendations from publications and best practice, and analysis of incidents and near misses.
  • Episodes of clients sustaining fractures have been analysed to see if they could have been avoided.
  • The number of medication errors, falls, bed sores and aggressive incidents are monitored and analysed to try to minimise risk where possible.
  • A schedule 11 drug register has been implemented to improve tracking of medications.
  • Medication. Treatment kits for staff have been distributed.
  • Benchmarking occurs through the ACHS Clinical Indicator program comparing clinical results with other facilities eg the documentation of asthma treatment plans. All results are analysed and discussed.
  • The Intravenous Orders form was updated as a result of an audit.
  • New medication charts have been introduced in the low care areas for both permanent and respite residents.
  • New medications have been added to the hospital formulary after appropriateness was analysed by pharmacists, doctors and senior management.
  • A confirmation of consent form has been introduced to be used prior to a patient receiving a blood transfusion.

    • The committee members certainly find there is always plenty on the agenda of this very active and outcome-focused meeting.

    Chris Mitchell
    Quality Project Manager

    Combined Orientation and Staff Development Days...

    From 15 March, Hospital Orientation and compulsory staff education and training are offered simultaneously, titled “Orientation and Staff Development Days”. Staff can complete most of their annual and bi annual compulsory training requirements on these days. To find out more, look for the flyers posted around the Hospital, go to the Education and Training Calendars on the Intranet or call Liz Morley ext 683 or Judy Spragg on ext 583 for more information.