For Angela Waters, her 30 years in nursing has been all about educating and training nurses and moving with the fast pace of change in healthcare.
With a goal from the beginning of her nursing career to be an educator, Angela excelled through 13 years in perioperative services at PA Hospital, and 14 years at Logan – all the while taking on clinical facilitator and educator roles in line with her passion for education.
After 30 years on the frontline of nursing, Angela is now working in a lead role in Metro South’s digital training team bringing together her two loves – educating nurses and leading change.
“I love training new graduates and seeing what I can bring to clinician training from a new perspective. I love bringing new features to the clinicians and see them start to enjoy the value of what digital can do for patient care,” Angela said.
She said that Digital record is all about streamlining information and harnessing the power of that information which is a significant change from the past when nurses had to wait on information from doctors before they could advance care.
“So much is available to us to make an informed decision. Now care plans are pre-loaded in the ieMR so we can be prepared in advance for the doctors’ decisions on each patient’s care which makes nurses a more active and integral part of the patient care team.
“Information is safety for each patient. Warnings can be loaded into digital records; the patient history is at your fingertips without needing to order a paper chart. There is an efficiency that drives patient safety and care at the bedside.”
From her extensive experience across Metro South Health’s Digital journey, her opinion is that the group benefiting most from digital records is paediatric patients and newborn babies who have the value of a digital record from the start of their interactions with Queensland Health.
“Every clinician can access relevant health information direct from their digital record which provides safer care,” she said. “The same logic applies to all patients starting their health journey with us from now as clinicians have visibility of multiple interactions with multiple hospitals across the state.”
The digital systems now available across Metro South Heath and a growing number of hospitals across the state mean greater safety for the patient, reduced delays to care while waiting for information and the ability to deliver the care the patient needs in order to get them back home faster.
Angela’s advice after 30 years of nursing is not to be scared of change.
“Be flexible, don’t be afraid to try new things, switch roles if you develop a new passion. Exposure to new opportunities within Metro South Health means more chances to learn. Ultimately, it is the people that make your workplace, not the actual work.”