CARE
Video Educates Healthcare Workers
When New Zealand’s Ministry of Health approached Ryman Healthcare for assistance to produce an important video to help educate healthcare workers on the safe use of personal protective equipment (PPE) in a residential care setting, Ryman was more than happy to oblige.
rom Ryman’s Wellington village, Malvina Major, stepped up and offered the use of their village rest home as the filming location, and senior caregiver Jacque took on the starring role to show the importance of performing this vital step-by-step process correctly. Anna Ramsey, Senior Communications Advisor for the Ministry of Health (the Ministry) and member of their COVID Communications team, was leading the video production project. Ramsey specifically supports the Ministry’s Infection Prevention and Control team (IPC Team) and PPE and Critical Medical Supply Chain team (PPE Supply Team). She explained that the two teams work closely together. The IPC Team forms part of the broader IPC SUB-Technical Advisory Group (IPC subTAG) and have consistently provided trusted national policy and procedure guidance throughout the COVID-19 pandemic to IPC Nurse specialists, the wider health and disability workforce, and frontline staff working at the border.
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The PPE Supply team manages the Ministry’s COVID-19 PPE Central Supply which services the health care workers and border workers who contribute to New Zealand’s public health response to COVID-19, by distributing PPE items to these essential service providers according to IPC guidance for PPE. The Ministry’s current IPC guidance for PPE selection recommends that all primary and community health and disability care workers complete a risk assessment before interacting with a patient, client, or resident to determine their likelihood of exposure to COVID-19. The assessed level of risk then determines the type of PPE a worker should wear to protect themselves from infection. Lorraine Hetaraka, Chief Nursing Officer for the Ministry noted that because Aged Care Health and Disability Support workers are spread out across the community and country, it can be difficult to have in-person IPC education and training accessed by everyone. Most online IPC
