Albatrosses in theatres, Pharmacy lives values, Children's Ward turns wild, Staff celebrate 30-years Southern Future NewsletterSeptember 2016 - Edition 5 Thank you for all the stories and ideas that have been coming in for this Southern Future newsletter. Remember this is your newsletter to showcase all your amazing work in helping Southern DHB become the health system we want it to be. Please help us share your stories by emailing the communications team communications@southerndhb.govt.nz. And remember that a wide range of resources to help build the future we want can be found in the Southern Future SharePoint site. If you would like any advice on this, please contact Mel Green at listening@southerndhb.govt.nz “It has really helped in distracting patients when we perform surgery, or just before they go off to sleep. It also reduces anxiety associated with having an anaesthetic and surgery," said Mr Taha. Bringing nature into our theatres!Staff may well have viewed this story on the news, Pulse and our Facebook page but we just wanted to celebrate a fabulous initiative of neurosurgical theatre nurses Sarah Hedges and Carmel Dawson. Sarah and Carmel’s innovative idea to show the Royal Cam livestream of Moana the albatross at Taiaroa Head to patients to help them relax before surgery, and during surgery under local anaesthetic, came about when the pair watched a story about the webcam on the news and started following Moana the albatross.
The Royal Cam has been shown in theatre to patients since March and has been a huge success. Now that Moana has flown the nest Carmel has started searching the internet to see if there are any other albatross webcams or similar for patients to watch. Sarah and Carmel had the full support of Neurosurgeon Mr Ahmed Taha who they say is, “really open to new ideas to make the experience of patients better”. Mr Taha said that he is delighted with the success of the Royal Cam livestream in his theatre.
From left to right; Carmel Dawson, Mr Ahmed Taha and Sarah Hedges Southland Pharmacy team embrace valuesShort talks, games and videos are just some of the innovative ways the Southland Hospital Pharmacy team is embracing Southern DHB's values and behaviours.
At each meeting, the staff member picks a value - either a SDHB one or a value identified by a staff member - relevant to what they are working on at the moment, and discuss how they can meet the value goal for the following week. At the fortnightly staff operational meetings, the team have also included short talks, games and videos with learning related to the values.
Members of the Southland Pharmacy team Share your story with us! If you know of great examples of people living the values at Southern DHB, we would love to hear from you! Please email communications@southerndhb.govt.nz Making a difference To access the 7 Priorities for Patients click here.
Children's Ward turns wild for Conservation WeekThe Southland Hospital Children’s Ward recently welcomed wild and wonderful displays of nature, so families were able to learn more about the environment as part of Conservation Week. The Department of Conservation (DOC) treated the Ward to a visit from Kat, the Tuatara, and families had the opportunity to measure themselves against a mighty albatross wing span. The children also had their photos taken as DOC rangers, watched tadpoles change into frogs, learnt about our five most endangered birds and endangered mammals, and created art work related to conservation.
DOC and Southern DHB staff collaborate to create a fun and educational experience for young patients Staff celebrate long service with DHBTime to celebrate: Staff at the Southland Service Milestones event Southern DHB staff with over 31-years of continuous service have been celebrated with afternoon tea and a certificate of appreciation from Commissioner Kathy Grant. Two hundred and forty Southern District Health Board staff have been recognised, with celebrations held in Invercargill and Dunedin for staff who wished to attend. Commissioner Kathy Grant acknowledged the loyalty and commitment of the staff.
In addition to these initial Service Celebrations, the Board plans to recognise staff for ten, 20, 40 and even 50 years of service to the Southern DHB and the previous Otago DHB and Southland DHB, to be held in November. View the photo gallery of both events here and keep an eye out for long-service profiles in upcoming Southern Future newsletters. Making a difference To access the 7 Priorities for Staff click here. Below: Commissioner Kathy Grant congratulates a staff member with a certificate of appreciation
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