Organisation: Canberra Hospital and Health Services – Rehabilitation, Aged and Community Care – Community Care Nursing
Job Title: Registered Nurse
Location: ACT
1. Demonstrated range of advanced clinical knowledge and skills relating to Community Nursing Practice and the ability to recognise the role of members of both allied health and health care agencies in the delivery of best practice health care.
Throughout my nursing career, I have utilised a range of advanced clinical knowledge and skills relating to Community Nursing Practice including clinical decision making, evidence-based nursing practice, patient advocacy, holistic nursing practice and frameworks for evaluation of nursing practice. I have also demonstrated my ability to recognise the role of members of both allied health and health care agencies in the delivery of best practice health care. I have also ensured that I applied these skills and abilities whilst functioning within legal and organisational requirements.
Whilst working as a Nurse in the HASS program I was required to utilise advanced clinical knowledge and skills. For example, any clinical decisions I made were based on the holistic assessments I conducted which comprehensively reviewed the client’s history as well as my established clinical knowledge. If there was a gap in my clinical knowledge, or I wanted to assure myself that there were no recent developments in best practice, I would refer to other relevant medical professionals or current research in the field.
When managing complex diagnoses I recognised the value that other allied health and health care professionals / agencies could add to the quality of my client outcomes. In these situations I would regularly confer with or seek professional input from paediatricians, occupational therapists, speech pathologists, physiotherapists, social workers and Disability ACT. In my role in the HASS program, I was responsible for patient advocacy, highlighting issues to other relevant professionals and involving key stakeholders in the formation and delivery of an agreed standard of care according to best practice guidelines.
Another example where I have exhibited a range of advanced clinical knowledge and skills relating to Community Nursing Practice and liaised with patient care team members, GP’s, other health care workers or agencies was during my employment as an Asthma Nurse Educator. Upon receiving a referral I would complete a home visit with the family / carers, assess their circumstances and educate them about the condition and its management. My clinical knowledge was highly valuable in being able to adapt to the varying needs, concerns and clinical requirements of each family.
My role also required me to write comprehensive reports back to the relevant GP outlining my findings from the home visit as well as my recommendations for client management based on the National Asthma Foundation guidelines. I followed up on each case gaining feedback from families on the care approach as well as progress of the child and responded to any further queries. I ensured that I was fully across the newest guidelines to ensure any recommendations or advice I provided was evidence-based and best practice.
2. Ability to articulate and demonstrate comprehensive leadership, high level communication skills and the principles and practice of customer commitment.
I have demonstrated strong leadership, communications skills and the principles and practice of customer commitment throughout my work with ACT Health and nursing roles outside of the Directorate.
My leadership and effective communication skills were demonstrated throughout my role as a Nurse within the HASS program by my ability to adjust my communication style and language depending on the audience. In this role, I met with and/or provided training to a variety of people. For example, I conducted training sessions and competency assessments for education staff, interviewed parents and carers, and participated in professional discussions with other health professionals.
The training I conducted for educational staff required me to quickly assess their varying levels of communication, literacy and numeracy skills and adjust my language accordingly. Such as, limiting medical jargon or omitting it completely and continually gauging their understanding through facilitative processes as opposed to presenting information to them only. I also supported this training with a buddying approach, where my leadership skills were highlighted as a developed the competence and confidence of the educational staff on a one-on-one basis.
My strong leadership and communication skills were also evidenced regularly as a result of my patient advocacy. I was responsible for gathering input from key client stakeholders and the broader health professional team. I took the lead on devising an appropriate care approach assimilating the professional expertise available whilst taking into account the capability and capacity of the child’s relevant educational program and teachers. Ensuring the welfare of the client was put first I adhered to the principles and practice of customer commitment on a daily basis.
As well as strong verbal communication skills, I demonstrated highly effective written communication skills in my role as a HASS program Nurse. This is evidenced by my proficiency in developing care plans, risk assessments, writing reports and progress notes.
Another role where I have required effective leadership and communication skills was as an Asthma Nurse Educator. During this role I liaised with the client and their family / carers, patient care team members, GP’s, other health care workers or agencies. My effective communication skills ensured all stakeholders clearly understood the child’s condition and circumstances, enabling me to lead everyone towards an agreed, evidence-based and best practice approach to managing client care.
