Orthopaedic Nursing Conference on - Saturday 6th October 2018
Our conference was a great success and the completed evaluations were very positive and encouraging. We had over 40 of our own staff registered and 60 external applicants including physiotherapists, clinical nurse specialists and advance nurse practitioners. There was attendance from our colleagues in Cork, Dublin, Tralee and Limerick and also staff from Galway University Hospital, Merlin Park Hospital, Galway Clinic, St Vincent’s Private, Hermitage, Tullamore, Navan, Croom, Cappagh Cork, Sligo and Mayo.
We hosted the conference in the Day Ward discharge lounge and after a short introduction from our Director of Nursing, Mairead Carr, the day started off with a presentation from Prof McCabe who gave an overview of orthopaedics in the Bon Secours Galway. This was followed with a presentation on Mission and core values in action delivered by Donal O Neill and Noreen Donoghue. This session encouraged all those present to consider their work and how they as nurses live by and practice their own hospital mission and values. Noreen asked us to reflect on how we will implement the Care, Commitment and Compassion document launched recently by the HSE. A Case study approach was then used by our nursing staff to present the care pathway and outcomes for three orthopaedic patients. Margaret Loughnane then followed with plaster cast management and compartment syndrome.
Meet the experts panel include Mr Stephen Kearns, Dr Miriam Delaney, Emilie Mc Grath, Donal O’Neill and Sinead Joyce. The panel took questions from the audience and it proved to be a very energising and informative session and was facilitated by our Quality and Risk Manager Margaret McHugh.
After lunch the patient experience session was very reaffirming and provided those present with an insight into what it was like being on the receiving end of care. He spoke of the importance of ensuring that we explain and educate patients on what to expect at each stage and most especially after discharge. Nurses need to be cognisant that the patient’s recovery is not complete on discharge, as this is often just the first step as they begin their rehabilitation to return to their life as it was. He finished by sharing his philosophy on recovery the 3 Ps – Patience, Persistence and Perseverance.
The day ended with our Keynote speaker Ciara Losty with a background in sports physio and psychology, combines both of her qualifications to work with athletes, jockeys and GAA teams. Her talk was very well received and very thought provoking. She imparted some of her knowledge and experience in this area: the importance of having a positive attitude, working on areas that we can control; and not wasting time or energy on things that are outside of our control. We can control what we think, what we believe and how we behave but we can’t control how others react to this. Her practical positive psychology asks: what’s the best that can happen; what’s the worst that can happen; and what’s the most likely thing that will happen. She also said that confidence is a trainable skill and we can prepare to fell confident and earn the right to feel confident. With small bite size achievable goals we can make it happen and not ‘wait’ for it to happen. She finished with talking about TCup thinking: blue head – clear and accurate in what has to be achieved (helpful and positive); red head is panic, poor decision making, over reaching (not helpful and negative). So when in stressful situations we need to have our head in the fridge and body in the oven BLUE HEAD, RED BODY.
Other speakers included Dr Miriam Delaney who spoke on bone health and Michelle Healy Pain Clinical Nurse Specialist from GUH who imparted her knowledge on analgesics and how they can be used to their full potential.
Thanks to our catering staff for the variety of foods and their efficiency in serving refreshments and lunch. Everything ran very smoothly on the day even with such a big crowd. A special thanks to all our speakers and the organising committee.
