Murdoch Monthly November 2022

A message from the CEO

On a related note, we have received a letter of appreciation from the WA Department of Health, thanking us for our continued efforts in keeping the community safe throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. See the letter on page 18.

Recruitment

Welcome to the November Murdoch Monthly!

Covid-19

As community COVID cases increase, we are experiencing a steady rise in furloughed caregivers and positive patients.

Our priority is to protect you and our patients, so please remember to:

• Not come to work if you are sick; including Christmas events

• Wear a mask in clinical settings

• Practice excellent hand hygiene

• Be conscious of protecting yourself when outside the hospital

• Get your vaccine booster if you are eligible

The situation continues to be very dynamic. We have plans prepared should we need to increase infection control measures.

Recruitment of new caregivers continues to be a key priority. The pandemic has triggered a global workforce upheaval and Murdoch is not immune; we have needed to recruit caregivers and fill gaps on an ongoing basis. I am very pleased with how Murdoch has responded to this need, through our Jobsfest and other recruitment avenues.

In the last year, we have recruited 1100 caregivers. This is a lot of new people, so we have invested millions of dollars into extra LOD to support them.

In October, St John of God Health Care wrapped up a month-long recruitment visit in the UK. We interviewed hundreds of UK candidates, and we expect a good number of those will become Murdoch recruits in the coming months.

International recruitment efforts continue, with advertising launched in New Zealand earlier this month. St John of God representatives will be in New Zealand promoting the benefits of working with us and interviewing, early December.

Excellent patient experience achievement

Big congratulations to the

Cancer Centre who achieved a consecutive 12 months with a Patient Experience Survey score of over 80. This is testament to the consistently outstanding level of care our amazing cancer centre caregivers provide. Well done to Marie and the team and welcome to Tanya O'Connor, who I know will continue that great work..

Christmas reminders

This year’s Christmas festivities are going to be bigger and better than ever! Starting with our Length of Service achievements on Monday 5 December for our caregivers who have reached a career milestone with us, and continuing on the Wednesday with the now world famous Caregiver Christmas Carnival. This is the best time of the year, so if you can, I encourage you to come down and enjoy the festivities by the lake.

Our Christmas decoration competition will be on Tuesday 6 December, where we will visit Departments which have decorated, see your amazing displays, and even sing you a Christmas carol or two. Christmas decorations always make such a big difference to morale of our caregivers and patients, so make sure you get decorating!

I look forward to seeing you all at the Caregiver Christmas Carnival on December 7, where I will be serving you a drinkie poo or two.

Take care, Ben

Our twelve caregivers of the months as well as two sneaky stand ins!

Reflection

Have you ever wondered how decisions are made at Murdoch?

Decisions are made through the SJGHC Mission Discernment framework.

What does this framework look like?

It contains discussion and reflection points that ensure good preparation and proper analysis of all perspectives.

Why is it called discernment?

Within the Catholic tradition, ‘discernment’ is a particular process that encourages leaders to put aside their own perspectives and personal preferences so they can engage in conversation with an open mind, resulting in outcomes that align with our mission.

How does mission fit in?

When do we use it?

For all important and/or difficult decisions, such as, but not limited to, service expansion and workforce issues; development of strategic and operational plans; allocation of resources and Board proposals.

Who uses it?

The Hospital Management Committee with co-opted caregivers and key leaders usually, but any caregiver group would benefit from its use.

Does it work?

Sometimes we discover the decision at the end is not as important as the discernment in the middle, and whilst not everyone agrees with every decision made, everyone agrees with the Mission Discernment process.

What is

Mission Discernment?

The way in which we ensure decisions are consistent with our mission and values.

Cover Story

Pictured on our cover is a group of incredibly resilient women

Jenny, pictured second to the left, is a breast cancer survivor. To her right is her daughter Sarah (a nurse in our ICU) and her granddaughter Annabelle.

