Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus

Cabrini Health Australia Hosts A Big Day Out

November 19, 2015

Once again the Cabrini-Children First (CFF) Big Day Out was a wonderful success.

This time the children’s ages ranged from seven to fifteen years and their countries of origin were even more diverse: Papua New Guinea, East Timor, Palestine, Zambia, the Philippines and Vietnam. As usual, all the children were awaiting, or recovering from, life changing surgeries and in most instances they had been separated from family for an extended time. The day was a fun distraction and they threw themselves into it.

Staff also jumped into the spirit of the day. Kiley Harkness from Communications took the lead role on this trip and said, “For me, it’s about providing the children the chance to experience the feeling of being part of a group of people filled with love and compassion, while giving them a moment where they forget everything and just have fun. If I make them smile sometime during the day it makes it all worthwhile for me.”

The Cabrini-Children First Big Day Out initiative began in 2004 to support the great work of the CFF in a different way. Staff who engage with Cabrini’s Social and Community Engagement Program through volunteering can form special relationships with the children, some of whom they might meet through Cabrini’s medical evacuation program or at subsequent outings. “A small core of our regular volunteers form friendships and the kids really start to talk, joke and open up,” says Ruth Knight, Community Benefit Program manager. “Staff are always amazed at the transformation of some of the kids. Not just physical, post-surgical correction changes, but the boost in confidence that comes with that. It’s overwhelming.”

On this occasion, eleven staff and family members accompanied the children and all enjoyed two games of bowling before moving the festivities to a nearby park for a picnic. Food supplied by the Cabrini staff included savoury muffins, sandwiches, fruit, chips, jellies and homemade cakes and slices; so the children had quite a feast. It was amazing that at the end of the day they still had the energy to kick a footy, chase a frisbee and play ping pong – but they did. Here they were able to play freely and enjoy just being kids without thoughts of surgery or homesickness.

Patients And Community To Benefit From Cabrini Health Malvern Upgrade

October 29, 2015

Current and future patients of Cabrini health service will benefit from lifesaving cardiac, acute geriatric, medical imaging and radiotherapy services, with a new facility to be built at Cabrini’s Malvern campus subject to [the approval of local governing authorities].

Cabrini Chief Executive Dr. Michael Walsh says the new clinical building is an essential and inevitable upgrade given the design and length of service of some of Cabrini Malvern’s older buildings.

“For 67 years, Cabrini has provided care and support to our community with compassion, integrity, courage and respect. The Cabrini Sisters opened the original ‘new hospital’ in 1958 and it has cared for tens of thousands of patients for almost 60 years.

“Over the decades, hospital care has changed and the needs of our community have changed,” said Dr. Walsh.

“In 2015, we are caring for an increasing number of elderly patients, many of whom have chronic cardiac, respiratory and other conditions. Our facilities need new and improved design to meet the needs of these patients and their families and to provide the best working environment for our doctors and staff.

More convenient access to radiotherapy cancer treatment will be a key feature of the new clinical building. “Currently, patients who need radiotherapy have to be treated elsewhere. We will soon be able to provide fully integrated cancer care to meet the needs of the Cabrini community,” said Dr. Walsh.

Dr. Walsh says the new building would include an expanded maternity unit with a multidisciplinary, integrated model of care for pregnant women and their families. “Currently 2000 babies are delivered each year at Cabrini and there is a high level of demand for this service. The new facility will ensure we can continue to offer the very best level of care for the community,” he said.

The new clinical building, located on Cabrini’s current footprint, will include:

A new radiotherapy centre and a contemporary day oncology unit with an emphasis on the patient experience
Expanded maternity facilities and an upgraded special care nursery
A new cardiac services unit to urgently treat issues of cardiac rhythm and cardiac failure
An acute geriatric medical unit to meet the needs of elderly, frail, or cognitively impaired patients
An improved emergency department, which will enable us to treat our increasingly complex patient presentations
Medical wards for the treatment of neurology, stroke and infectious diseases
A greater proportion of single patient rooms across all new levels

Dr. Walsh said the project has been well received by the Cabrini community so far.

“We’re looking forward to keeping the community informed about this project and will provide regular updates on the Cabrini website,” Dr. Walsh said.

