Keeping In Touch 18 March 2022
Welcome to another edition to KIT. NEW CONTENT
Upcoming Events: Cake Day
Wednesday 23 March
Bowel Cancer Awareness May
International Midwives Day Thursday 5 May
International Nurses Day Thursday 12 May
Keeping In Touch is a newsletter for you. We would like to invite all caregivers to submit ideas, stories, photos and feedback to share. We know you’re all doing fabulous work - tell us about it! It’s easy! Just drop an email to: Tanjeela.chowdhury@sjog.org. au or GLMarketing@sjog.org.au
Celebrating St John of God Day - Tuesday 8 March
A huge thank you to our caregivers who helped make St John of God Feast Day an immense success! It was wonderful to see every one enjoying the paella brought in especially for our caregivers! This day was made even more special as two caregivers were recognised for their commitment to our Hospital and the Geelong community. Caregiver of the Year was awarded to Kellie Carracher and the Consumer Advisory Group’s Caregiver Achievement Award was awarded to Mariann Dalli. Kudos to Kellie and Dalli for their achievements!
Face-to-Face Hospital Orientation resumes! We were excited to resume face to face orientation sessions last week with 15 new caregivers attending the day. New caregivers brought with them a diverse range of skills and experiences from other industries, healthcare organisations, states and even other countries. All presenters really enjoyed returning to face-toface delivery so they could engage more personally with the audience. We hope our new caregivers enjoyed the session and we welcome them to our Geelong team!
Gift Shop re-opening
Easter Raffle
The Hospital Gift shop will be reopening on Monday 21st March, Mon-Fri 10am-4pm We are happy to announce the reopening of our Gift Shop after many months of restrictions and being unable to have our wonderful Auxiliary team members on site. Managers please share this information with patients in case they wish to purchase any items from the shop. The team also delivers any purchases up to the rooms and an EFTPOS machine is available for payments.
The Auxiliary Easter raffle is on again this year! Yay! The Easter hamper is displayed in the main reception foyer - have a sneak peak into all the goodies that have been assembled by the Auxiliary team. Tickets are available for purchase via Exec Admin office - $2 each or 3 for $5. Cash and EFTPOS accepted. All money raised goes to purchase of cuddle bed. Raffle drawn on Wednesday 13th April.
Patient Therapeutic Resource Music therapy at the click of a button! VIDEO CHANNEL 104
Peter Roberts needs no introduction here at St John of God. His music has echoed through our hospital corridors for years, and now patients and available their families can access The Night Song Video is a therapeutic resource for patients onPeter’s music at the tip of their fingers. Our Hospital television channel 104 plays his beautiful Hospital 104,toproviding music beautiful natural calming music Channel 24/7. Be sure share this relaxing message with yourand patients!
scenery to enhance patient experience and well-being.
Did you know? Peter is generously donating his time playing his harp in the hospital for the Song,acreated bywatch Peter Roberts and filmmaker Farshid Akhlaghi, will next Playing month! of DoNight not miss chance to him play... play continually on the hospital channel providing patients with a gentle distraction, sense of peace and relaxation in their day. Mr Mitchell - Greg was a much loved and highly respected General and Breast Surgeon in Geelong forare over 30 years he made a significant contribution to service development There many ways and a music/imagery video such as this can be helpful for patients: and delivery at St John of God Geelong Hospital. Rest in peace Mr Mitchell. Patients experiencing anxiety and stress in the hospital environment.
Vale Gregory Mitchell
Patients admitted for surgery in the time waiting to be taken into Theatre. Elderly patients who need the reassurance of their Nursing Caregiver’s presence could be offered the video for distraction and comfort. This would also assist the caregiver who could be feeling stressed at the many demands on their time. Patients receiving end of life care and their families, prior to and post death. Research indicates listening to calming music and viewing nature can be uplifting and in some cases decrease self-reported pain, anxiety, blood pressure etc. Patients may need initial assistance in locating Hospital Channel 104, but once connected the video will run continuously until switched off.
Caregiver Benefits Program
We are in the process of revamping and updating our Caregiver Benefits Program, and will soon offer a variety of discounts and offers from local businesses to our caregivers! Keep a watch out on CORA for some very exciting things.... Meanwhile, we have free Family Swim passes from Geelong City Council to give away to caregivers. Please collect your pass from Executive Administation with our gratitude. This Family Swim pass is for 2 adults and 3 children
Return of Volunteers
It is very nice to see the gradual return of our wonderful team of volunteers in the hospital. They have certainly been missed by our caregivers and patients alike! This week we saw the return of our Meet & Greet Main Reception Volunteers, and from the 15th of March, Day Oncology Patient Transport Drivers will return. On Monday 21st March, the following groups will return: • • • • • •
Surgery Centre – Patient support & Clerical Pre Admissions – Clerical Level 4 Day Stay, Patient Support Koala Cove – Parent Companions BCORE – Clerical Pharmacy – Clerical
Jade Bone our Volunteer Coordinator will be in contact with Managers to let them know when their volunteers will return. Kindly reach out to Jade if you have any questions.
