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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. Referrals: All new clients require a referral from a registered medical practitioner being a general practitioner and/or medical specialist.
*Please note: Unfortunately, as of 18 December 2020 NurseWatch will not be accepting new clients from the Northern Beaches to Mosman Area, Sydney, due to the COVID-19 situation. We will regularly update our service capability as the situation improves.
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.
Published by HelloCare on July 22nd 2019
Receiving a diagnosis of a serious illness can be devastating. Obviously, for the person concerned there might be suffering, and uncertainty and fear about outcomes. For family, concern for their loved one, coupled with the prospect of taking on the responsibility of caring for them, can be extremely daunting. Unless family have medical experience, they may never have delivered the type of care required when someone is seriously ill.
They may have little to no knowledge of managing medications, they may not understand medical language, and they never have been in the role of ‘carer’. And yet, family may be expected to make themselves available to care around the clock.
For people with other responsibilities, such as a job or children to care for, or who themselves are older or not completely well, managing caring responsibility can be overwhelming. Organising and getting to doctor’s appointments and scans, lodging payments for refunds, administering medication, and other care responsibilities, can leave little time to ‘just be’ with a loved one, or simply to do the things you enjoy doing together, in what may be their final days.
Juggling the two very different roles of being a wife, daughter, or spouse, with the role of carer can take its toll – to the point that people feel they are not doing either role well. Hired care is often available in the home for those who need it, but the logistical challenges of overseeing the care still usually falls upon family.
The challenges when family provide care
One family found themselves in such a situation when the youngest of five sisters was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 30. With three young children, a busy husband, and chemotherapy treatment, her family kicked into overdrive to do their best to provide the help she needed.
One sister was doing the paperwork, another was taking care of Medicare claims. The other sisters were organising appointments, while the woman’s mother was looking after the children with the help of friends in the community. Her husband continued to go to work.
Simply coordinating all the tasks, on top of getting everything done, became overwhelming, and it didn’t take long before all the family were exhausted. One of the sisters was a friend of Kate Spurway, founder of NurseWatch, and the family approached her for help.
“Chasing doctors appointments and pathology reports, making sure you’ve got follow up appointments, keeping an eye on clinical signs after a bout of chemotherapy, and all the protocols with toileting following chemo, all these bits and pieces take time and expertise to organise,” Ms Spurway said.
NurseWatch is made up of a team of experienced registered nurses who were able to take over the heavy administrative requirements associated with caring for someone who was undergoing chemotherapy treatment, and all the tasks associated with her care. They even took over the children’s school pick-ups and drop-offs.
Having this level of support relieved the woman’s family of the responsibilities of caring, and enabled them to simply enjoy their time with their loved one, and concentrate on being present for her and her children.
Outsourcing end-of-life care in the home
End of life care is particularly challenging for family to manage for a loved one, both in terms of the physical and clinical aspects, but also, of course, emotionally. Palliative care is a specialisation in itself, and for loved ones is usually more than they can manage on their own unless they have medical experience.
A professional woman in her 70s, after returning to Australia after living abroad for much of her life, found herself in a challenging situation when she was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
The woman didn’t have children, and her remaining family, a brother and sister, both had busy professional careers and were elderly themselves. They weren’t able to provide the care the woman needed to remain living at home.
The woman had a clear idea of what she needed. She wanted quality care, with intelligent staff, who were able to do the critical thinking required to care for someone at the end of their life. She wanted to be able to have some control over the end of her life.
The woman approached Ms Spurway and asked her to ‘project manage’ her end-of-life care. “She was able to have the death she wanted”
Professional help can be necessary
NurseWatch’s experienced palliative care nurses were able to step in and provide the necessary care. They could pre-empt the woman’s clinical pathway because they understood the nature of her disease. The registered nurses were able to organise pharmacy scripts and equipment, take care of nursing needs, and organise the protocols of schedule eight drugs.
“Her brother and sister, who were both in their 70s, were relieved that we managed the care for them and they could enjoy being with her as a sister and connect with her, rather than running around.
“The responsibility was taken off them,” Ms Spurway said. "The family were also relieved because the woman was able to have the death she wanted." (Click here to book these services at NurseWatch)
Relieved from the burden of caring, you are free to just ‘be there’
We don’t often use language such as ‘project management’ around the delivery of care; it sounds business-like and clinical, when a softer approach is usually what is expected.
But there is a side of caring for someone who is seriously ill that requires hours and hours of work, often alone, and sometimes with little thanks. It can be highly skilled work and requires expertise and experience.
Of course, a compassionate and warm manner is also always expected. Putting care into the hands of professionals can not only ensure the best care possible is delivered, it also relieves family of the burden of caring, and gives them the opportunity simply to be with their loved one, and enjoy their time together in what may be their final days.
To find out more about NurseWatch,call (02) 9331 3344 or email admin@nursewatch.com.au.