Nurse Navigators and their vital role in community health were celebrated at a recent state-wide showcase, marking a milestone for the profession.
Among the 400+ clinicians who attended the inaugural showcase were representatives from the Logan Chronic Disease Service, Community, and Acute Hospital Avoidance Program who jumped at the opportunity to present their work to their peers.
The team of four nurse navigators including Thomas Chenoweth, Anne Finch, Tracey Tellam and Charlotte Coombes spoke about an innovative new pathway and relationship between Metro South Health (MSH) and the Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) Clinical Hub that gave the community improved access to and more autonomy over their care.
They said their presentation 'Cutting out the Middleman. Offering Vulnerable Clients in Crisis a Better Alternative' outlined a Queensland-first hospital avoidance strategy based on the principles of nurse navigation.
"Through a collaborative approach QAS identifies and links vulnerable clients with the MSH Community Nurse Navigators early in a non-emergency event, where a Nurse Navigator is the most appropriate clinician to address the concerns. The pathway provides clients with choice and involvement in their health care journey by offering an opportunity for nurse navigation support in place of ED transport where clinically appropriate, or alternatively, follow up in the community upon discharge," they said.
Nurse Navigator Acute Hospital Avoidance Louise Welldon was unable to attend on the day but was identified as the driving force behind the initiative along with other systemic patient-centred care improvements.
She said the model, implemented in January this year, was the first formal pathway to connect active QAS cases to nurse navigators in the state.
The Nurse Navigators said other Hospital and Health Services had expressed interest in their initiative, so they were pleased to have a targeted platform to share their hard work.
A group of MSH Multicultural Nurse Navigators were set to unveil another Queensland-first initiative at the showcase, but time constraints prevented this from happening.
Logan's Katherine (Kate) Wickson spoke on behalf of the group* and explained that the roles of Multicultural, Health Equity, Maori and Pasifika, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Nurse Navigators were unique to MSH.
Together, the group identified the need for increased education surrounding culturally appropriate evidence-based care.
"We created Cultural Care CoP, a statewide community of practice that delivers education and information sessions on all aspects of cultural care in the health care space," Kate said.
Despite not being able to present on the day, Kate said the Cultural Care CoP team was looking forward to recording an information session to be shared amongst their peers.
The team said they also looked forward to further improving culturally safe care through the statewide expansion of their Community of Practice membership.
*The Cultural Care CoP team includes Logan's Kate Wickson and Kaz Perkins, and Daniel Grosser, Winnie Niumata, Elizabeth Darlington, Aline Mweze, Kim Tran and Natasha Mitchell.