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Hello NurseWatch Family, Community and New Clients,
Welcome to NurseWatch Healthcare. I hope this finds you and your loved ones safe and in good health. Please take a couple of minutes to read our COVID-19 information announcement.
Our purpose at NurseWatch is to care for people and allow them to be their best. It is that simple, and it is the centre of everything we do. With the recent unsettling times, NurseWatch looks into the future and towards COVID-19 (coronavirus) management and recovery.
NurseWatch wants to help you experience the joy of our holistic health care with a stronger presence on safety and wellbeing. We have taken comprehensive measures to implement guidelines as directed by the Australian Government Department of Health Guidelines.
If you are a new client we respectfully request you to follow our 5 step process:
1. Download the COVid-19 App
The Australian Government has released an app to help in contact tracing people who may have been exposed to COVID-19. The COVIDSafe app helps find close contacts of COVID-19 cases by utilising your smartphone’s Bluetooth capabilities to determine whether you have been in close physical contact with someone who has tested positive to COVID-19. COVIDSafe is completely voluntary.
2. Read and understand the Public Health Order, ‘What you Must Do Under New Coronavirus Rules’, dated 6 July 2020: https://www.health.nsw.gov.au/Infectious/diseases/Documents/easy-read-pho-directions.pdf
3. If you feel unwell, please click on the symptom checker tool link below and follow the prompts:
• https://www.healthdirect.gov.au/symptom-checker/tool
4. The latest Australian Government Information: As socially responsible citizens, it is important that we keep abreast of the daily updates of each respective state. The link below provides current updates.
5. Welcoming New Clients to join the NurseWatch Community.
Please contact our office on 02-9331 3344 to book a health consultation with one of our Health Concierge Clinicians.
NURSEWATCH HEALTHCARE RESOURCES
All resources supplied are available in different languages, however, are defaulted to English. Please follow prompts on website to preferred language
To assist you please refer to government links below:
• Older Persons COVID-19 Support Line Phone 1800 171 866 open 8.30 am - 6.00pm weekdays (AEST) free of charge. Supported by COTA, Dementia Australia, National Seniors Australia, OPAN and the Australian Government Department of Health https://www.facebook.com/opanaus/videos/704485933707079/
• General Information: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-resources
• Advice for people who are at greater risk: risk: https://www.health.gov.au/resources/collections/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-resources
• Understanding COVID-19: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BtN-goy9VOY&feature=youtu.be
• Understanding the difference between a Pandemic, Epidemic-endemic and an Outbreak: https://intermountainhealthcare.org/blogs/topics/live-well/2020/04/whats-the-difference-between-a-pandemic-an-epidemic-endemic-and-an-outbreak/
• WHO (World Health Organisation) Information: https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019 & https://www.who.int/emergencies/diseases/novel-coronavirus-2019/advice-for-public/myth-busters
EXISTING CLIENTS:
For our existing clients, your Health Concierge Clinician has been in touch to discuss your personalised healthcare journey through COVID-19, with NurseWatch practice of policy and procedure recommendations guided by the Australian Government.
As each of our client’s healthcare journey is individual, please find below information and resources.
YOUR WELLBEING:
Throughout the COVID-19 recovery phase and beyond, NurseWatch will continue to provide and manage your individual care needs, safety and wellbeing. Your holistic healthcare will continue to be provided through our premium services and LiveitUp® Model of Care.
If you require further information regarding our COVID-19 approach, please refer to Beyond Blue website and ’10 Ways to Look After Yourself’. An excellent resource.
