SEMSCOOP In The Loop

Let’s look at Langmore

Caregiver comings and goings

Much loved Langmore team member Meg Evans was bid farewell last month after more than six years at SJGHC working her way up from Pinelodge Clinic ANUM to her most recent role as NUM of Langmore Centre’s Brighton Unit. Her energy, enthusiasm and clinical skills will be missed by all as she takes on a new role closer to home.

Van Gogh brings beauty and awareness to World Bipolar Day

Assumed to have bipolar disorder, Vincent Van Gogh was used to inspire the creation of a stunning 3D mixed media art piece in recognition of World Bipolar Day earlier this year.

Meg’s departure inevitably left a gap to fill and in the interim Chapa Herath has been appointed Acting NUM until a permanent replacement can be found.

In other team member news, Ash Francis has accepted the role of mental health educator starting at Langmore last month. According to Director of Clinical Services Shelley Cooper, “Ash brings a wealth of mental health and general nursing skills to the role and has vast experience working across public and private settings, along with previous education experience.”

One last visit for Sister Florence before her move to Perth.

Langmore Centre was honoured recently to have Sisters of St John of God, Sister Florence prioritise a visit to our mental health facility before moving to Perth earlier this year. Instrumental in establishing music therapy programs at St John of God Psychiatric Hospital in Brighton, Sister Florence holds a special tie to Langmore and the work it does in supporting patients with mental health conditions. Sister Florence was invited to tour the facility and share morning tea with our caregivers. We wish her well on her new adventure.

A collaboration between Langmore Centre art therapists and patients resulted in a variety of materials, from pipe cleaners and buttons to paper and wool used to recreate Van Gogh’s famous Sunflowers artwork.

It’s now proudly hanging on the wall at our Gibb Street location for all to see.

What’s the buzz around Berwick

Malley Martin celebrates 45 years as a midwife

You know you’ve been a midwife for a long time when you start delivering the babies of the babies you delivered many decades ago. And while most jobs come with their ups and downs, you know you really love yours when after 45 years you can still find something rewarding about it even on a bad day. “There’s always good and bad days,” shares Malley. “But even on the not-so-good days, I still find them fulfilling as well.”

Malley recalls wanting to be a nurse from the tender age of 10 and even considered it to be a good prospect if there were ever a chance she had to move to the country. “A midwifery certificate would make it easier to get a job,” she mused before admitting that she never did move to the country. “But I knew that’s where my passion would really lie.”

You see a lot of changes when you’ve been in a profession for four and a half decades and for Malley, witnessing the evolution of a father’s role in the birth of his child has been the greatest transition to witness. “When I registered in 1978 it was very rare that they (fathers) were in the birth suite. And 100 times rarer that they’d be allowed to go into theatre to be with their partners in delivery. But now they can stay with them the whole time — of course they need to be, because they are a part of it all.”

A career highlight for Malley was being given the opportunity to teach the antenatal classes when she joined St John of God Berwick Hospital in 2015. “I’ve really been so passionate about teaching everyone to be hands on and being empowered to make decisions that are right for them.”

Congratulations Malley! Here’s to many more marvellous years in midwifery.

Time flies: last Gibb Street baby’s first day of prep

And just like that five years has passed. Sadie had the double honour of being the very last baby born at Berwick Hospital’s Gibb Street location and the first baby to stay at our new Kangan Drive site when she was transported by ambulance to our newly opened hospital in 2018. Coincidentally, Sadie’s father Shane was also born at the old Berwick Bush Nursing hospital in 1989.

Berwick caregivers awarded inaugural St John of God Health Care Scholarship

Josephine Johnston (surgical nurse) and Priscilla Singh (Clinical nurse consultant Infection Control and Prevention) were two of the 18 recipients to receive The St John of God Health Care Scholarship which was introduced in 2022 to reward and recognise performance excellence, support caregiver development and enable caregivers to make strong and positive contributions to the life of St John of God Health Care. This scholarship supports clinical caregivers in pursuing further education, contributing to SJGHC’s goal to be the best performing healthcare provider in Australia by 2025.

Birth beats

Did you know that our SJGHC midwives have curated a playlist based on some of the more popular choices made by expectant parents, as well as some that are a little ‘off the charts’ (pardon the pun)?

Of which begs the next question: how many times has ‘I want to break free’ or Salt-N-Pepper’s ‘Push it’ actually been requested and by who? If you’d like to check out the 37 songs that made the list search up St John of God Health Care on Spotify. Given the average time it takes to deliver a baby it might be a little ‘premature’ or ambitious to keep it to 2.5 hours.