Two years ago, Jenny had surgery for breast cancer and was given a “Zonta cushion” by Tania her Breast Care Nurse which had been designed by a member of the zonta group for comfort post-surgery. Jenny found the cushion to be invaluable and took upon herself to make her own version of the cushion to give other women facing breast cancer surgery

The cushion can be tucked under the arm to stop the arm rubbing

The questions included in the discernment framework ensure leaders discuss the Catholic Social teaching principles of maintaining the dignity of each person; shared and participatory decision-making; solidarity and common good; appropriate stewardship; and seeking to support the poor.

against the surgical incision sites which is particularly useful at night time as well as keeping the pressure off a seat belt when riding in a car.

Since she began making the pillows, Jenny has donated hundreds of these to our breast cancer patients at Murdoch and also taught her granddaughter Annabelle how to sew them too! Annabelle made some of the pillows as part of her community service hours at Santa Maria College.

Pictured on the far left, is our wonderful ICU/CCU ward clerk Toni, who has also made many breast care pillows and donated them to our patients.

The women in this photo share a hard, but special bond.

Sadly, Toni’s mother passed away after her breast cancer diagnosis. Sarah and Toni related with

Jenni Ashton

each other a lot during the hard times and helped each other through the journey by sharing experiences and advice with each other about their mothers. They were a real comfort to each other during these times, and still are to this day

By coming together, these amazing women, Toni, Jenny, Sarah, Annabelle and Breast Care Nurse Tania Norman, are making the journey for our breast cancer patients a bit more comfortable during a hard time in their lives, which makes a big difference.

We would also like to acknowledge our other very talented sewers and knitters who kindly donate their wonderful gifts for us to give to our breast cancer clients such as bags for drains and inserts for bra (bra buddies).

Patient Experience Matters

Murdoch NPS for OCTOBER

Hospital Score 81

Ward Cardio Cath Lab 100

Murdoch patients are saying:

Comment 1: St Michael’s

Good service, helpful and friendly staff. Nothing was an issue. Everything was explained and they were very helpful.

Comment 2: St Francis

Everyone I had contact with, from my surgeon to the hospital staff, were extremely helpful and understanding and made my short stay at SJOG very pleasant.

Comment 3: ICU

The nurses that cared for me in ICU were Natalie, Joffin and Helen. They were amazing and very attentive to my needs. The care they gave to me was fantastic and they truly are wonderful at their job.

heros

Caregiver of the Month

Caregiver of the Month for September: Kiara Cleal Registered Nurse St Elizabeth ward

Kiara’s nomination stood out to us not only because it came with a photo, but it showed a willingness to think outside the box and organise something that made a huge difference to her patient’s wellbeing. And of course it reminded us of what it feels like when caregivers embody the core values of the organisation and the foundational beliefs of the Sisters, who lived the principle that “it’s the little things that matter.”

Kiara was nominated by her Manager Cheryl who told this story:

“Kiara came to me last week and asked if it would be ok if she organised for her patients’ wife to bring his dog onto the hospital grounds, and if she could take him down stairs to visit his dog by the pond. This patient was moving to a different ward that afternoon with surgery planned and she wanted to be able to do this for him before he left as he was very sad and missing his dog. Kiara gave him the coordinator phone number and told him to ring her up from the pond when he was ready to come back to the ward. Our lovely patient cried when he saw his dog, and was so appreciative,

he wanted this picture taken. Kiara is our little Miss Sunshine on the ward. She has a tone and a manner that means you can tell she is always smiling under her mask. She has a natural ability to connect with her patients and provide personalised care and attention, as well as being clinically an excellent nurse and a great support to her colleagues“

Living our vision, mission and values

Catering caregiver, Alison Walker was among an incredibly high calibre of nominees across St John of God Healthcare for the Jennifer Stratton Scholarship recently. Alison’s nomination by colleagues speaks volumes about her character and her commitment to living

and breathing our vision, mission and values. Below is just a snippet of the glowing nomination. Congratulations, Alison!

