We have had another great week here in the Caboolture, Kilcoy and Woodford Directorate with celebrations, events and recognition days.

On a personal note, I was unfortunate enough to spend some time as a relative / support person / visitor at a hospital during some minor surgery for my partner this week.

This opportunity was enough to remind me how nerve racking it is to be the person waiting. While the surgery was not major, I was reminded as I watched others in the unfamiliar environment and sat waiting myself how the concern of the implications of the outcome still play on the minds of both the relatives and the person undergoing the surgery.

I was also reminded of how important kindness and communication is; two key highlights from my experience and observation were:

• any wait is a long wait when no one checks-in;
• our processes are so important to provide confidence (as I was moved to four different areas to wait and ‘told off’ for being in one of the areas I was put).

It really is so important that we orientate our staff with our processes, so they know how to look after our patients and their loved ones, as they too are anxious. Kind and caring communication (and some humour!) makes such an impact on improving the journey through our service.

In saying that everything is well… and we are very lucky.

CKW Charter Launch at Kilcoy Hospital

This week, a number of our Executive had the opportunity to spend time at Kilcoy Hospital, as we launched the CKW Values Charter with the team.

It is always a highlight for me to visit Kilcoy.

Kilcoy it is such a different environment with such a calm and healing feeling, where the whole site work as a team and really look after each other and the patients.

The values of teamwork and compassion are so evident at Kilcoy where everyone is focused on making every part of the patient journey welcoming, safe and supportive.

The team truly pivot on the spot to achieve what they need to in this rural environment.

Additionally, everyone is always so welcoming at Kilcoy and this visit was no different – we were, in fact, treated with a great morning tea, including the famous scones … and they were delicious. 

Thank you to the Kilcoy kitchen team who made these scones.

I was told it was Jess this time. I can assure you they were great and I look forward to the next scone experience.

I encourage you to read the Charter and think about how you can incorporate it in your workplace and with your teams

Metro North Staff Expo

It was also fantastic to see so many of you at the Metro North Staff Expo earlier this week.

Another great event where staff were able to get information from a range of staff support services, including QSuper, Smart Salary, Remserv and Commonwealth Bank (left), through to Donate Life. 

What a great collaboration and there were a lot of lollies and collateral being given out!

Thank you to the Metro North Communications Team for organising. It is great to have the opportunity for staff to connect with these services here on-site.

Metro North Disability Services Action Plan launch

Yesterday, we had an event in the courtyard to launch the Metro North Disability Services Action Plan, or as I am going to refer to it moving forward the “Different Ability” Action Plan (thanks Uncle Alan for that terminology).

The formalities kicked off with Mack Muckan preforming an Acknowledgment of Country.

Our own Director of Allied Health Anne Padayachee was Master Of Ceremonies.

We were joined by Executive Sponsor of the plan and Chief Allied Health Practitioner Mark Butterworth and Project Manager Shannon Dawson who were present to launch the action plan (and was heard to comment that this event was the best to date).

Uncle Alan Parsons (a local Aboriginal man who is also one of our very active and engaged consumers) shared some of his story with us and had us laughing and in awe at his tenacity.

A real highlight was the Clear Vision Band. They were so good! The band comprises 22-year-old William Martinelli on guitar, 19-year-old Sean Kendrick on percussion and 20-year-old Cody Butler on lead vocals.

Click on the image above for a small snippet of their great show.

Everyone enjoyed this there was much clapping, foot tapping and rocking with the music … not quite dancing but close!

Together, this band hopes to inspire other young children who have a vision impairment or other disabilities to follow their dreams and break down barriers for accessing employment opportunities.

We were also joined by Lesley and Sandra from our Consumer advisory, alongside some community members, and many staff members to celebrate this launch. 

We also had a wonderful Auslan interpreter Timothy for the launch (I felt a little sorry for him interpreting my kiwi accent along with all the different speakers – what an amazing skill).

It was noted that this is not just a plan on paper but an ACTION plan and we are responsible to make it action. It has five key areas:

1.    Inclusion
2.    Accessibility
3.    Safety, Rights and Respect
4.    Evidence, Research and Data
5.    Improved service delivery

I encourage all staff to read the plan here and we are looking for members on our implementation group. Please contact Anne Padayachee for more details.

