Child Safety Study Day
The Paediatric team at UL School of Medicine and UHL hosted a Paediatric Study Day on Friday 5th May on the topic of Child Safety. The event was open to all healthcare staff with an interest in this topic.
Almost 60 attendees joined the event which was approved for CPD from the RCPI and generously supported by UL School of Medicine and the Maternal and Child Health Directorate, UHL.
The Study Day involved a number of presentations and discussions around child trafficking, digital safety, child protection cases and careers in paediatrics.
Grand Rounds was delivered by Prof Alf Nicholson, Head of School at RCSI Bahrain, on the topic of the future of paediatrics.
Pictured: Left to Right: Dr Aisling O’Riordan, Consultant Paediatrician UHL. Dr Rachel Power, Consultant Pediatrician UHL. Prof Alf Nicholson, Head of School and Vice President for Academic Affairs, RCSI Bahrain. Prof Clodagh O’Gorman, Consultant Paediatrician UHL. Dr Siobhán Gallagher, Consultant Paediatrician, UHL. Dr Siobhán Neville, Consultant Paediatrician, UHL
International Nurses Day
On 12 May we celebrated International Nurses Day across the Group. The Theme was ‘Our Nurses, Our Future.’
At UHL, an event was organised by nursing staff in CERC, with poetry, dancing, music, bed making competitions and much more.
In a series of quote graphics from across the sites, and a ‘Day in the Life Blog’, we heard from our nursing staff who shared with us what it means to them to work as nurses.
Thank you to all who took part
Pictured: Jasmine Thomas, Theatre Nurse University Hospital Limerick. Click here to read her full blog
International Day of the Midwife
To celebrate International Day of the Midwife on the 5th May, we got insights from two of our midwives who wrote ‘A day in the life’ blog posts, Stephanie Ryan, Staff Midwife, and Rachel Hannon, Clinical Midwife Manager, University Maternity Hospital Limerick.
Read full Blog here
Read full Blog here
Speaking about International Day of the Midwife and International Nurses Day, also held in May, Declan McNamara, Chief Director of Nursing & Midwifery said, “It is so important to take time and reflect on the past year and celebrate the amazing impact each and every midwife and nurse has on our patients.”
Your Opinion Counts Staff Survey 2023
There is still time to complete the Your Opinion Counts National Staff Survey here. ULHG currently have a 7% response rate with over 400 staff members completing the survey to date. The confidential survey is being undertaken by an independent company and takes 15 minutes to complete.
“Thank you to everyone who completed the survey so far. I encourage all staff to have their say so to help us understand how we can improve our environment for staff.” Lorraine Rafter, Director of Human Resources, UL Hospitals Group.
UL Hospitals Groups Arts Workshops
The Health and Wellbeing Department, in partnership with Helium Arts, are hoping to offer arts workshops for staff as part of the rollout of the UL Hospitals Group Health and Wellbeing programme for 2023.
All staff are invited to participate in lunchtime Arts workshops on June 9th & 16th to learn about Artistic methods.
The workshops are dependent on a minimum number of attendees; hence we would like to gauge interest in advance of booking. If interested, please contact the Health and Wellbeing Team at healthandwellbeing.ulhg@hse.ie for more information.
Total Injury Unit Attendances
Total Injury Unit (IU) attendances for the first four months of 2022 & 2023.
There has been 6.97% increase in the total IU presentations across ULHG in 2023 in comparison to the same period of the previous year.
Irish Maternity Early Warning System (IMEWS) Audit
During March an IMEWS audit was completed in UHL. This report contains results from the audit.
Audit focussed on chart completion and adherence to the IMEWS escalation and response protocol. Five pregnant and post-partum patients were reviewed in UHL (a non-maternal site). Thank you to all who engaged with the audit process.
Results:
Overall Compliance: 76%
IMEWS Chart Completion Compliance: 87%
IMEWS Escalation & Response Compliance: 49%
Quality Improvement Opportunities
• Use of the correct document which includes the escalation protocol
• Use of the ISBAR tool/sticker when escalating a patient deterioration
Re-audit planned for June 2023. Contact Siobhanb.rooney@hse.ie if your area requires IMEWS charts.
Mandatory Training for ULHG Staff
HSE Mandatory training is compulsory training that is determined for the safe and efficient delivery of services. This Mandatory training is available for all UL Hospitals staff, as e-learning modules on HSELand
The use of WhatsApp
WhatsApp does not comply with the rules of the European GDPR and it is therefore inappropriate for sharing personal or clinical information. WhatsApp should only be used for general ‘housekeeping’ messaging.
World Hand Hygiene Day
UL Hospitals Group celebrated World Hand Hygiene Day on the 5th May.
Members of our Infection Prevention & Control Team tested Hand Hygiene practices on staff at their information stand in UHL.
Also highlighting our “Back to Basics” message on appropriate use of gloves. "Our gloves are off for patients safety!"
Cleaning hands regularly is one of the most effective ways of stopping the spread of many common infections.
NCHD Conference Winners
Eight abstract winners have been announced for this years NCHD conference which takes place at 1pm on 25th May in the CERC UHL.
The winners (pictured below) will present their research at the conference. Presentation topics cover each speciality so there will be something of interest for everyone.
The overall winner will receive a €1000 All4One voucher.
You can attend virtually via: WEBEX LINK
Heart Attack Patient Journey Video
Secondary school students curious about a career in healthcare are invited to accompany a heart attack patient on a virtual journey from his 999 call, through a life-saving intervention in the Cath lab at UHL and on to.
The interactive educational video, an initiative of the Junior Health Sciences Academy, has been launched at UHL with the help of TY students from Coláiste Chiaráin, Croom; Gaelcholáiste Luimnigh; Thomond Community College and Castletroy College. Full story here