“There is not a caregiver in Murdoch who has not been a recipient of Alison's kindness, warm hello, and when needed, guidance and support. Alison

is often the first to organise fundraising activities in her own time for our Charity of the year and Christmas Hampers for those impacted by homelessness.

She keeps a careful maternal eye on the catering team and in particular is extra helpful to those for whom English is a second language.”

Pink Day

On Fridays, we wear PINK!

We turned the hospital pink on 28 October, to raise awareness and funds for Breast Cancer Care WA.

Through kind donations and a raffle, caregivers and patients raised over $5700.

It was so great to see wards and departments getting into the pink spirit.

Congratulations to Thomas Furlong, Bridget Clancy and St Joseph’s who won the award for best ward decorations. Well done to Raechelle on St Rose ward who won best dressed.

Hello Rebecca,

I am a patient in St. Rose Ward at SJOG Murdoch. I saw your lovely introduction notice in my room and just wanted to send you a quick email.

I am in awe of the amazing staff and their meticulous care here. And I had to write to you and thank you.

I was so overwhelmed coming into hospital now, as an old problem resurfaced. I was in the Mount Hospital for 5 months last year (not consecutively- broken up in weeks at a time), and on a pic line for 7 months, for a chronic infection affecting spinal surgery.

The staff here have been so supportive, caring and meticulous. I have never received such professional, compassionate and dedicated care before. My tears were/are always met with such warm care and I feel so safe and positive as a result.

I have spent lots of time at Bethesda Hospital and the Mount Hospital, and can confidently say SJOG Hospital (St Rose Ward) deserve both gold and platinum medals for their service.

If there's anything I can do for St. Rose Ward, please let me know. I would like to give back in any small way... just want to do something as a token of my appreciation.

Thank you so much Rebecca. I remain humbled, grateful and blown away by all the staff here.

Last but not least, I am so very grateful for the amazing food served here. I have a very poor appetite because of this relentless infection, but have been able to eat all the amazing food here. I am even addicted to the Crème Bruleè dessert served, and order it every day for lunch and dinner.

I have ticked every box (metaphorically), and I still need more boxes to tick! SJOG Murdoch is just simply "out-of-this-world".

In summation, I would like to acknowledge staff that have gone above and beyond in their service. Sorry I do not know their surnames.

Nurses: Jennifer, Nicole, Dorcus, Loren

Nurse Assistants: Sharon, Dee

My kindest regards, Bernice Porter

A Murdoch influencer has entered the chat

Introducing… our newest managers

Caro Maffescioni joins us as Nurse Manager of Endoscopy.

including Patient Flow Manager, Nurse Manager St Rose's and Nurse Manager Anaesthetics/Recovery.

Q: What do you love most about nursing?

A: Flexibility, patients and my colleagues! I have been at Murdoch since 2001 and it’s all because of the people.

Q: Something many of us may not know about you?

A: We took a 9-week family holiday last year camping up north spending time in the Kimberley. Completing the Gibb River Road was a big highlight and a tick off my bucket list.

Q: Emoji that best represents you?

A: Cup of tea emoji!

Q: If you weren’t a nurse, you would be…?

A: A professional organiser or a florist.

Q: Greatest piece of advice for nursing colleagues?

A: Learn the basic skills first and then take any opportunity that is given to you.

Caro has over 20 years’ experience as a Registered Nurse at SJOG Murdoch. During this time, she has worked in a number of senior leadership positions

Q: Netflix or novel – which do you prefer? Any recommendations?

A: I’d say Netflix, or Stan, or Disney… Just watched ‘The patient’ and ‘Wrexham’ on Disney and loved them both.

Officially welcoming Tracey to the Admissions team

Following the successful appointment of our substantive Admissions Manager – Debbie Hoddy – to the Centralised Admissions Manager role, we recently advertised for a replacement both internally and externally with a number applications received.

I am pleased to announce Tracey Forbes-Ekholm was successful in the permanent appointment of Admissions Manager for Murdoch Hospital.