To boost my client communication skills completed the ‘Family Partnership Training’ course in 2013. This course has strengthened my interpersonal skills through focusing on patient advocacy via listening to their concerns.
3. Articulate and demonstrate advanced organisational skills and problem solving abilities required as a member of the health care team to ensure effective, efficient and appropriate decision making in health care delivery and case management.
Throughout my career I have utilised my strong organisational skills and problem solving abilities on a daily basis. This is demonstrated by my participation and leadership in risk assessment, incident and accident reporting, and appropriate decision making in health care delivery and case management.
As a HASS Nurse, I was required to undertake assessments of children’s health care needs including chronic and newly diagnosed complex conditions. The assessments were comprehensive and holistic, including past history and current issues relating to the students health and general wellbeing.
From this information, I developed a relevant Care Plan in collaboration with the families / carers. I used advanced clinical judgement to determine the level of support the student required, complete a risk assessment and develop the resulting health care support model. The complexity of balancing the health requirements of the child and the requirements of the relevant educational program within the Care Plan necessitated the use of advanced organisational skills and problem solving abilities.
A specific example of the use of these skills whilst working as a HASS Nurse relates to complex epilepsy related Care Plan. The child suffered from a variety of seizure types, where I and other members of the health team were often required to provide medication. When it came time to hand care over to the teaching staff it was important to develop a very specific, detailed and well thought out Care Plan.
To achieve this I had to map out the needs, expectations, capacity and capability of all stakeholders involved, including the paediatrician, family, child and teaching staff, to ensure these were considered in the formation of the plan. In partnership with other members of the nursing team, I also developed and delivered training to the teaching staff so that they were comfortable and confident that they could move forward with the identified solution. Without my keen organisational skills and problem solving abilities the resulting Care Plan would have fallen short of the needs of my client.
Whilst the example above was a methodical, well-planned and strategised approach to organisation and problem solving, I have also been required to ustilise these skills instantaneously. An example of this was during my employment as a Special School Nurse. On one occasion I was called to the pool where a quadriplegic child’s head had been dunked underwater resulting in a near drowning. My organisational skills and problem solving ability came quickly to the forefront as I conducted a risk assessment and formulated a strategy for dealing with the emergency and the management of the welfare of the child.
My considerations and solutions included ensuring the student was safe and in a recovery position, keeping the student calm and reassured, aiding her with coughing / vomiting / access to oxygen, calming and reassuring staff, directing someone to call an ambulance, assigning a person at the front gate to direct the ambulance to the scene, directing staff to content the parents, and conducting a thorough and complex handover to the paramedics to ensure they understood the implications of her condition and the care required whilst in transit to further medical care.
4. Articulate and demonstrate sound knowledge of Quality Improvement, accreditation, research, preceptorship and education processes.
Quality Improvement, accreditation, research, preceptorship and education processes are all critical factors for ACT Health in continuing to deliver a high quality and best practice service to its clients. Depending on the requirements of the roles I have held, I have always tried to contribute to or support these processes where appropriate.
In relation to Quality Improvement, my experience with the HASS program has given me a keen understanding of the processes involved as well as its importance. As HASS was a new program, there was a significant amount of ongoing research, feedback from clients and health professionals, evaluations and other activities all aimed at gathering enough information to gain a clear understanding of the strengths, gaps and areas for improvement for the program. Where appropriate, I fed information into these activities, either via my own feedback or encouraging clients, carers and families to honestly reflect on the services they were being provided.
My experience within the health sector, and more specifically hospitals, has developed my awareness of the ongoing accreditation processes that they undertake and the resulting changes to standards of service provision. I have always ensured that I have been abreast of any developments to ensure that my nursing practice is aligned with any evidence-based, best practice principles resulting from the accreditation process. I am also keenly aware of the importance of maintaining or gaining any relevant accreditation / education for continued performance in my work.
Whilst I have not been directly involved in any research projects, I have always maintained my readership of research outcomes relevant to the nursing roles that I have undertaken. I believe that by doing this I will maintain my awareness of any developments and changes in treatment processes and best practice approaches to ensure that I deliver the highest quality health care services to my clients.
Throughout my career I have had the opportunity to play a direct role in preceptorship within ACT Health. In my role working as a HAAS Nurse I developed training packages and completed competency assessments to train education staff on how to safely care for a student’s complex health care needs while at school. The blended learning strategy also included buddying, where I was able to work one-on-one with the educators to maximise their learning outcomes.
