Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Waikato Midwife of the Year 2024

Source: Waikato District Health Board

Held each year on 5 May, the International Day of the Midwife, celebrates the work and contribution midwives make to newborn and maternal health.

A key part of these celebrations is the announcement of the winner of the annual Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Waikato Midwife of the Year award.

From a talented field of nominees, the 2024 award winner was Nicki Tames, a Registered Midwife in Ward E2 at Waikato Hospital.

Nicki’s nomination described her as a midwife making a real difference who has a passion for providing the best experience for women no matter the reason they are in hospital.

“Nicki really gets to know the women she cares for and provides such a ‘mothering’ experience. She thinks holistically in all her care plans and will always involve whānau.

“Nicki is able to really improve a mother’s experience by simply listening to her concerns and offering ideas that show she had thought about the mother’s mental and physical health and she is always ready to guide and support colleagues in thinking more holistically.”

The criteria for the award is a registered midwife who makes a real difference to the areas they work in. This could be related to improvement in experience and/or safety of women, pregnant people and whānau, it may encompass innovation, improvements to a wider team, or implementing process changes.

Pictured: Nicki Tames on receiving her award

Health New Zealand – Te Whatu Ora Waikato Nurse of the Year 2024

Source: Waikato District Health Board

The Health New Zealand | Te Whatu Ora Waikato Nurse of the Year Award for 2024 was celebrated at Waikato Hospital last week.

The event coincided with International Nurses Day which had a theme of “Our Nurses, Our Future”, and was an opportunity for nurses to celebrate the success of their peers.

From a strong field of 23 nominees, the recipient of the 2024 Nurse of the Year award was Marion Sanders who works in the Mothercraft service located at the Waterford Birthing Centre.

Marion Sanders, Waikato Nurse of the Year 2024

Marion Sanders, Registered Nurse in Mothercraft played a pivotal role in the planning and execution of two relocations of Mothercraft from its original home of 50 years in 2022.

The positivity, initiative and sheer hard work demonstrated by Marion was described by her peers in her nomination as role modelling what an expert, dedicated nurse should look like.

Her nomination described Marion as an avid advocate for her service and for women and their babies, Marion’s expert nursing knowledge of families and the community which she shares with colleagues and whānau is greatly respected.

Receiving the 2024 award, Marion said she was overwhelmed and humbled given the high standard of nursing demonstrated by the 23 nominees.

The award recognises a nurse who has made a real difference to the area they work in. This difference could be related to improved patient experience and/or patient safety. The improvement could encompass innovation, improvements to team dynamics, patient care or implementing process changes.

Pictured is 2024 Health NZ Waikato Nurse of the Year, Marion Sanders with interim Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Noel Watson

Transforming the waiting experience at Day of Surgery Admission

Source: Waikato District Health Board

Coming to hospital for surgery can be a daunting experience for any parent and their child. Waikato Hospital’s Day of Surgery Admission (DOSA) team have been working hard to make the experience more pleasant and relaxing for children.

Thanks to the initiatives of Theatre and Perioperative Services Administration Team Leader Katrina Downing and Administrator Sam Mitchell, the team has implemented novel ideas aimed at providing distraction and comfort to children during the waiting period.

Inspired by a vet clinic’s mural, Sam Mitchell collaborated with illustrator Scott Pearson from Visual Evolution to design a large, colourful custom art wall in the DOSA children’s waiting room. Depicting the hospital and landmarks of greater Waikato, the new art wall engages children (and their whānau) with hidden items for them to find.

The team sourced activity bags containing crayons, an activity book, stickers, games, and colouring sheets matching the new artwork, which children are able to take away with them.

The waiting room is also equipped with toddler-friendly ride-on cars, sensory play spaces with squidgy floor tiles, and a fish tank.

Operations Manager Theatre and Anaesthesia, Niki Houghton is thrilled to see the positive changes made by the DOSA team.

“The cars and the wall art are a huge hit with waiting toddlers and their parents.

“We can have up to five children and their parents in the waiting room at a time. These interactive distractions make a big difference,” says Niki.

Looking ahead, the DOSA team is focusing on the creation of a sensory room for special needs patients. With features like a sparkle cloud, bubble tube, and a projector with visual effects, the room aims to provide a calm and safe space. These additions are expected within the next two months.

Photo – Transformation team: (left-right) Sam Mitchell, Charge Nurse Manager DOSA Raewyn Wilson, Katrina Downing and Niki Houghton.