Tracey has been acting in this position for over 18 months and has navigated the team through the changing landscape of COVID restrictions, new online portals and Informed Financial Consents and the integration of the Shared Services Admissions Project.

We are excited to see Tracey lead her team into the next journey for Hospital based Admission Services and we look forward to working with you all to help achieve service excellence for our patients and our hospital team alike.

Introducing… our newest managers

Rebecca English joins us as Nurse Manager of St Rose, having most recently been manager of 3rd floor rehabilitation at St John of God Mount Lawley Hospital.

Q: What do you love most about nursing?

A: I love the diversity of the role, and the fact that no two days are the same.

I enjoy interacting with my patients, and seeing them progress through their hospital journey.

Q: Something many of us may not know about you?

A: I’m pretty boring – a great day is a day at home pottering in the garden and talking to my dogs (and kids)!! I love getting out of the city.

Q: Netflix or novel – which do you prefer? Any recommendations?

A: A bit of both. If I get enthralled by a novel or Netflix program, I can’t be stopped and will finish it in no time. I like all sorts of genres, crime, romance, Australiana, comedy, dystopian… not horror. I’m looking for recommendations.

Q: Emoji that best represents you?

A: The smiling face with open hands – I use this a lot – mostly to show warm, positive feelings of thanks.

Q: If you weren’t a nurse, you would be…?

A: I don’t know – I think I was always going to be a nurse. I was forever looking after littler kids when I was a kid, and have a compassionate soul. If

not a nurse – I would like to be pottering around a few acres with some chooks and some more dogs!

Q: Greatest piece of advice for nursing colleagues?

A: Look after each other, your colleagues will be the ones that see you through some great highs and lows at work, and become like a second family.

Don’t let the gown get you down

An important message from

Annette Brown, Manager Housekeeping Services

Patients that need to wear a patient gown feel more exposed, uncomfortable, embarrassed and disempowered. As we all know, it is our responsibility to help patients through their hospital journey, feeling heard and cared for.

Over the past 20 years at least, patient gowns have constantly evolved and the ‘one-size-fits-all’ has become the norm, with ties, studs and buttons, which

unfortunately do not last the constant washing cycles.

It is an important focus for us that our linen services provide gowns, which can stand the laundering process.

Do your part!

If you notice a gown has been damaged, is missing ties, studs, buttons, is worn or damaged, please place it into the PINK REJECT bags. These will be repaired or replaced.

Hospice Happy Hour

The Murdoch Community Hospice now offers a drink to patients each Friday, during their happy hour.

Front line caregivers at the St John of God Murdoch Community Hospice identified that a glass of cider, beer or wine - when permitted by the treating doctor - would provide a morale boost for some patients.

Several of our palliative care patients enjoyed a drink late October, when the drinks trolley made its very first round.

St John of God Murdoch Hospital CEO Ben Edwards said the positive effect this had on patients was immediate.

“The feedback has been outstanding, with people uplifted by the opportunity to partake in something ‘normal’ which brought them joy,” Ben said.

The Hospice Thrive Council, whose members meet once a month to work on patient experience projects, initiated this idea.

“These members are the experts in their respective areas and are in the best position to inform changes and make sustainable, successful improvements like the Hospice happy hour, for our patients,” Ben said.

Hospice Nurse Unit Manager

Occupational Therapy

Meet Ronelle and Emily - our Occupational Therapists here at St John of God Murdoch Hospital. A highly valued part of the Allied Health team, located on the Lower Ground Floor in Admin 2.

In late October, we celebrated and recognised the genuine difference our Occupational Therapists make on patients in so many aspects of their lives.

Here are some common ways Occupational Therapists help

patients, every single:

• Teach new ways to perform daily tasks

• Demonstrate how to use assistive technology

• Create daily routines that promote independence

• Show strengthening and stretching exercises, and so much more!

Jessica Wirrell said the project has been in the works for a while and will see an uplift in positivity for some patients.

