The cost of chronic wounds in Australia is estimated to be $3 Billion per year, impacting 420,000 Australians. Not only is this a national economic concern, but more importantly, is the suffering the person may be going through.
Australian Health Journal met with Hayley Ryan, Board Director and Chair at Wounds Australia and Director at WoundRescue to hear her work in chronic wound management, palliative wounds and pressure injury prevention to comfort those living with a wound.
Hayley has over 22 years’ experience in nursing and has 18 of these in wound care during this time. Hayley has a passion for healing wounds as a Clinical Nurse Consultant across Australia and New Zealand.
She gave testimony at the Royal Commission into Aged Care in July 2019, through the Wounds Australia’s submission, on several topics including: wound care statistics, the causes of wounds, prevention of wounds, the use of appropriate wound dressings, substandard wound care, and recommendations to improve wound management within aged care.
In this interview Hayley talks about how she first got interested in wound management before talking through the current issues with wound management in the Australian health system. These issues include access, education and awareness as a health priority.
Hayley also talks about Wounds Australia’s 11 Point Plan. It has been produced to be a clear and effective blueprint for governments to follow. The plan draws on the knowledge and skills of Australia’s top wound care experts to dramatically cut patient numbers and the funds to treat them.
There is a goal in handling the complications of delivering treatment across primary care, community care, hospital and aged care settings turning into a more defined and streamlined process.
In terms of growth in specialist wound care knowledge in health workers, Hayley talks about the education and training pathways health care professionals can take, including through Wounds Australia, Monash University and Wound Rescue.
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Handling modern day diets and misinformation as a HCP
Laureate Professor Clare Collins AO in Nutrition and Dietetics at the University of Newcastle, emphasises the need for accurate and reliable nutrition information to reach the public. Prof Collins believes that it is vital for clinicians to stay up-to-date with cutting-edge nutrition science and work with communication organisations to disseminate information to the general public. This is particularly important as social media is full of both reliable and unreliable information on dietary patterns, such as veganism.
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Australia’s Nursing Crisis Snapshot
“Nursing, already under pressure, is reaching breaking point due to the pressures of COVID-19 and a disjointed healthcare system, including the acute, primary and aged care sectors”, says Kylie Ward, Australian College of Nursing CEO adding, “We must act now to protect our nurses and healthcare; the time has come for a national reckoning on nursing in Australia.”
Australian nurses cannot continue to work under the extreme pressure they are currently operating under – the impacts are mounting.
The almost 400,000 Australian nurses are a constant presence in every one of our major life milestones, national emergencies and global crises. The nurse of today holds a science degree, possesses highly technical training, valuable medical opinions, front-row expertise, is an effective trainer, and is skilled in population and systemic thinking. But the pandemic is inflicting a major emotional and physical toll on nurses.
In this “Perspectives” special, Australian Health Journal spoke with 4 nurses on the challenges they or nurses in their circle have experienced, the key issues as well some of the opportunities. These nurses come from national leadership & policy, large scale workforce management, a final year student completing over a year on placement across 6 Melbourne Hospitals and a NSW based ICU nurse stranded in Mexico, unable to return to a critical role in nursing to an already strained team due to incoming quotas.
While the issues are challenging, there are strategies that can be put into place to ease the pressure, to support nurses, and nursing care in Australia. These are discussed by the the 4 nurses.
– Adjunct Professor Kylie Ward FACN CEO, Australian College of Nursing
– Adjunct Professor Alanna Geary FACN ACN Chair of Workforce Sustainability Policy Chapter & Chief Nursing & Midwifery Officer, Metro North Health
– Natalie Reyes, NSW based ICU Nurse Currently stranded in Mexico
– Hayley Pollock, Final Year Bachelor of Nursing Student & ACN Emerging Nurse Leader
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The quest to create an Australian framework for a Palliative Care Pharmacist
Helen Stone is the State and Territory Manager SA & NT for the Pharmaceutical Society Australia. Her professional interests include palliative care, pharmacist professional services, mental health, leadership, and management.
She has recently led teams of pharmacists in innovative pharmacy practice models including in aged care, GP practice, palliative care and dementia support. This has contributed to the body of evidence for sustainable funding for embedded pharmacist roles in primary care and aged care settings.
