2020 Year of the Nurse/Midwife, Our Greatest Challenge Yet
InFocus Issue 21, January 2021
Brisbane Private Hospital’s Director of Nursing Jason Burton reflects on the challenge that 2020, the Year of the Nurse and Midwife has been, and the positive outcomes that have resulted.
2020 is the year of the nurse and mid-wife, yet it has been a year like no other in living memory. What has it meant to you as Director of Nursing of BPH?
This year has been my greatest challenge as Director of Nursing, and throughout my career. Navigating how to manage a surgical hospital within the COVID environment while trying to provide the best possible patient care and outcomes, plus manage complex cases and meet stakeholder expectations, has been stressful.
Those elements were also combined with trying to meet the expectations of the general public for visitation under restricted conditions and understand their needs while providing patient support, and demonstrating our strong clinical governance throughout the hospital under enormous pressure.
In addition, like many hospitals, we faced supply issue concerns around PPE and consumables based on risk calculations of managing the hospital if we experienced COVID cases, so making sure our staff had the necessary equipment was also a factor for many months.
Importantly, our nursing staff rose together as a group each time we faced something new, and I am extremely proud of how our nursing teams overcame these challenges and continue to do so.
How many nursing staff do you employ at BPH, across which departments?
We employ between 350 and 400 staff at BPH, in the following teams: theatre team, day surgery team, Damascus team, rehabilitation team, surgical team, neurological wards team, plus teams in pre-administration, discharge and after hours.
What were the biggest challenges for the nursing staff?
The largest challenge was the fear that had to be managed around the COVID unknowns for these staff who are on the frontline and very at-risk when it comes to highly infectious diseases such as this one. Some staff took extended time off due to the stress of this.
In managing that situation, we had to make sure we had the knowledge to communicate to staff to prepare them on managing the pandemic impacts and alleviating their fears. The hospital did an excellent job in managing this.
Then they were challenged by the knock-on effects of having a lot of elective surgery suspended, which meant many feared for their jobs, and with the hospital not allowed to operate on standard lists for three to four months, we are still feeling and managing through the impact of this.
The other challenge, which has partially alleviated for the moment, were the daily risk assessments needed for patients outside of Queensland. We treat many patients from interstate at BPH, especially areas of Northern NSW and Darwin, so keeping abreast of guidelines from the Chief Health Officer as they were changing to ensure we were and still are abiding by them, is just part of daily life now.
What have been your 2020 nursing highlights and positive outcomes?
One highlight was that BPH was able to negotiate with the State Government to ensure that our nursing staff suffered no financial impact and were paid their normal rate while our surgeries were impacted. Many of our nurses feared for their jobs and the financial impact that would have, but it was a great relief to have the backing of the State Government to secure this.
Overall, a great benefit to patients and doctors has been that the team has become stronger as a result of the situations we faced together.
Our teamwork is better and tighter and as a result of many of us being pushed out of our comfort-zones, there has been a lot of cross-pollination within our teams to work in other areas if they require support. For example, ward staff were trained to work in ICU in case our ICU was required for cases, and we had great feedback from ICU and the staff experiencing new training that to learn something different was great.
What do you want the nursing team at BPH to know moving forward into 2021?
COVID has taken its toll on our activity, but 2021 is a time of rebuilding and growth within the hospital to make it better.
BPH nurses have amazing experience, and many of them have been here for a long time, so their depth of knowledge, management of complex cases and diversity of skill plays a big role in making BPH the leading healthcare centre that it is.
Nursing staff are very selfless people who put others first and they do everything they can to ensure that patients get the best care and support possible. They are practical and rise to the challenge whenever they need to. While they get acknowledged on Nurses Day, it’s never top of mind for them to seek recognition, and it especially hasn’t been this year.
Even though 2020 has been a time of unrest while being Year of the Nurse and Midwife, the nursing team’s focus on the quality of care at BPH has always come first. Regardless of the pandemic or other challenges, our clinical governance and exceptional patient care have been outstanding, and I thank them all for their commitment, strength and support.
Pictured (L-R): Kasey Nimmo, Jason Burton and Kathleen Barratt