“Our Thrive team were so dedicated in getting this project off the ground and did a wonderful job bringing it to life.”

Patients who request an alcohol beverage must be signed off by their doctor first, and can then be prescribed one standard drink during the happy hour service.

A number of Hospice caregivers and volunteers, as well as CEO Ben Edwards, completed their Responsible Service of Alcohol (RSA) Certificate for the initiative

Murdoch Strategic Research awards

Five research teams have been awarded a Murdoch Strategic Research Grant to support their research projects.

The Murdoch Strategic Research Committee and aim to broaden caregiver research participation and support the development of new lines of research through these Research Grants.

Research Grants are supported by donations, which are held in the Murdoch Research Gift Fund and organised by the St John of God Foundation.

Committee Chair, Director of Medical Services Dr Andrew Wesseldine, described the grants as an important opportunity to grow the reputation of the hospital for caregiver-led research.

“The funded projects align with the strategy to build research capacity and support excellence in patient care,” said Dr Wesseldine.

“I anticipate significant growth in applications for the strategic research grants in the years ahead.”

Night duty happenings!

Have you ever wondered what the Security Team get up to at night? Check out Pete having a laugh with our Inside Health magazine!

The projects which have been awarded funding and their associated research teams are:

Integrating Occupational Therapy to support a multidisciplinary approach to pressure injury prevention at St John of God Murdoch Hospital.

Investigators: Emily Falconer, Ellen Feeney and Liz Gomez Assessment of the implementation of an evidencebased sepsis recognition and management protocol at the St John of God Murdoch Emergency Department.

Investigators: Dr Julie Dockerty and Dr Katherine Mackie Evaluation of a Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) educational program for health care professionals working in a large Western Australian Catholic health care organisation: a sequential mixed method study.

Investigators: Prof. Leanne Monterosso, Tara Peters, Louise Angus, Alexis Cranfield

Consumer preference regarding the value of a surrogate-decision maker and an additional medical practitioner when consenting for incapacitated patients to different types of medical research.

Investigators: A/Prof. Adrian Regli, Prof. Leanne Monterosso, Annamaria Palermo, Prof. Caroline Bulsara

Service analysis & impact of Music Therapy on caregivers in high pressure hospital environments.

Investigators: Giuseppe Reina, Jacqueline Ellison, Liz Gomez

Find out more about Murdoch Research projects here: https://bit.ly/murdoch-research

Clinical Midwifery Specialists

St Mary’s has two new Clinical Nurse Specialist roles, undertaken by Sarah Sheehan and Sara Veness.

“This is a new role for us and I am extremely excited by this new addition to the Maternity team,” DDON - Inpatient Services Wendy Singleton said.

This role includes:

• The provision of leadership

• Clinical performance monitoring

• Policy review and development

• Development and delivery of clinical education

• Implementing change to

clinical practice

• Initiating quality and risk improvements

• Specialist clinical care consultation

The role is also here to provide support to all midwives and the manager of midwifery services to ensure patient centred care is provided to achieve optimal patient outcomes.

The purpose of introducing this role is not to work clinically on the floor, or have a patient load. It is to support with team leader duties in birth suite as needed and to assess sick/high-risk women and babies in birth suite, the ward or in the nursery.

Congratulation to Sarah and Sara on their appointment into these positions.

A message from the Fremantle Street Doctors to our hospital

Hi Jennifer and Staff, Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.

That was an amazing gesture from you and your amazing colleagues.

We took a couple of photos, and this was the best one.

Sorry as I am sure you understand, we could not get any patients in the picture, so it will have to do with me and the Nurse Practitioner, Connie.

Again, a BIG thank you.

If ever any of your staff are in Freo and want to visit one of the clinics you are most welcome, just call me.

Better still if any of you want to be a Nurse Volunteer, we would welcome you with open arms.

Thank you for this and all that you special people do. Stay safe.