• Beyond Blue Telephone: 1800 512 348
NURSEWATCH HEALTHCARE COMMUNITY:
For our LGBTI Community:
• https://www.acon.org.au/what-we-are-here-for/covid19/
Positive Life NSW – Getting practical about COVID-19 and HIV:https://www.positivelife.org.au/latest-news/covid19-resources.html
• Or phone (02) 9206 2000 or 1800 063 060 for confidential counselling
ACON/naphwa/ashm/afao: Making sense of COVID-19 – LGBTIQ and HIV communities:https://www.acon.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/AFAO-NAPWHA-ASHM-Fact-Sheet-COVID-19-9-March-2020_ACON.pdf
For our Trans and gender diverse people:
TransHub – Australia’s first digital information/resource platform for trans and gender diverse people in NSW, their families, and health providers. Created by trans people, for trans people. This is their COVID-19 specific information: https://www.transhub.org.au/covid19
For our Cognitive Impairment Community:
• https://www.safetyandquality.gov.au/our-work/cognitive-impairment/cognitive-impairment-and-covid-19
Dementia :
Dementia Australia – Coronavirus – tips for people living with dementia: https://www.dementia.org.au/sites/default/files/helpsheets/DA_COVID19_Helpsheet_04_PLWD-v2.pdf
For our Community languages/CALD community:
https://www.sbs.com.au/language/coronavirus
Disability : Disability Information Helpline: 1800 643 787
Council for Intellectual Disability – Easy-read coronavirus information:https://cid.org.au/covid-19/
Australian Department of Health – information for family, carers and health workers supporting people with disability during the COVID-19 pandemic:https://www.health.gov.au/news/health-alerts/novel-coronavirus-2019-ncov-health-alert/advice-for-people-at-risk-of-coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-covid-19-advice-for-people-with-disability
The Growing Space – COVID-19 hub: www.thegrowingspace.com.au/covid19/
For our Carers:
CarerHelp – COVID-19 information and resources for carers: factsheets and infographics with practical information, pointers, and resources. The resources discuss how to care for a person at home and hospital, as well as arranging funerals and managing grief. Pointers on using telehealth to consult with a health professional, and selecting trustworthy online information are also presented:https://www.carerhelp.com.au/tabid/6001/Default.aspx
For our Families:
Health Consumers NSW have developed a guide to support families when visiting their loved one.
Wearing Masks:
Wear a mask if it is hard to maintain 1.5 metres of physical distance from others. Also wear a mask if you have symptoms and are seeking medical advice, or if you are in isolation in the same room as another person.
Video produced by the Australian Department of Health
https://publish.viostream.com/play/bfxgwognhhfmnn
https://www.nsw.gov.au/covid-19/face-masks?mc_cid=76d9c3ba0a&mc_eid=%5bUNIQID%5d
Mask Wearing Fact Sheet:
Masks are increasingly being recommended within Australia as well as globally. In some areas they are now mandatory. But it is important to understand why many of us with trauma histories may be triggered when we are asked to wear a mask, or even when we see them. An excellent resource.
https://www.blueknot.org.au/Resources/Fact-Sheets/face-masks-and-complex-trauma
INFORMATION FOR SPECIFIC HEALTH CONDITIONS:
Cancer
Cancer Council NSW – Cancer and COVID-19 hub:https://www.cancercouncil.com.au/get-support/covid-19/
Bowel Cancer Australia – COVID-19 & Bowel Cancer:https://www.bowelcanceraustralia.org/media-centre/covid-19-bowel-cancer
American Prostate Cancer Foundation: https://www.pcf.org/covid-19/
Kidney health
Kidney Health Australia – COVID-19 and dialysis, transplants etc:https://kidney.org.au/about-us/news/coronavirus-covid-19
Palliative Care:
COVID-19 Resources for Carers; Information for anyone caring for a person at end of life during COVID-19 pandemic – factsheets:https://www.carerhelp.com.au/tabid/6001/Default.aspx
Heart disease
Australian Heart Foundation – COVID-19 and heart disease, all you need to know:https://campaigns.heartfoundation.org.au/covid-19/
Australian Heart Research Institute – COVID-19 and heart health:www.hri.org.au/health/your-health/lifestyle/covid-19-and-heart-health
Smoking
iCanQuit – COVID-19 and smoking FAQ:www.icanquit.com.au/reasons-to-quit/covid-19-and-tobacco-smoking-faq
IF YOU ARE THINKING OF REMOVING YOUR LOVED ONE FROM THEIR PRESENT HOME IN A RESIDENTIAL AGED CARE FACILITY
We are happy to assist. Although we highly recommend you listen to OPAN Older Person's Advocacy Network webinair before making your final decision in consultation with your loved one.
If you would like to review the slides, please click on the link below
https://opan.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/OPAN-C19-W14-Graphics-190820.-HiRespdf.pdf
We understand that COVID-19 has created uncertainty in aged care and that you may think it appropriate to take your loved one out of their aged care home. If you or someone you know needs assistance or is considering this, call OPAN on 1800 700 600.
NURSEWATCH HEALTHCARE CUSTOMER ENQUIRIES:
• NurseWatch Healthcare front, middle and back office staff are working in ways that support social distancing. https://www.health.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/2020/03/coronavirus-covid-19-information-on-social-distancing.pdf. Due to the change in our working environment, we respectfully request that you are patient with your inquiries. If there is an emergency, please phone 000.
