Meet the DON: Linda Silman

MEET THE DON

Linda Silman

Director of Nursing at Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home, Lane Cove, NSW

Linda Silman, Director of Nursing at Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home in Lane Cove, NSW, has worked in the nursing profession for over three decades, bringing a wealth of experience to the role. By Gabi Mills.

L&L: Please tell me how long you’ve been working in aged care, and what drew you to the profession?

LS: I have worked in the nursing area of aged care for over 30 years now. This is my life’s vocation and I’m proud that I have been able to dedicate this time to the elderly and frail within our population.

L&L: When did you join Hall & Prior and in what capacity?

LS: I am fairly new to Hall & Prior having joined in January this year as Director of Nursing for Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home.

L&L: What do you particularly enjoy about your role - and what are the challenges you face?

LS: I enjoy helping my team to provide great care and I enjoy the satisfaction that comes with seeing residents, family, friends and staff feel like they are connected as a community. The challenges I face are the challenges of all of our lives; trying to meet the needs and wants everyone we are responsible for - with calmness, compassion and good humour!

L&L: On a day-to-day basis, what makes your role special and how do you plan on inspiring staff at your home?

LS: I can bring years of experience, some in learnings from my own mistakes, to help staff understand how we can do things better to achieve great outcomes for the residents. This role is always about the resident’s quality of life and daily happiness.

L&L: If somebody was contemplating a career in aged care, what advice would you give them?

LS: I would advise them to try to understand what it’s like to have to leave your home to then go to live in a place where you don’t know anyone, where you perhaps feel unwell and frightened with all the strangers around you. When you understand how that may feel, then you can begin to help make residents in aged care feel safe and that feeling for both the carer and the residents is a great place to be.

L&L: What kind of leader are you - how do you think your colleagues would describe you?

LS: My colleagues have told me I am humble, humorous, kind and trustworthy. These are all things I am proud to try and keep as my reputation always.

L&L: What makes for a good day in aged care in your chosen career path - and how do you keep smiling in the face of everyday life and death situations encountered in aged care?

LS: A good day in my work is knowing that the residents feel they are getting the best care we can provide and the staff that are providing it collectively with the resident’s friends and family. It is important that all partners in care are satisfied and that it is the best care possible delivered. We all need recognition that we’ve done a good job so we can all smile about what we’ve achieved.

L&L: How do you relax when you have finished work for the day?

LS: To relax, I like to garden! I love my garden and being outdoors in my space. I also unwind by watching English murder mysteries.

L&L: Tell us something we don’t know about you (could be a hobby, passion, special ability).

LS: I do upholstery of old chairs that I find on the side of the road. My aim is to give them away when I have fixed them. I make lots of things; in fact I just finished a carpentry course and upholstery certificate. I also play the violin and have two sons who are professional classical trombonists in Sydney and Tasmania, so music is a wonderful distraction. My daughter is a landscape architect and has worked on many iconic Sydney parks and precincts so she helps me plan my garden, it’s very beautiful.

To find out more about Caroline Chisholm Aged Care Home please visit hallprior.com.au.

Knots & crosses

Warming rugs, crocheted with love and care, is providing fellow residents at Grafton Aged Care Home with a woolly, physical version of TLC.

Grafton Aged Care Home is lucky to have such a compassionate and selfless resident by the name of Christine Munns, who spends her time making the very things that keep us warm during those colder months - crochet rugs! Gratitude and recognition beyond Grafton’s walls has been coming thick and fast for Christine, thanks to her wonderful talent. She recently received a first and second place for her beautiful crocheted rugs at the Grafton Show, with rosettes to proudly display. “I entered the rugs into the show because I was encouraged by our Lifestyle & Wellbeing Officer here at the home,” said Christine. “I feel

proud of my achievements and happy that the hours of hard work I put in has been acknowledged.” The story of Christine’s rug making had very mundane beginnings thanks so some advice from her physiotherapist, who suggested that crocheting would improve mobility in her sore hand.

“One of our staff here at the home donated balls of wool for me to start and things just snow balled from there,” recalls Christine. “The moment when I realised my rugs were making people feel better was when I started giving them away to other residents. Then I started making them for pregnant nurses, babies and other staff members’ grandchildren.” Christine says that there is no actual ‘plan’ for each rug; they just develop from some favourite designs that she has previously completed, though the colour plan is always in her head. With each rug taking a different amount of time to complete - for instance, a knee rug that measures about 1 metre square would usually take about six week to complete - each new project requires Christine to put in many hours of hard work. If we put that into hours worked, if Christine crochets for three hours a day, averaging about 42 days to complete with an additional 126 hours required to rug up! Described by her fellow residents as ‘kind’ and ‘caring’, Christine has no plans to put down her crochet hooks any time soon. “My favourite rug was a green one that I made, I just loved the colours of it! I gave that one to Pegg, another resident here at the home. It makes me feel really good to give away these rugs - it gives me a purpose.” Christine learned how to crochet at a young age, and has never forgotten this traditional skill to turn yarn into garments and blankets. “My Great Aunt Ella taught me how to crochet when I was eight years old,” she remembers. “I had asthma as a child and was always sick or in hospital and crochet has always been a hobby since then.”

ALL TUCKED IN Grafton Aged Care Home residents in NSW are kept extra warm, thanks to the handicrafts of fellow resident, Christine Munns.

Next on Christine’s list of things to make is to start crocheting dollies that Christine she’s seen online. And for those of us considering taking up this fascinating skill? Christine has some advice.

“Just start and keep going.”