The Importance of Teams, Teamwork and Team Leadership - Walmsley House - Presbyterian Support Southland

Traditionally, health prevention and cure have always been the aim for the healthcare industry. Consequently it is the one industry that faces continuous pressures to improve quality and the one with the fastest‐growing interest in quality. Enter the audit process. Generally most health professionals would not exactly be excited about an audit. While all would acknowledge it is an essential and vital aspect of quality nursing care, actually a positive, it is often a stressful time in the lead up.

Walmsley House is a 31 bed residential facility in the southern part of New Zealand. We can claim a relaxed, friendly and homey atmosphere as reported by our residents and visitors. Walmsley House is managed by Jennifer de Jesus NM, RN and supported by an RN Nikki Harrison. We have an amazing team of staff most of who have been here for many years. All are important and without team work nothing would function- from careworkers, to kitchen, activities, housekeeping and volunteers. As most of them are long term staff another audit didn’t really faze them - they had been through a few already.  However both nurses were new to Walmlsey House, beginning work here 6 months prior to the audit. It was also to be our first involvement in an audit process. We were, as they say, quite green, newbies.

It could not have been done without team work, that was the key

In the months prior we spent our time learning the role of our new jobs and ensuring everything was of standard for the audit. We had amazing support and guidance from Presbyterian Support Southland Quality Manager Raewyn Healey and Director of Services for Older People, Julia Russell. We had some new initiatives being implemented at Walmsley House with the aim of improving quality of life and health for our residents. One of these was ‘Medimap’ a computer program for medication administration. We have seen this improve communication between Walmsley, the pharmacy and GP’s and also reduce medication errors. Another was weekly visits from a Nurse Practitioner which has correlated with fewer urgent GP visits or hospital admissions for residents. Infection Control promotion has seen a significant reduction in our infection rates compared to the previous year. We also implemented a paperwork system called Stop And Watch (SAW) reporting, which the careworkers use to document any changes, significant or otherwise, and alert the RN and NP (Nurse Practitioner) for follow up, hugely improving teamwork and communication. A final implementation was around our activities program, we began a ‘music therapy’ class. This is run a couple of times a week and involves a talented musician with a passion for older people coming in to spend 1:1 time with residents and also group sessions. She plays the old songs they know and love, has them singing along and teaches them how to play instruments. It’s quite honestly an excuse to party for the residents, but from a nursing perspective we have seen it improve the physical performance, mental stimulation and social interaction for our residents. So along with our day to day care we felt these initiatives really made a difference for our residents, but would the auditors agree?

Despite feeling confident in the quality outcomes we were seeing from the implementations we still felt the pressure of the looming audit and of course sooner than we may have liked the 2 day audit arrived. Yet on the day the 2 auditors were very friendly and open, putting us at ease. They assured us if they found anything we would know straight away and there would be no bad surprises. The actual days of the audit were very pleasant and non-stressful.

As a result of the audit Walmsley House is pleased to have received 4 years certification and 4 CI’s (Continuous Improvement) in recognition of the work we are doing here and the outcomes for our residents. Our 4 CI’s were awarded for the activities program, Infection control, NP and SAW reporting and for quality care. We are extremely pleased with this outcome and overall feel the whole accreditation experience was positive. We feel confident moving forward knowing that we are on the right track and helping make a difference for residents, while still always on the lookout for more quality improvement ideas. It could not have been done without team work and every one doing their bit, that was the key. 

At times, quality can feel like a thankless pursuit. But being persistent and continuing to fight the good fight every day sees results and seeing the positive changes for people makes it all worth it.

Jennifer De Jesus, Facility Manager

The team at Walmsley House