Procedural documents

We have a blitz on getting these up to date at CKW. There are 28 procedures out-of-date as at today and we have an absolute goal to get them all up to date by the end of this month (March).

If you are the owner of any procedures, please focus on this or if you are having trouble doing so, contact the CKW Safety and Quality Assistant Nursing Director via email for assistance.

For further details and links, please see the latest Staff Update.

Incident reporting

Here at CKW, I believe we all come to work with the intent to provide the best care to our community and patients.

To do this, it is essential we have a positive Safety and Quality culture, where we learn from things that do not go as they should. In order to do this, we encourage reporting of incidents through the Riskman system. 

The other side of having a positive Safety and Quality culture, is that we have a NO BLAME reporting culture – this means we report incidents without pointing at people. 

We really encourage you to report incidents at the time they occur. However, if you have an issue with the practice of a colleague or another department, Riskman is not the place to raise these and we encourage you to if appropriate have a conversation with your colleague or the other department as a first step.

If this does not resolve the issue, raise it with your (or their manager) in a conversation or email.

Using Riskman in this way will help us as an organisation and team foster that positive learning culture to prevent harm to our patients.

Respectfully raising concern with the person or escalating to an appropriate person will allow issues to be followed up appropriately and respectfully – I am sure that is what we would all wish for if we had erred from best or expected practice?

For more details, visit the Riskman QHEPS page.

Bribie Island Yarning Circle

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services team will host a Yarning Circle on Bribie Island later this month.

Initial discussions will include the new Bribie Island Satellite Hospital, due to open mid-2024. 

The Yarning Circle will be held on Thursday 21 March from 10am to 12pm at the Bribie Island Lions Club Hall, 28 Sunderland Drive, Bellara (near the BMX track). Everyone is welcome with morning tea to be provided.

For more information or to RSVP, contact the CKW Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Services team. Phone 5433 7581 or email yarningtable@health.qld.gov.au

National Close the Gap Day

National Close the Gap Day tomorrow (16 March) is an annual event held to raise awareness about the differences and health outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can expect to live 10-17 years less than other Australians and babies born to Aboriginal mothers die at twice the rate of other Australian babies.

Metro North Hospital and Health Service is committed to providing equity of access to high quality health care services and building relationships based on inclusion with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communities and remains committed to achieve life expectancy parity for Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples by 2031.

For more information, visit the Metro North Health Equity website.

Key appointments

Samantha Masters

Congratulations to Samantha Masters, who has been permanently appointed as CKW Occupational Therapy Director. Well done, Sam!

Paul Kemp

Congratulations also to Paul Kemp, who has been permanently appointed to the Assistant Nursing Director role for Caboolture and Bribie Island Satellite Hospital Minor Injury and Illness Clinic, Woodford Corrections Health and Kilcoy Hospital. Well done, Paul!

Positions Vacant

1) Nursing Director Caboolture Hospital Emergency, Kilcoy Hospital, Woodford Correctional Health Service, Caboolture and Bribie Island Satellite Hospital Minor Injury and Illness Clinics

This role is now live on the Metro North EOI Portal.

This is a temporary three-month appointment with applications closing on Sunday (17 March).

The permanent role is almost ready to be advertised and I will include a direct link next week.

2) Bribie Island Satellite Hospital

Recruitment for the Bribie Island Satellite Hospital is ramping up.

For more details on vacancies available now, visit here. To submit an EOI, visit here.

Mobility for Health

Prolonged hospital stays, especially amongst older adults, can lead to various negative outcomes such as pressure sores, respiratory complications and higher mortality rates.

Implementing strategies such as eating, walking and engaging in activities can play a crucial role in promoting recovery and reducing length of stay.

Proper nutrition is essential for maintaining physical and cognitive health. Malnutrition or inadequate intake of nutrients can exacerbate delirium symptoms and prolong recovery time.

Ensuring that patients receive adequate nutrition can help stabilize their condition and improve their overall wellbeing. Additionally, maintaining proper hydration is also crucial in preventing delirium, as dehydration can contribute to confusion and disorientation.

