Ward 42 held the official opening of their Wellbeing Room on Thursday 16 November, as a thank you to those involved in making this dream come to life.
The team of Monash Medical Centre’s Ward 42 are the proud custodians of this new wellbeing space designed by them, for them.
An intimate space, previously a run-down and too-small-for-purpose family room, has been transformed into a place of calm and retreat for the staff who work on this high-intensity ward.
Nurse Manager Darren Gray says, “Ward 42 can be a challenging ward environment, from a patient complexity point of view, challenging behaviours and overall care need requirements on the ward, it can be a stressful environment for people to work in.”
Darren and his team have been working to improve the environment of Ward 42, to make it a better place to work. “We’ve been working towards optimising the workplace for staff wellbeing, also to improve retention and support recruitment. We identified that it would be nice to have a staff quiet space.”
Recognising and meeting a need for zen
With the announcement of the Stronger Together Team Wellbeing Grants, Darren and his team came up with the idea of a wellbeing room. Concepts and ideas started flying around and resulted in the creation of a mood board – a design of what a quiet staff retreat space would look like. “The idea of the room is that it’s been designed and thought of by our staff,” said Darren.
The room is softly lit with festoon lights (so the overhead fluorescent lights can be off), and the almost-closed blinds let in muted sunlight. There are new, comfy couches in neutral colours, with indigenous artwork in pinks and oranges. A timber console holds a live plant, some rose quartz crystals, a small Bluetooth speaker, daily affirmations written by the team, and some instruments.
“One of the recent initiatives trialled on the ward is music therapy. This wonderful service had a huge impact on our patients and staff alike.” One of the instruments used in music therapy is the steel-tongue drum. “You don’t need any hidden musical talent to produce the soothing and harmonious sounds. Staff love playing it,” says Darren.
Across the room, next to a portable massage chair attachment, is a small table holding a salt lamp, aromatherapy diffuser, and a miniature zen garden.
A cupboard in the room has been converted into a book swap library and members of the team can come and read or take books home, which provides another diversion for staff.
Thank you
The refurbishment of this space would not have been possible without the support of the General Medicine Senior Medical Staff fund and the Monash Health Stronger Together Grant. Thanks also to Maxxia for funding the purchase of the equilibrium chime which is a welcome addition to the wellbeing activities available in the room. Maxxia also generously funded catering for the opening event on Thursday. The team is so thankful and grateful for the support they have received. The Ward 42 Wellbeing Room opened for use at the start of October, and staff have loved it.
“Night shift have thought it’s the best thing ever… Since the room opened, I have been receiving emails and notes from our permanent night duty nurses saying in all their time nursing, they haven’t come across anything so purpose-built for staff and they’re so grateful to have it,” says Darren.
Another room is currently being revitalised as a patient and family breakout space, with consideration to the patient cohort, and will contain safe and risk-free décor and furnishings, while still being a calming space for patients and their families to enjoy.
Approved by Katrina Nankervis, Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer
