Focus on our Clinical Nurses at Hope Valley

At Hope Valley we have three Clinical Nurses (CNs) who are our clinical leaders and who are accountable for the daily nursing care of our residents as well as mentoring and supporting staff, in particular our Registered and Enrolled Nurses.

Our CNs at both homes report to the Director of Nursing (Karen Daniels) and are involved in continuous improvement activity and transition to new standards of care.

At Hope Valley our CNs are Ana, Karen and Ailene (pictured).

Ana Gador has worked at Ananda Hope Valley since 2004. She started as a personal carer, then Enrolled Nurse, Registered Nurses and now is a Clinical Nurse with a specialist interest in wound care and palliative care. Ana likes to dine out and loves coffee!

Ailene Salvador has worked at Ananda Hope Valley since 2012. Ailene progressed to CN from Registered Nurse. Her specialist interests are nutrition and palliative care, and is also interested in acute care (specifically theatre). Ailene likes to spend time with family and travelling.

Both Ana and Ailene are members of our Responsive Behaviours Consultancy with DTA and Queensland University of Technology.

Karen Steer has worked at Hope Valley 2014 and also started as an Registered Nurse before her promotion to CN. She has an interest in wound care and admission of residents and liaising with family members. Karen likes to spend time with family, reading, and ghost hunting.

Karen is leading our Medication Consultancy with DTA and University Western Australia.

Our Hope Valley Clinical Nurses – Ana Gador, Karen Steer and Ailene Salvador.

Amongst many clinical improvements made during a busy first half of 2019 perhaps the biggest has been around the care of residents with dementia at both homes as a result of our partnership (Tailored Training Package) with Dementia Training Australia (DTA), the key body in Australia for training health professionals. While this partnership runs until March 2020 there have been key improvements in care already, and the initiative is featured in three published articles in the Australian Journal of Dementia Care (AJDC) in August and October 2019.

The Hope Valley Clinical Nurses explain:

“We noticed a number of change within the facility since making the Dementia Training Australia (DTA) training available to staff.

With opening the doors to Derwent wing (Memory Support Unit) from 0930-1630 we noticed a significant decrease in responsive behaviours for the residents in Derwent.

Alleviating the feeling of being isolated or restrained and being able to engage with other residents in different areas, they are also able to participate in activities offered outside of Derwent.

This promotes mobility and exercise as they are able to explore a wider area. The staff in Derwent appear more relaxed and feel more supported with the doors being opened. Staff have gained a better understanding of dementia and supporting residents when they have unmet needs that lead to responsive behaviours.

As a result of this knowledge staff are developing as champions who are now able to pass these skills on to newer staff, students and families.

Chemical restraint usage (medication for behaviours) has also significantly declined. Dr. Crea (our main GP at Hope Valley) and the pharmacist are regularly reviewing the medications, and staff are adhering to ‘FOLLOW THE FIVE’ a guide to other strategies for addressing unmet needs before considering medications, as they are more aware and have more knowledge and understanding in dealing with responsive behaviours.”

As a result of this knowledge staff are developing as champions who are now able to pass these skills on to newer staff, students and families.

Ana, Karen and Ailene (CNs Hope Valley)

Ananda’s Medication Safety Consultancy in partnership with DTA and the University of Western Australia continues monthly with staff from Hope Valley and Findon taking part.

We thank our long serving clinical experts at Hope Valley who continue to look for ways to improve clinical care at Ananda.

We will feature our Findon CNs next month.

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