At today’s employee forum, Chief Executive Andrew Stripp awarded two STAR Awards: In Pursuit of Excellence and Outstanding Care or Service Delivery. Both recipients received awards for their efforts in improving medication safety at Monash Health.
Outstanding Care or Service Delivery
The winner in this category is Tayn Martindale. Tayn is a registered nurse who works on 3A Forest at Monash Children’s Hospital.
Recently, Tayn was caring for a young, small unwell baby. Following the six rights of medication administration, Tayn identified a drug error. He withheld administration and immediately escalated to the Nurse in Charge and the respective medical team. After discussion and reference to resource manuals and newborn protocols, it was confirmed that the dosage was incorrect.
The medication order was altered but Tayn still had concerns the dosage was incorrect and escalated to the surgical registrar. A new order was prescribed. Tayn conducted a review of the baby’s condition and questioned the need for the administration of the medication. The prescribed medication dose was still incorrect, so it was withheld.
Tayn showed a fierce tenacity in keeping his patient safe. Tayn followed Monash Health policy and procedures relating to medication safety and escalation of care. As a clinical frontline worker, the need to remain focused and vigilant when administering complex medication regimes is extremely important. This is exactly what Tayn did.
He was professional and communicated positively with various members of the team whilst resourcing appropriate guidelines. Tayn escalated his concerns, seeking advice and guidance, and kept appropriate records.
This incident has been discussed by Leadership at Monash Children’s Hospital and shared with nursing and medical teams as a learning opportunity. The incident was an opportunity to reinforce the importance of protocols and procedures, and maintaining correct documentation.
Tayn demonstrated a relentless pursuit of patient safety and excellence in care. Well done Tayn and thank you.
In Pursuit of Excellence
The winner for the In Pursuit of Excellence award is Amy Morris. Amy is a Paediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist.
Recently, Amy developed two new Medication Procedures, which will improve the safety of care provided at Monash Children’s Hospital. Ward 3D Lagoon admits many children for both Tocilizumab Infusions and Rituximab Infusions. In the past, no Monash Health Procedures existed for these infusions.
Amy identified the risk of not having procedures in place. She developed these two new Procedures with multidisciplinary input and submitted them to the Children’s Quality Team for approval.
From this Amy plans to roll out an education program within Lagoon, focussing on these two new Procedures.
This will be fundamental in Standard Four Medication Safety at Monash Children’s Hospital, where these infusions are administered. They will not only assist the nursing team in the safe administration of these infusions but also the medical team in the safe prescribing of them.
Amy is an outstanding Paediatric Clinical Nurse Specialist who sets an exceptional standard for everyone in our unit to excel in what they do. She continues to demonstrate a relentless pursuit of excellence to provide the safest care for our patients.
If you know someone who deserves to be recognised, head to the STAR Portal and nominate them today. It only takes a few minutes!
For more information on the STAR Program, you can visit the Monash Health COVID-19 website.
Approved by Karen Lowe