Dear colleagues,

Happy Friday to all of you and I hope that this week has been a good one. I am a little bit of a cold frog and I must admit that getting out of my warm bed in the morning has been a challenge. I walk the dog at 5.30am and while I would love to stay there for a little longer, Dave (the groodle) will not stand for it and makes it very clear that it is time to get up. While he doesn’t sleep in our bed, he places his nose on the bed, 2 or 3cm from my face and stares at me. It can be a little disconcerting, so up I get to brave the westerly winds. While walking is good for the soul…. I must look a sight with my layers of clothes, gloves and beanie. One would think I lived in North America…. not sunny Queensland.

This week has been a little more controlled than previous weeks and I know that many of us are hopeful that this continues. I am, however, very cognisant of the busyness of our working lives and the fact that things can change so quickly. As you are aware Nursing and Midwifery has a very robust process for the reporting of and management of workloads. Please use this process to ensure that Nursing and Midwifery line managers are made aware of increased or increasing workloads. Regardless of the nursing or midwifery level that you work at, or the service you are employed in, it is important that we monitor and report appropriately the workload issues and concerns. In appropriately understanding of workloads and trends we can more effectively meet current expectations and plan future service delivery.

I want to take this opportunity to thank every single nurse and midwife in Metro North for their ongoing commitment to their facilities and directorates and to those who normally work in “indirect” roles and have come back on line to provide frontline services, thank you so very much. I understand that this does change your focus somewhat but at this very busy time and with the increases in fever clinic presentations, and the vaccination focus, it is vital that we work together to provide the high standards of patient care that we are known for in Metro North Health. Your assistance is and will be so greatly appreciated.

The NSW situation is indeed troubling, and we are all very aware that while we are currently okay in Queensland the situation could change very rapidly. Thank you for continuing to be vigilant and adhering to the government directives and enabling them in your clinical and non-clinical units. I trust that if you haven’t already, you are working towards getting vaccinated so that we in healthcare are not only protected against COVID-19 but also to ensure we can protect the individuals and families whom we provide services to.

As you may be aware, we received a directive with regard to Student Placements and having students in our facilities who are not fully vaccinated. While we are working through this and ensuring that nursing and midwifery students complete the COVID-19 vaccination process there will be challenges. Given the volume of student placements for nursing and midwifery in our facilities there will be an impact. We will continue to work with our university partners and negotiate with them to ensure that students are able to complete their practical assessments and progress their course of learning so that they can graduate as planned.

Cheers,

Alanna