Nursing class of ’64 revisits Waikato Hospital

Source: Waikato District Health Board

A group from the nursing class of 1964 recently gathered at Waikato Hospital in Hamilton to celebrate their 60th reunion. They were greeted by Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Sue Hayward and toured the hospital to see how things had changed. They left amazed at all the developments.

Class of ’64 find their spot on the history wall.

Retired nurse, Judy Osborne, reminisced about the past Emergency Department, “We had a few cubicles and two plaster rooms with x-ray nearby,” highlighting the stark contrast with the current ED, now equipped with 55 beds and five resuscitation rooms.

The nurses found comfort in seeing the hospital chapel, even though the original one was gone. The stained-glass windows had been transferred from the original and brought back memories, especially for one nurse who was married in the old chapel.

The tour ended at the history timeline on the walls of level 2 Meade Clinical Centre, where the nurses traced their journey. It was a trip down memory lane, filled with shared experiences and milestones.

Sue Hayward said it was great to see the camaraderie of work colleagues from all those years ago when it was common for nurses to train, work and live together onsite at the hospital.

Group photo: (left-right) Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Sue Hayward welcoming class of ’64 nurses Lynette Aish (nee Gardiner), Judy Osborne (nee Udy), Paula Butterworth (nee Houghton), Diane Hishon (nee Hillary)

Stained cell structures create art for clinic waiting room

Source: Waikato District Health Board

Inclusion cyst in the skin

Across the new artworks lining the halls of Waikato Hospital’s Dermatology Clinic, the concept of beauty goes beyond skin deep.

Staff have chosen vibrant microscopic images of skin and tissue samples to be made into artwork. The bright colours are the result of stains used to help identify various skin issues.

Waikato Hospital dermatologist, Dr Reinhard Gansel, came up with the idea for the art collection while preparing for his Vocational Professional Assessment as a Dermatologist in New Zealand. Patient feedback regularly discussed improving the clinic waiting area and hallway, with a common theme being a lack of colour.

“It came to my mind that we always look at colours through the microscope, investigating stained microscopic skin.”

A stark contrast to the plain white of the hospital environment.

The images came from Dr Duncan Lamont from the Histopathology Department and were selected in collaboration with the Dermatology team.

“Dr Lamont was excited to showcase magnified images of stained cell structures, choosing from a wide range of non-identifiable material and matching some in pairs with complementary colours,” said Dr Gansel.

The artworks were installed during September and feedback from patients and staff has been very positive.

Scabies in the skin

Stomach crypts with helicobacter

Group photo caption: L-R Dermatology team, Dr Amanda Oakley, Dr Reinhard Gansel, CNS Karina Hayward, Dr Amrit Singh, Dr Juhee Roh, Dr Cristina Mello, Dr Lydia Chan, Dr Julia Zhu.

New partnership halves fares to Waikato Hospital while protecting environment

Source: Waikato District Health Board

From 16 October access to Waikato Hospital will be easier for staff, patients and visitors thanks to a partnership between Te Whatu Ora – Health New Zealand and local councils.

Te Whatu Ora Waikato Operations Director for Clinical and Operational Support, Melinda Ch’Ng said the initiative will deliver a 50 percent discount on bus fares for people using their Bee Card to and from Waikato Hospital using the Pembroke St and Hague Rd bus stops.

“This initiative is aimed at improving equity of access to our hospital while contributing effectively to our carbon emission reduction goals.”

“Anyone travelling to and from the hospital using their Bee Card who tags on or off at the three bus stops near Waikato Hospital will automatically have the half price subsidy applied to the fare charged to their card, so it’s better for your wallet and, better for the environment.”

Te Whatu Ora will be covering the cost of concession for a trial of up to 12 months. Ms Ch’Ng said there was sound reasoning behind the investment.

“During the Government’s 50 percent public transport subsidy we saw a 28 percent increase in bus passengers travelling to or from the hospital and in partnership with the Waikato Regional Council, we want to build on that success.

“As an organisation we’re continuously seeking ways to mitigate the effects of population growth, lessen demand for onsite staff parking, care for our staff and help care for the environment by reducing single occupancy vehicle use, be that by staff, patients or visitors.”

The public transport fare subsidy initiative is part of Te Whatu Ora Waikato’s Sustainability Framework and the hospital’s Travel and Access Plan.

“One of the main goals of these strategies is improving access to transport for healthcare for priority populations and by keeping bus fares to and from the hospital affordable, it gives people healthier, more environmentally sustainable travel options.”