Appointment of Senior HR Business Partner
This week we were delighted to welcome Kelly Gray to our hospital in the role of Senior HR Business Partner. Kelly moved to Geelong last year looking for a post lockdown sea change. Kellie and her pet dog Bullet settled down in Breamlea and when a maternity relief position recently come to an end, we were fortunate to have been able to recruit Kelly.
Kelly has recently been working as a HR professional providing strategic advice in a variety of industries. Kelly is passionate about the employee experience and is looking forward to the new challenge of working with us here in health care.
Hospitality Workers in Healthcare Day - Monday 7 March We celebrated Hospitality Workers in Health Care Day on Monday 7 March. This is an initiative of the Institute of Hospitality in Health Care to celebrate and recognise the great work of our support services teams.
We couldn’t be the best at what we do without you supporting us!
Reconciliation for Action initiative
The Reconciliation for Action Committee are pleased to announce NITV (National Indigenous Television) is now part of the hospital television video channels. NITV broadcasts programmes produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Patients can tune in to Channel 34 to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country’s First Nations peoples.
Your Caregiver Advisory Council - EOI
Are you passionate about bringing positive changes to the workplace? Then this is for you… The Caregiver Advisory Council [CAC] provides an avenue for communication allowing caregivers to share their input and providing a forum to suggest improvements to the Hospital Management Committee. The CAC actively participates in enhancing caregiver engagement, welfare and communication. Some of the Council 2021 initiatives include: • •
Reinstatement of Cake Day Hospital Music Videos - R.E.S.P.E.C.T. - ‘I can see clearly now’ • Christmas Hamper inspiration • Christmas decorations, including Elf on Shelf • ‘Taking Care of You’ - COVID correspondence
We are currently looking for members to join our team. Send your EOI and any ideas or suggestions to GLMarketing@sjog.org.au.
St Patrick’s Day - Thursday 17 March The three leaves of a shamrock are said to stand for; Faith, Hope and Love. A fourth leaf is where we get the luck from. The four-leafed clover, or “lucky clover”, is an uncommon variation of the three-leafed clover, and widely considered to be a symbol of good luck. Our caregivers wore green in celebration!
Caregiver of the Month - February 2022 Big CONGRATULATIONS to Jacinta McGregor from our 3 North team on receiving the Caregiver of the Month award! “Awaiting comment from Mara re: Jacinta”
If one of your team members is going the extra mile - put your nomination in by the end of the month to GLExecAdmin@sjog.org.au. The nomination form can be found on CORA.
Back pats
Simon said: 5 stars
On Friday I took my mother into SJOG ED because she was suffering from stroke like symptoms. Her care in the ED was outstanding. She was met at the door by the ED team who did a quick assessment, had her CT B and MRI perfusion scan within 90 minutes! I couldn’t go into hospital with her because of covid but got regular updates from the staff there, which is fantastic when you’re worried your mum is having a stroke! As a medical professional myself, I was extremely impressed with how smoothly everything went for mum and extremely grateful to all the staff for their hard work! What a great team!
What our patients had to say about us this week... CCU
Patient feedback Cardiac ward care was excellent. Best hospital. Thanks for your care. Please convey my thanks to all nurses, kitchen staff and Colleen the cleaner. Such a cheerful, caring group which makes me know that the team leaders are supportive of their staff.
ED
Patient feedback
I was seen quickly by doctor/ nurse, tests done quickly and I was well looked after by the emergency nurses :) Nurse Emma was so lovely and took great care of me while I was unwell in emergency, Thankyou :) All the staff were amazing, Thankyou so much for my care.
NPS 2 North
Patient feedback
Very helpful cheerful staff All staff, nurses, cleaners, kitchen staff were always very kind. Meals were beautiful .
3 East
Patient feedback Staff fantastic. Very caring and working under trying conditions with Covid-19. My main nurse Kate was so lovely and caring. She did a great job. My last nurse Mick, also a perfect personality for nursing was attentive and caring. All in all my visit was short this time and I have no complaints. Great job by all.
MONDAY
ACTION FOR HAPPINESS
Mindful March 2022
WEDNESDAY THURSDAY
Happier · Kinder · Together
TUESDAY FRIDAY SATURDAY SUNDAY