I also understand the importance of education within the health sector, in particular continuing professional development. As such, I proactively seek opportunities for further education to maintain a best practice approach to nursing. Examples of some of the training I have undertaken in recent years include:
- Certificate IV in Training and Assessment, ACT Health (Modules 1 – 3 completed, Module 4 in progress)
- Family Partnership Training, ACT Health (Completed September 2013)
- Asthma Educator Course, AAREA (Completed May 2012)
- Child Protection Level 3, ACT Health (Completed 2010 and updated January 2013)
- Child and Adolescent Mental Health Program, ACT Health (Completed September 2011)
- All Mandatory ACT Health education and training including e-learning (Completed and up to date).
5. Demonstrated ability to develop relationships with clients/carers/families, which promotes healthy life styles and assists clients/carers/families to achieve agreed health outcomes.
Throughout my nursing career it has been essential for me to develop relationships with clients, carers and families to provide optimum levels of care. In particular, my previous roles as a HASS program Nurse, Special School Nurse and Asthma Nurse Educator all relied on my ability to cultivate these relationships to achieve identified health outcomes and ensure treatment plans and processes were supported and adhered to.
Having completed the ‘Family Partnership Training’ course in 2013, I have been able to apply its principles and guidelines in all of my interactions with clients, carers and families. Being able to build and maintain an environment of trust has ensured that the people I deal with have felt listened to, had their concerns taken seriously and in turn acted upon accordingly. To facilitate this relationship building, I also gauge the client, carers and/or families understanding of the situation, condition and/or treatment process quickly, and adjust my verbal communication accordingly.
Whilst working within the HASS program, I placed high importance on the task of patient advocacy. To this end, developing strong relationships with clients, carers, families and the broader health care team was critical to being able to provide an appropriate level of patient care. My success in developing and maintaining these relationships was evidenced in my ongoing successes in health care delivery and case management.
As a Special School Nurse, developing and maintaining ongoing relationships with clients, carers and families was also a significant component of my role. Without this strong relationship it would have been difficult for me to perform my duties as I was required to have a large amount of contact with families and carers to discuss acute and chronic health concerns regarding their children. It was important that families and carers felt comfortable with me so that they would not hesitate to call to discuss any health issues and trusted me with the welfare of their children.
In the role of Asthma Nurse Educator I was required to quickly develop a rapport with clients, carers and families. This enabled me to focus on listening to their concerns and educating them about the condition and treatment plan to achieved agreed health outcomes. Due to my natural ability in cultivating these relationships, the people I educated were able to relax and focus on the knowledge and information I was sharing with them and trust my guidance in the situation.
6. Demonstrates ability to operate computer systems and a willingness to learn program data bases that are an integral part of patient management.
I have demonstrated strong computer literacy skills throughout my career having been willing and able to learn program data bases that were an integral part of patient management. Examples of this, whilst working at ACT Health include the continued and proficient use of:
- ACTPAS
- CRIS
- Microsoft suite.
I am very adept at learning new computer skills and willing to learn how to use any program data bases that are required of me in this role.
7. Demonstrated ability to consistently display commitment to, compliance with and leadership in high quality Customer Service, Workplace Diversity, Work Health and Safety and Industrial Democracy principles, practices and relevant legislation relating to these areas and an understanding of and commitment to ACT Health values.
Since commencing employment with ACT Health in February 2010, I have consistently displayed commitment to, compliance with and leadership in high quality Customer Service, Workplace Diversity, Work Health and Safety and Industrial Democracy principles, practices and relevant legislation relating to these areas and an understanding of and commitment to ACT Health values. This is evidenced by my flawless history and professionalism in my nursing practice across the following roles:
- RN1 – HASS program, Division of Women Youth and Children Community Health Programs, Health Directorate, ACT Government
- RN1 – Special School Nurse, Division of Women Youth and Children Community Health Programs, Health Directorate, ACT Government
- Acting RN2 – Asthma Nurse Educator, Division of Women Youth and Children Community Health Programs, Health Directorate, ACT Government.
Over the last 23 years, throughout my career in the health / medical sector, my nursing practice has always been guided by principles, values and legislation aligned to ACT Health. I have continuously delivered patient care with a high level of understanding of and commitment to these standards and expectations of health professionals.