A Gift of Hope makes treatment possible for mother battling cervical cancer

A Gift of Hope is a gift of financial support provided to in-need Australians with life-threatening conditions such as cancer. For patients who are struggling to afford the best treatment for their cancer, a donor-funded Gift of Hope can be life-changing.

Sarah*, a young mother of three, has a rare subtype of cervical cancer that has spread through her abdomen.

Promising new research suggests that some cervical cancer patients can go into full remission with new immunotherapy treatments that are being used to treat other cancers such as melanoma. However, as this research is so recent, it will likely take years before the treatment will be funded by the government in Australia for this condition, leaving patients like Sarah with large out-of-pocket expenses.

Associate Professor Kynan Feeney, St John of God Murdoch Hospital’s Head of Cancer Services, says that this is a common difficulty with new cancer treatments.

“I trained as an Oncologist 15 years ago. During that time, immunotherapy was just a dream, gene therapy emerging in a few select conditions, and nothing was known about possible cures using these therapies.

In the space of less than two decades, treatment for cancer is now looking at curing previously

incurable cancers, treating conditions we couldn’t even previously treat, and all with less toxic therapies.

“One of the difficulties with these new treatments, however, is that they can initially be unfunded by the government due to the time it takes for government to approve drugs for funding. This is where Gifts of Hope make a difference.”

A/Prof Feeney has seen firsthand how a Gift of Hope can help patients like Sarah to access treatments that might otherwise be out of reach, bringing hope when patients may have

exhausted all other treatment options.

“This treatment will give Sarah a chance to see her children grow up, a chance of life. Even if it doesn’t guarantee remission, it provides hope, a hope based on the possibility of a great outcome in a person who has a lot of life left to live and whom might otherwise not be given this chance. So it is a real Gift of Hope.”

To learn more about Gifts of Hope, please contact the Foundation team on foundation@sjog.org.au

*Not her real name

World Stop Pressure Injury Day

This important day is recognised on November 17 each year.

The objective of Worldwide Pressure Injury Prevention Day is to increase awareness about pressure injury prevention and to educate the public on this topic.

Thank you to Kate Williams from Molnlycke who presented a display outside the caregiver dining room, which gave caregivers a chance to brush up on their pressure injury knowledge!

Sarah-Jayne Powell Director of Nursing

St John of God Murdoch

Via: sarah-jayne.powell@sjog.org.au

Dear Sarah-Jayne, THANK YOU

The last few years have been unprecedented not only for the Department of Health, but for the wider Western Australian community. During this time, the State Health Incident Coordination Centre (SHICC) has relied on the support and expertise of an extraordinary number of stakeholders in managing the State’s successful response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In this time of final transition, SHICC is progressively transferring ongoing functions to the relevant areas within Health. As always, the Department of Health will continue to be contactable via pre existing channels as the need arises.

I would like to express my gratitude for the dedication and efforts of you and your staff. The contributions have been of immense benefit to the Western Australian community and I look forward to our continued partnership with you as we continue to learn to live with COVID 19 in our community.

Please pass on my personal thanks to your staff and their families for their support during the COVID 19 response and into the future

Sincerely, Dr Tudor Codreanu Incident Controller

State Health Incident Coordination Centre

Department of Health 3 November 2022

189 Royal Street East Perth Western Australia 6004 Telephone (08) 9222 4222 TTY 133 677 PO Box 8172 Perth Business Centre Western Australia 6849 ABN 28 684 750 332 www.health.wa.gov.au

Dragon boat racing

Some of our Murdoch caregivers and their children joined the Perth United Malayalee Association Inc. dragon boat race on 22 October at Champion Lakes Regatta Centre. This was the third boat race organised by

PUMA Inc. and the first one for the women’s teams.

The St John of God Murdoch Hospital Malayalee team won third prize and received a $250 cash prize and trophy.

Greety Joseph from Theatres lead the team and Sujith Abraham from St Joseph ward. Raveesh John from St Rose ward managed the team.