NURSES at Western Health are going back to the future to improve patient care, with a good old-fashioned smile and “hello” to lift spirits.
Patients are being visited each hour, with nurses checking on their pain, toilet needs, body positioning, general environment, and providing help with their plan of care.
The visits, aimed at making a patient’s stay more comfortable and pleasant, were trialled in three wards last year and are now in place in 21 wards across Western Health hospitals.
The most recent annual survey shows patients’ satisfaction with care and services at Western Health’s Williamstown, Sunshine and Footscray hospitals has improved marginally on the previous year, although they have the lowest rating among the state’s large metropolitan hospitals.
Annual voluntary surveys ask patients to rate their time in hospital on services such as admission, care provided by doctors and nurses, complaints management, meals, physical environment, and discharge and follow-up.
Western Health’s Footscray hospital was given a rating of “good” with a score of 70.4 out of 100, up from 69.4 the previous year.
Sunshine’s rating improved from 68.3 to 69.1 and Williamstown climbed from 76 to 78.
Western Health redesigning care manager Karen Rog said the number of letters of complaint from patients had been cut by half since the new program was introduced. And the number of times patients rang the bell for a nurse had dropped from about 10 an hour to about two an hour.
Patient John Foster said hourly visits had made a “huge difference” to his recovery.
”You couldn’t get through something like this without a positive attitude. That comes from the nurses and the other staff.”
