Project supports end-of-life choice in aged care

An innovative new project has started in Metro North to help improve people’s choice around end-of-life care in aged care facilities.

Community and Oral Health Community Palliative Care Staff Specialist Dr Bill Lukin said our Specialist Palliative Care in Aged Care (SPACE) Project aimed to improve access to specialist palliative care and better coordination of end of life care for nursing home residents.

3-2-1 … Our corporate polos are go!

Get in before tax time to secure your Official Community and Oral Health polo featuring the Better Together artwork.

And yes, you can claim it on tax as the polo shirt is an officially recognised uniform for Metro North Health.

You can order online until the 30 June, with shirts costing $35.75 each, plus postage.

Online ordering at Metro North Hospital and Health Service – Dezigna

Artwork story – The Warmth of Community

The artwork shows the top area as the sunset over the patients’ lives, and also represents the workers bringing warmth to patients.
I had chosen the green in the background as part of the journey.

Along the green area you will notice many markings from the wavy lines to the ups and downs of health, through to footprints,
dots and lineart that all show the walks of ones journey of better health.

The circles represent the community health centres and can also be the homes of patients.
Different tones and styles represent different illnesses.

The grey line running between each circle represents the roads or journey.
The pathways show a connection to all facilities with different colours and markings.

Shining the light on our nurses

A big congratulations to our Metro North Health Nursing Awards finalists Jacqueline White, Maria Podger and Cindy Bell.

And, not forgetting all of the winners of our local Community and Oral Health Nursing Awards for 2021.

COH bed bonanza!

Our bedded and support services are ensuring the safety, quality and comfort of our patients and staff remains the highest priority for Community and Oral Health.

In the past few months planning for the replacement of over 120 beds across (approximately one million dollars) has been underway and now the mammoth task of coordinating bed replacement has begun.

A big thank you to our Clinical Assets Manager, COH finance team, Clinical Equipment Loan Services Officer and all our bedded services staff for their planning, participation and positivity.

Reconciliation celebrations

As part of Reconciliation Week 2021, we reinforced our commitment together to actively drive change and influence positive behaviour across our service lines, and to enhance the care we provide to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

While hosting one event will not change views or behaviours across our community, it is when we all try and understand and take action that we can change things for the better.

At the same time, our Oral Health colleagues at Clinic 2.1 at the Oral Health Centre also got in the spirit of reconciliation with this great display.

Brief the Chief @ North Lakes

Our Chief Executive Shaun Drummond was on hand to have an informal chat with staff this month, including our Community Palliative Care crew.

Welcome to our new nursing grads

We had the chance to catch up with our new Registered Nurse graduates for 2020/21 recently as they came together for some fun group training recently.

Our 14 graduates have been working across rotations in our bedded services at Zillmere, Brighton, Cooinda and Red Hill.

Aimee Bruckner, who finished her studies at the University of Southern Coast, was drawn to Community and Oral Health.

“It was my preferred option as I plan on working in a community clinic or setting once she completed the graduate year,” she said. “The staff here have gone out of the way to help and support me.”