Waikato Regional Council’s public transport manager Trudi Knight said, “This is an operationally unique model in our corporate concession scheme that will deliver subsidised fares to passengers travelling to and from Waikato Hospital”.

“The scheme plays a pivotal role in fostering a culture of sustainability and environmental consciousness, and in the case of Te Whatu Ora, it makes trips to the hospital easier and more affordable.”

The Pembroke St stops are serviced by the Comet, Orbiter, 12 Fitzroy, 24 Te Awamutu and 26 Te Kūiti, buses and the Hague Rd stop is serviced by the 25 Taumarunui bus. For more information about Hamilton and regional buses visit busit.co.nz or call 0800 205 305.

Country’s first Cardiac Pulsed Field Ablation procedure successfully completed at Waikato Hospital

Source: Waikato District Health Board

In a national first, a Waikato Hospital cardiology team successfully completed a Pulsed Field Ablation (PFA) procedure yesterday to treat atrial fibrillation.

The Waikato Cardiology team involved in Tuesday’s procedure

Cardiologist, Associate Professor Martin Stiles, described PFA as a minimally invasive procedure involving a physician team threading a catheter (a thin, flexible tube) through a vein in the groin, guiding it into the patient’s heart and “ablating” veins at the back of the heart.

“Traditionally, we delivered hot or cold energy into the patient’s heart tissue, creating scars that help to break-up electrical signals which cause irregular heartbeats.

“PFA achieves the same thing using a ‘non-thermal’ electrical pulse to irreversibly damage the target cells while sparing the non-target tissue, which conveniently have a higher threshold for damage. PFA is faster and safer as adjacent structures are not heated or frozen.

“While recovery times between the two types of treatment are similar, due to PFA procedures being faster, we anticipate more day-stay rather than overnight stays being required which will free up hospital beds.”

While PFA has been used in cancer treatment for about a decade, Assoc Prof Stiles said it has only recently been used in treating the heart.

“The technology is brand new. It has been used in Europe since mid-2021, was introduced in Australia last year, and, as of Tuesday, is now here.

“Using the previous technique we used to complete two cases a day. Tuesday was our first day and we did three. I expect that eventually we will be able to complete four per day.”

End

Recognition for Te Kūiti nurse making a difference in her community 

Source: Waikato District Health Board

A natural nurse, popular with her peers, easily able to establish a good rapport with patients and whānau is how a Te Kūiti nurse was described at an award ceremony recently.

Enrolled nurse Roberta ‘Bobby-Anna’ Wirepa was awarded the prestigious New Zealand Nurses Organisation’s National Leadership Award at Hamilton’s Te Pukenga Wintec campus in July.

The award came two days after the 49-year-old’s graduation, a culmination of two years study that required a lot of travel and dedication, achieved despite the impact of COVID-19.

Born and raised in Te Kūiti and described as a hearty Maniapoto- King Country person, ‘Bobby-Anna’ built her reputation as a hard and reliable worker on the back of experience in the shearing and hospitality industries including running her own businesses.

A 10-year stint working in Australia led to Bobby-Anna’s first entry into the health sector when she completed a Phlebotomy course in Cairns, leading to full-time employment with Queensland Medical Laboratories as a blood collector.

Among other duties, this role included flying around Queensland to various mine sites and conducting compulsory drug screening of fly-in and fly-out workers.

Returning home to Te Kūiti in 2018, Bobby-Anna found her Australian Pathology certificates weren’t recognised, cutting short her Phlebotomy career. Undeterred, she worked in a casual Health Care Assistant role at Waikato Hospital while undertaking Health Studies and qualifying to undertake nurse training, choosing a Diploma of Enrolled Nursing.

Her skills in pathology allowed Bobby-Anna an opportunity to be seconded to various COVID-19 testing teams around the King Country leading to an offer of post-graduate employment at Te Kūiti Hospital.

Throughout her training at Te Pukenga Wintec, Bobby-Anna was recognised as being a supportive and dedicated student, leading to her receiving the leadership award.

“I’m so grateful to have been given the opportunity to continue my career at my local hospital and can only thank ‘Whaea Tarn’ (CNM Tania Te Wano) for having faith in me,” said Bobby-Anna.
“It was a real surprise when I was told about the award and initially, I didn’t understand the significance of it all. I now understand I have a real opportunity to offer something to my community.”