Cabrini Health, Australia to Launch New Book

September 21, 2015

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tgh3BUfRveY&feature=youtu.be

In September 2015, Cabrini published the second volume of its history From one pebble, many pearls: perspectives on Cabrini Health 1999−2012 by Melbourne based author Di Websdale-Morrissey.

Sister Pietrina Raccuglia MSC, Provincial Superior of the Stella Maris Province (which includes Cabrini in Australia), officially launches the book at a celebration being held at Cabrini Malvern on Tuesday 22 September

As well as providing accounts of key milestones in the evolution of Cabrini in Australia during the past decade, the book includes a section on the development of the Institute of the Missionaries of the Sacred Heart over the past ten years providing a key international perspective.

Cabrini Chief Executive Dr Michael Walsh says he is pleased to present the book, which is the second volume of the history of Cabrini Health in Australia. It begins where the last book Cabrini: a hospital’s journey 1948−1998 by Gwynedd Hunter-Payne finished.

“This book provides perspectives on a period of time in Cabrini’s growth and history from 1999 to 2012. Rather than providing a strictly chronological review, this book focuses on a number of key developments in the evolution of our organisation. The stories have been told with the different perspectives of people who were involved at the time, which I think gives a rich account of Cabrini Health over the past decade or so,” said Dr Walsh.

“It is a tribute to the courage and vision of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (the Cabrini Sisters) who founded our institution and continue to sponsor and guide us today. It honours the Cabrini Health Board of Directors, management, doctors, staff and volunteers – past and present – who worked at Cabrini from 1999 until now. I especially thank our three Board Chairs of this era: the late Jan Bitcon, Professor Peter Phelan and Peter Matthey.”

The book is dedicated to Sister Irma Lunghi MSC (1926-2013) and Sister Regina Casey MSC who both spent many years working tirelessly at Cabrini in Australia and were much loved by all.

In rseearching and preparing the manuscript for the book, the author Di Websdale-Morrissey conducted approximately 100 interviews. She says the project “quickly became a fascinating and involving” one that drew her into life at Cabrini.

“Before beginning the project, I had no real knowledge of Cabrini. What surprised me most was its size and reach: the number of campuses, the size of its staff and accredited doctors; its specialisations; never-ending quest for excellence; and its advances into research and education. It was fascinating to discover that Cabrini is often at the forefront of advances in healthcare within the private sector – the introduction of its palliative care service which is unique in Victoria and so many other firsts. Chemtronics (a biomedical engineering business, now part of the Cabrini Technology group) and the Cabrini Linen Service also amazed me with their size and scope.”

Ms Websdale-Morrissey says she enjoyed the process particularly the many interviews she conducted. “The interviewees sat happily sharing their memories,” she said. “I would often get lost in the stories, laughing, crying, admiring. I hope that the book is overwhelmingly a celebration.”

Details about the book

Soft cover, 336 pages, dimensions 220 mm X 170 mm
Approximately 150 full colour photographs
Design and typesetting by Motion Advertising and Design Pty Ltd (Victoria)
Printing by Adams Printers Pty Ltd (Victoria)
Cover photography by John O’Flaherty
Stained glass windows featured on the book cover and throughout the book were created by Australian glass artist David Wright and are located at in the chapel at Cabrini Malvern, 183 Wattletree Road, Malvern
Publisher is Cabrini Health Limited, which holds copyright

For a copy of the book, please call Cabrini’s marketing and community relations department on ph (03) 9508 3553 or emailadmin@cabrini.com.au

Cabrini Health Nurse Volunteers in Rwanda

July 15, 2015

In February 2015, Jovie Ann Decoyna, a nurse who works at Cabrini Health, Australia left for two weeks to volunteer in Rwanda. Accompanying her on the flight was the goodwill of many within the Cabrini community who had donated toys, clothes and medical supplies.

Rwanda, a central African country, remains impoverished and deeply scarred by the civil war that began in 1990, which climaxed in a frenzied period of genocide in 1994. Jovie travelled there as part of the medical program of the Global Volunteer Network and was supported by a Cabrini clinical services grant.

Jovie worked in a health centre taking blood, performing HIV tests, giving immunization protection, dressing wounds and assisting in the maternity unit. She dewormed children in a transient centre and visited women who had been victims of domestic violence. The medical supplies Jovie brought with her provided health workers there, at least for a short while, with the means to do their work as best they could. The donated clothing was distributed to the waiting arms of those who had little to call their own and whose gratitude was immense.

Until the volunteers arrived, the children’s beds in the transient centre were alive with bed bugs. Jovie was one of the volunteers who washed blankets and sheets by hand for hours and painted the beds in preparation for a shipment of new mattresses and bedcovers. The donated toys now grace beds fit for the children and have brought joy to their lives.

Jovie was shaken by much that she saw but grateful and honoured to be able to help. She says: “During one of my dressing changes, an elderly woman came in. Her wound was almost healed but I noticed that the scar encircled the entire lower leg around the ankle. She said she sustained it during the genocide. What can you say to an elderly woman who has carried the burden of seeing the horror and atrocities of the genocide through her open wound every day for 20 years? I just went on my knees and cleaned her wound in reverent silence.”

Jovie’s work does not end in Rwanda, she volunteers weekly with Asylum Seekers.

Cabrini Health, Australia Launches New Look for Staff

April 7, 2015

Put a large red circle around Monday 20 April. This is the first day Cabrini staff will come to work wearing their new, bright and distinctive uniforms.

In 2012, new branding was introduced across the organization. The rebranding was reflected in Cabrini’s stationery, online presence, vehicle fleet and signage. The new look presented Cabrini as a healthcare facility with a strong heritage and a progressive nature. To complete implementation of the new brand across all facets of our organization, Cabrini staff will soon wear the same distinctive and unifying new brand integrated into their uniforms.

Natalie Sullivan, Executive Director of Continuing Care and Brighton (who has executive responsibility for patient experience), has been a member of the uniform steering committee since its inception and says the change is a successful and positive one for the organisation. Importantly, the new staff uniforms respond to feedback from staff, patients and their families.

Reason for the change

“Our research shows that patients and their families want to know who is looking after them,” says Natalie. “These new uniforms will help people to identify the role of the person providing care. “Each nurse, allied health professional, allied health assistant, diagnostic and patient services staff member will wear a distinctive uniform that identifies their role, supports them practically in the work they do, is easy to wear, care for and recognize.”

Input for the new staff uniforms was gathered during staff focus groups and discussions. Community members were consulted through Cabrini’s peak body for consumer involvement, the Patient, Resident and Family Experience Advisory Committee known as PEAC.

Natalie says she is grateful to all the staff who have provided input. “While not everyone will necessarily love every piece of the new uniforms, we have taken a lot of time with the change, seeking input and modifying the range in response to staff feedback.”

Looks, comfort and practicality

The main point of differentiation in the uniforms is the tops staff will wear. Our nurses will wear a red shirt featuring a dense pattern made up of the Cabrini ‘C’ symbol designed by Jock Mitchell of Manifesto Works. Allied health professionals will wear shirts sporting a yarn-dyed check in Cabrini colours. Diagnostic practitioners will wear shirts featuring a small grey check. Ward assistants and patient services assistants will wear a shirt that has a fine red stripe. Patient services and administrative staff will wear a printed blouse featuring a print showing elements of the Cabrini logo. All will choose from the same range of skirts, pants and shorts in a charcoal fabric designed exclusively for Cabrini. While unquestionably charcoal in effect, the fabric is a subtle blend of black and silver, to give it a slight lift and sense of class.

Perhaps more importantly, the fabrics used in the new staff uniforms are easy-care and designed to be fit-for-purpose. For example, a ward nurse in their daily activities may need to stretch, bend and shower patients. To support these tasks, the nursing shirts have extra deep action backs, are slightly longer in the body than before and sport a concealed modesty button. The fabric has a mechanical stretch and wicking feature to draw moisture away from the skin and dry quickly. Such role-specific modifications were based on feedback at staff focus groups and will ensure that the uniform items are not simply attractive, but will perform at an optimal level in the rigors of a work day.

The fabric for the pants and skirts has the feel of fine wool. The same cloth is used in the jackets worn by administrative staff and nurse managers. Optional pieces including a red cardigan with charcoal piping, or a new Cabrini tie are also on offer for specific working groups.

Cabrini is part of the communities in which our hospitals and healthcare facilities lie, so our uniform, colours and logo are familiar. It will take a little time before the new look is instantly as distinctly Cabrini but information will readily available to patients, residents and their families, explaining what each uniform means, and before long, our new uniforms will once again blend into local life.