Dear colleagues,

What a week!

Thank you to every single nurse and midwife in Metro North who has absolutely gone above and beyond to meet the challenges that have confronted us. To those of you who are quarantining because of the school situation, please know that your colleagues empathise with your situation and look forward to welcoming you back to work as soon as possible. In the meantime we hope that you return negative results and your families are remaining well. We do understand how tough it must be.

To those of you who have moved to undertake roles outside your normal work practice thank you. I would like to especially thank the Level 13 and 14 Nursing and Midwifery Services and Clinical Governance Safety, Quality and Risk in Metro North who have risen to the occasion, completed the appropriate education and training, and are now contact tracing, vaccinating, working in the virtual space or assisting with quarantining requirements such as at the backpackers hostel. This has extended to not only the nurses and midwives but our administrative staff and our allied health colleagues. Your willingness to assist and your enthusiasm to support your colleagues has not gone unnoticed and I thank you so very much. I am undertaking a shift on Sunday at the backpackers and I am very much looking forward to it. While we are all working a little outside our comfort zones, and certainly this is not something I would normally have been involved in, I think it is a great opportunity for us to work as a team to achieve the outcomes we need to keep Queenslanders safe. Thank you one and all. I am immensely proud of each and every one of you.

I do understand that sometimes the COVID messaging can be difficult to understand or even seem to be conflicting. If at any time you are confused or do not comprehend what is required, please seek clarification from either your line manager or your EOCs. I know myself that sometimes I have to seek clarity, and I have been known to misinterpret it myself sometimes, but we are all in this together and we do need to make sure that we follow the appropriate directions as they come from the CHO. I would also ask that you be respectful and kind to each other. In these difficult times please know that everyone is working at capacity sometimes in situations or undertaking tasks that are not routine. We must remember our Values in Action – respect, integrity, compassion, high performance and teamwork. While our responsibilities in health may be challenging our Values in Action responsibilities have not changed. Please abide by them and remind your colleagues of their obligations as well.

I would like to share a photo of how I was greeted when I came home from work one day this week after a long and taxing day. It made me realise what is truly important. Please stay safe, stay happy and be kind. We work in an awesome health service with 22,000 amazing people but sometimes it is the little things that make us realise that life is short and we need to embrace what is wonderful.

Have a great weekend and hopefully we will continue to do well and restrictions may be lifted.

Regards,

Alanna