• NurseWatch Healthcare staff are working in ways to keep ourselves, colleagues, community, and clients safe. Our staff are 100% compliant with ISO 9001:2016 regulatory requirements.
If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me on +61448 885 201.
On behalf of our NurseWatch Healthcare family thank you for your support.
Kind regards
Kate Spurway, CEO
YOU'RE ALWAYS WELCOME AT NURSEWATCH HEALTHCARE
Need to book more than once? Not a problem, you can add the same package multiple times.
Once you complete the booking form simply click add Multi Care and add as many packages as you require at different or sequential times.
Efi Madentzoglou is a current student of APNA’s Transition to Practice Program and she says the program has been a great support for her work as she moves from being a new graduate in nursing to further study and working in primary care roles.
As Rebekah Cox, APNA’s Co-ordinator for the program says: “This is an exciting and growing area of nursing. The latest data shows that by 2050, 80% of care will be undertaken in the home.”
NurseWatch CEO, Kate Spurway, is mentoring Efi Madentzoglou who first completed her Bachelor of Health Science and is now completing her two year post-graduate Masters of Nursing. Part of her post-graduate course is APNA’s Transition to Practice Program.
Kate set up NurseWatch as an innovative aged care company but prior to this, she worked as a registered nurse for many years. She says she’s excited to be part of the Transition to Practice Program: “This is a fairly new course and an accelerated program. It’s basically bridging the gap between studying and practising nursing. Primary care is so different because it focuses on prevention rather than treatment. It’s the progressive arm of nursing.”
“The program aims to contribute to workforce development and sustainability by supporting nurses recently graduated and new to primary health care. The Transition to Practice Program aims to contribute to workforce development and sustainability by supporting nurses recently graduated and new to primary health care. This assists with workforce retention as well,” she adds.
Transition to Practice Program new and exciting
Efi says she’s benefiting greatly from all the extra learning and mentoring which comes with the program. She adds: “My study was very broad. I could have specialised in paediatrics, mental health, anaesthetics or general ward. I chose to focus on primary health care and community health and I know now, this is what I’m supposed to be doing.”
When asked how she became interested in this area she says: “I’ve always wanted to help people but I never really considered it before because uni was so ‘hospital’ oriented. But now that I’m doing it, I’m really enjoying it and curious to see where it takes me.”
She says the mentoring helps because she meets with Kate one day per week and they go through her aims and what she wants to achieve. “We might look at doing a course and reflect on how we can put the theory into practice,” she adds.
Moving to Palliative Care
As part of the Transition to Practice Program, Efi works one day a week with Holdsworth House Medical Centre and she also does a community placement with Westmead Hospital, PEPA Placement for her palliative care. As well, she meets with Kate for a mentoring session each week.
Her next step is to complete a community placement with hospitals in Palliative Care. She says she’s looking forward to working in Palliative Care but knows it won’t be easy: “Yes, I’ve talked to people from Palliative Care and they’ve told me they found it difficult at times – but so rewarding.”
So far, Efi is halfway through her course and she says: “The course goes through basic care and basic skills along with all the extra information you need. We went through this at the start of the uni course but it’s nice to have a refresher, intertwined with more advanced information.”
“I may do the Immunisation Course and I’ve already done the Vena Puncture Course,” she adds. “We did a three-day Conference in Adelaide where we got to connect with other Primary Health Care workers, along with companies that provide products and up-to-date evidence-based solutions to the evolving problems we’re seeing as the population is growing older. We saw wound-care management as well as some Diabetes clinics.”
Nurse 2022 Pledge – Valued. Visible. Respected.
Efi says one of the highlights of the course was getting to pledge to be part of the future of Primary Health Care nursing– the Nurse 2022 Pledge. As Efi says: “It’s really saying we’re going to promote our role as nurses and support our profession by expanding our scope of practice and at the same time, ensure we’re educated properly.”
“It’s about educating our patients at the same time. If they can learn what do, they can advocate for themselves and they can take charge of their own care. Then we can make the whole team work smoothly and everything’s connected properly. People become more in charge of their lives,” she adds.
Empowering people to get better themselves
The basic premise of primary health care is to empower people to get better and to help them learn how they can do this. This is also the basic premise of NurseWatch, an aged care company which endeavours to help older people in their homes before they become unable to look after themselves.
Kate of NurseWatch, adds: “This is the basic premise of my aged care company, NurseWatch, as well. We recognise the importance of working with primary care to provide optimum health outcomes for our clients.”
NurseWatch provides aged care services in Sydney and Melbourne. For more information, connect with this service at www.nursewatch.com.au.