Gastroenterology nurses have started a new initiative to educate and help patient care in residential facilities to manage feeding tubes. In the past the gastroenterology team remotely supported carers with troubleshooting gastrostomy tubes, or asked them to attend a hospital appointment, or ED which is often logistically challenging.
Now, Registered Nurses Megan Dooley and Sue Howell have put together a teaching package and competency checklist for in-house education and are travelling to the facilities to provide help directly.
Charge Nurse Manager Merrilee Williams says this proved to be a big success for Montecillo in June where its team of nurses joined together to learn from RNs Megan and Sue.
Registered Nurses Sue Howell, left, and Megan Dooley are working with residential facilities.
“The session generated much discussion amongst the staff, and the feeling was very positive,” Merrilee says.
“Megan and Sue will continue to visit care facilities to provide teaching, which will grow the skills and knowledge of staff caring for people with enteral feeding tubes.
“We are very proud of this initiative to support the provision of quality care in the community through sharing expertise and growing skills.”
The team had been approached by many residential facilities in the past for in-house education and often the carers in the residential homes can manage these situations too, of they are provided with key skills and teachings.
Now, our team is pleased we can deliver what they need to them, she says.
