Congratulations to WA Health Awards winners CTN NEWS T he WA Clinical Training Network was pleased to sponsor the award for ‘Excellence in Clinical Training’ at the 2012 WA Health Awards, held in mid-November. This award category recognises effective partnerships in the delivery of clinical training, both statewide and at the local community level. We would like to congratulate all the finalists and category winners and look forward to supporting more partnerships between our stakeholders in the future. For further information please visit the WA Health Awards Website. Local Community Initiative Winner - Gosnells Community Speech Pathology Clinic The Gosnells Community Speech Pathology Clinic was established through the collaborative partnerships of Armadale Kelmscott Memorial Hospital, Bentley Hospital and Curtin University. The Clinic is run by fourth year university students under the supervision of Clinical Educator, Renee Davis. Since its inception in February this year, the Clinic has aided the relief of long waitlists at nearby health sites and increased clinical placement opportunities for Curtin University speech pathology students. Some of the duties undertaken by the students include managing and booking their own cases and workloads, learning skills in administration and being exposed to a diverse range of client types and conditions that are not typically seen in a clinical placement setting. Ms Davis explains that the students “learn to prioritise patients independently as part of their learning experience”. The services provided by the Clinic are commendable as not only are patients seen quickly, they can also be seen long-term and are offered more intensive therapy than they would in a hospital. The Clinic now provides services to local nursing homes, where services were previously minimal. Ms Davis adds: “It is rewarding for me as a supervisor because I get to see the very latest theories in action, and see the students transform into confident and skilled clinicians by the time they finish.” Statewide Initiative Winner – Assistant in Nursing Traineeship The Nursing and Midwifery Office (NMO) within WA Health has partnered with the Central Institute of Technology and Perth’s major teaching hospitals to deliver a traineeship to develop Assistants in Nursing (AINs). Working alongside nurses in acute care environments, the six-month trained AINs are proving highly successful in making nursing workloads more reasonable, improving patient safety and satisfaction, and reducing the usage of agency-sourced staff. “The uniqueness of AINs is that they are supplementary to nursing numbers, have been specifically prepared to work within acute care wards under the direction of registered nurses and are trained, amongst other things, to recognise and promptly report any deterioration or concerns they have about patients to the nursing staff,” said Myra Book, Senior Nursing Officer and Registered Nurse at NMO. Some of the benefits of the AIN Traineeship, which began in early 2011, include: • Patients feel safer and more satisfied, getting the finishing touches to essential care which sometimes can be missed. • Registered Nursing staff gain additional support to provide general patient care and are thereby more able to focus on the technical aspects of their work, knowing their patients are receiving excellent care. This in turn improves job satisfaction for all and increases the likelihood of staff retention. • Additional, systematic inflow into the nursing profession as many AINs seek further study to become registered or enrolled nurses – thereby reducing the cost of recruitment, improving retention and promoting safer, more cost-effective care. More than 60 per cent of AINs in the 2011 and 2012 traineeships have already been inspired to commence enrolled or registered nursing studies. Issue 2: December 2012 The Newsletter of the Western Australian Clinical Training Network Community of Interest update T he nominations from the Inaugural Meeting have now been included in the Communities of Interest (CoI) register, with members continuing to be contacted as issues arise which are relevant to their CoIs. The first CoI forum for the Aged and Community Care Sector was held on 4 December at the Boulevard Centre in Floreat, with attendees from the public, private and non-government health and education sectors working together to develop clinical education and training priorities for the aged and community care sector. Thanks to those who contributed their time and expertise to making this forum a success. Other CoI meetings will be organised in the New Year. Members of the Gosnells Community Speech Pathology Team including Jonathan Rafols, Brooke Sanderson and Sue Alexander are congratulated by the Director-General of Health, Kim Snowball (far left), Dr Felicity Jefferies, Executive Director, Clinical Reform, WA Country Health Services, (second from right) and Health Minister Dr Kim Hames (far right). Myra Book, from Nursing and Midwifery Office accepts the award for the Assistant in Nursing Traineeship program.