Department in the spotlight: Palliative Care – Frankston

“Our unit is getting busier,” declares Leah Ebanks who shares ANUM responsibilities with fellow colleague Jeni Whitefield. “Word-of-mouth is seeing lots of patients being referred from Peninsula Home Hospice and we even had a patient transferred recently from Cabrini so they could be closer to their home and family in Dromana.”

Recognising the challenges the new unit faced having caregivers with limited experience in delivering end-of-life care, Jeni spent countless hours setting up policies and protocols and educating the team on how to provide physical and emotional support — not only to their patients and their loved ones, but also to each other.

“Having open conversations about death and dying has been important and we encourage each other to debrief whenever we have found something to be distressing, which happens sometimes when you have a patient who might be a similar age to you, or you see children the same age as yours with a loved one in palliative care.”

Leah adds that these experiences and the approach they take to managing them leads to a stronger team bond and worth ethic. “We are really fortunate to have a group of people willing to learn so they can work towards the ultimate goal of helping people die with dignity, as comfortably as possible, and with our help and support, exactly as they wish to.”

This is evident particularly in cases where a patient has deteriorated faster than expected or their case has become more complex. “Sometimes we have to work very quickly and collaboratively to ensure a patient gets the end-of-life experience they want and deserve,” shares Jeni.

“It’s very humbling to see our team work alongside allied health, community palliative care and other specialists to get a patient home so they can spend quality time with loved ones before dying peacefully surrounded by them.”

“After building therapeutic relationships with these people, it’s heartwarming to learn that through doing our job well, we’ve been able to make a positive impact on the lives of our patients and those who love them.”

Caregiver wellbeing focus

Caregiver wellbeing has always been a focus for the South East Melbourne Occupational Health and Safety Team, but has recently come under renewed spotlight with the current challenges facing the health care industry. Learn about some of the initiatives we are working on to improve workplace wellbeing.

Fitness Passport

We recently invited caregivers to take part in a survey asking them to nominate which fitness facilities they’d like to attend as part of a corporate health and fitness program called Fitness Passport. Response to the online questionnaire was strong and the feedback received is helping Fitness Passport collate the information and prepare a membership program that will provide access to 100s of gyms, pools and recreation centres across the locations selected by caregivers in the results.

Individual memberships to the program will cost less than $15 a week and family memberships (which include partners and dependent children under 18) will cost $25 or less per week. Caregivers who sign up to the program will have access to all facilities listed and with no limitation on which ones they visit or how often they attend them. Thank you for all who responded. We have heard that you see fitness as a priority in your lives.

MOVE challenge

Through our EAP provider Converge International, the OHS team has been able to promote the MOVE challenge — a virtual step around the world exercise aimed at encouraging physical activity and enhancing overall wellbeing.