Barb Ellison

Barb Ellison, Charge Duty Manager, Southland Hospital

A typical day

There is no typical day in the day of the Duty Manager. However, the constant juggling of tasks is a consistent theme. This includes meetings to assess patient flow including predicted acute (urgent) admissions and discharges plus actual elective (planned) admissions, discharges and transfers in and out of the hospital. These are balanced with the ability to determine safe patient loads on the wards by way of Trendcare acuity data and verbal feedback from the management teams.

In addition, there are calls from ED, and outpatient clinics for admissions bed booking, sick calls and replacement cover, patient watch assessment and cover of same, phone calls seeking information and support, reporting breakdowns and outages, and complaints.

The day is dotted with managing both intra and inter-hospital patient transfers and as necessary provision of appropriate escort cover. Duty Managers attend emergencies such as trauma calls in the Emergency Department and hospital wide code blue, black, and red calls requiring immediate urgent attention meaning all other tasks are dropped while attending these calls.

The Charge Nurse Manager (CNM) part of my role includes development of procedures, for example around safe transportation of patients, and team development which involves recruitment. I’m also involved in roster development, professional development, and supportive improvement conversations, safety first investigation and feedback. I also ensure staff are paid correctly, this includes ensuring staff are on the right pay scale, imputing data into our payroll systems, checking that daily changes are all accurate and approved.

On the resource team Southland Hospital currently has sixteen fabulous registered nurses and 20 HCA’s including casual staff, plus six Duty Mangers who I mentor.

One way I have made a difference as a nurse

One way I have made a difference is advocating for the vulnerable. As a nurse I value the ability to be a voice for those who have no voice.

What would I say to a person considering a career in nursing?

Nursing is a great career because there is such a wide variety of career pathway opportunities, and the working hours can be flexible for any stage of your career. A nurse needs to be work fit to truly love and flourish in the role. That includes being physically, emotionally, and spiritually fit. Have a healthy lifestyle - eat healthily, get adequate sleep, be thankful, meditate, keep being inquisitive, and learn something new every day.