Many people across the Bass Coast are able to keep living in their homes despite health concerns, thanks to the Community Nurses of Bass Coast Health (BCH).
During Nursing in the Community Week from 9-15 September, BCH is celebrating the wonderful Nurses who provide care to clients in their homes.
These wonderful nurses are extremely skilled in many fields and offer specialised expertise that is helping people with limited mobility, wounds or other health conditions to stay at home where possible. They also support people who are requiring end-of-life care, so they can be comfortable in their own home.
BCH’s biggest Community Nursing cohort is the District and Palliative Care Service, which provides care to those within the Bass Coast Shire. This ranges from wound care and medication support to palliative care symptom management and end-of-life care needs, along with many other nursing tasks that clients need to remain living at home.
BCH also has community nurses who work in the Maternal and Child Health Service, Transition Care Program, Residential in Reach, Domiciliary Care Service and the Better at Home service.
Specialist Clinical Nurse Consultants such as our Diabetic and Cardiac Nurses, Stomal Therapy Nurses, Continence Nurses and our Aboriginal Health Clinical Nurse Consultant are also out and about in the community providing specialised care to enable clients to live as fulfilling lives as possible.
Passionate, caring and dedicated, the Community Nursing team works hard to help people stay out of hospital and live as independently as possible, in their home.
BCH is celebrating these wonderful nurses and highlighting to our community that much of the care we provide occurs out of the hospital setting. These nurses exemplify the important role we have of keeping people out of hospital.
District Nurse Melanie Dickison is grateful for the opportunity to enhance her clients’ lives.
“Working one-on-one with clients, we build special relationships with them and are able to bring them a sense of security in knowing that someone will visit to care for their health needs,” she said.
“It’s so rewarding to know that our clients are receiving care at home, which is where they’d rather be.”
Our Better at Home service provides hospital-level care to clients in their homes when they are well enough to stay at home rather than be admitted to hospital. This program includes the services of the Hospital in the Home (HITH) Program and the GEM@Home program.
HITH Nurse Laura Marshall said patients generally return to optimal health sooner when they are cared for at home.
“When patients are in a familiar environment, often with their loved ones around them, they feel more comfortable and relaxed, and that contributes to their wellbeing and overall health,” she said.
“It’s rewarding being able to work in such a role, where we can attend to our client’s acute care needs in their home.”
Residential in Reach nursing staff help residential aged care services care for more complex residents, while the Transition Care Program helps older people in their home at the end of their hospital stay, giving them peace of mind and the ability to focus on their recovery.
Maternal and Child Health/Domiciliary Care staff provide assessment, care and support to women, babies, partners and families, and are an important service, seeing our community from many different sites.
More information about these programs can be found our website: basscoasthealth.org.au
People wishing to access our services can ask their GP to email a referral to Access@basscoasthealth.org.au