Encouraging patients to engage in physical activity helps prevent the complications associated with prolonged bed rest such as muscle weakness, loss of mobility and pressure ulcers.

Regular walking also helps regulate sleep-wake cycles, which can be disrupted in patients with delirium.

Keeping patients mentally stimulated and engaged can help alleviate symptoms of delirium and prevent further cognitive decline.

Activities such as puzzles, games, reading, or social interactions provide cognitive stimulation and a sense of purpose, which can improve mood and reduce agitation.

World Delirium Day

Wednesday was World Delirium Day, when we raised awareness about this common yet often overlooked condition that affects millions of people worldwide.

Caboolture Hospital hosted events on each ward to shine a light on the importance of humanising delirium care and Senior Occupational Therapist Caitlin Garamy lead an in-service for nursing staff, focusing on delirium management and prevention.

Delirium management is everyone’s business and we can effectively address it by using the PITCHED principles.

Please print this PITCHED poster and circulate to your clinical areas and staff to continue the management and prevention of Delirium at CKW:

• Pain: Assess regularly for pain and provide pain relief strategies
• Infection: Wound management, monitor for infections
• Thirst: Encourage fluid intake
• Constipation: Monitor bowl function
• Hunger: Monitor nutrition and aid those at risk of malnutrition
• Environment: Minimise bed moves, provide orientation to date and time of day. Ensure use of hearing or visual aids if required
• Drugs: Review medicines to identify any that may increase the risk of delirium and discontinue of appropriate.

Left to Right below: CKW delirium sub working group champions Samantha Masters (Director Occupational Therapy) and Dianne Davenport (Nurse Navigator). Ward 2A delirium champions team leaders Shelia Sloane and Joanne Pratt with Samantha Masters and Di Davenport. Visitors Lily and Terri on ward 3B, visiting a loved one.

Harmony Day

Harmony Day on Thursday (21 March) is the celebration that recognises our diversity and brings together Australians from all different backgrounds. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone.​

On Harmony Day at CKW, we’d love you to bring your culture to work. Decorate your ward and work area and share some food to celebrate the diversity of staff and our community.  Please let me know if you are doing something so hopefully I can visit or one of the Executive can.

For more ideas and information to support culturally linguistic patients and families, visit Metro North Multicultural Health.

I’m also strongly encouraging everyone to submit a nomination for the 2024 Multicultural Queensland Awards. The awards recognise and celebrate outstanding achievements of individuals and organisations working towards an inclusive multicultural Queensland.

This includes notable contributions by newly arrived Queenslanders, remarkable individuals and organisations who have helped others find belonging, and exceptional multicultural sector efforts that demonstrate inclusion, innovation and positive intercultural connection.

Nominations close at 5pm on Sunday 7 April. More details are available here.

Let’s support Megan!

The Common Good Research Manager Megan Grace will be riding 50km for the upcoming Tour de Brisbane to help raise research funds for organ transplants.

Please consider donating for this worthy cause- I’m sure she’d appreciate our support!

https://tourdebrisbane.gofundraise.com.au/page/TheCommonGood

Reflection of the week:

Well, at the end of such an exciting week, I am certainly ready to take some down time and catch up on all the home tasks, including looking after the (ex) patient as he recovers.

I really respect you all for what you give to our organisation and how much so many of you manage outside of work.

My small personal experience this week alongside the Disability (Different Ability) launch this week really reminded me how different all our lives are and how many of our staff and community member manage so much more than what we see.

For those of you, like me, lucky enough to have the weekend off. please find some time for you!

I know many of you will work the weekend to ensure our community receive great access and care to the services they need – thank you.

Please find some time to share some joy with your colleagues and patients, through kindness, humour or just a simple smile (the universal action that has been shown to make things feel a little better and more welcoming).

When someone wants to play …… and someone wants to rest…. EVENTUALLY…. we all come together.

Puppy photos to explain life … some of you will note that this is my boys about three years ago when they were truly cute puppies.

Quote

Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success.

Henry Ford

Regards,

Karlene.