Alfred nurse wins national award
Roni Murphy won HESTA's Outstanding Graduate Award for developing a new record keeping system that improves the care experience of patients who have difficulty communicating.
With the belief that every staff member has the potential to influence a patient’s hospital experience, Roni developed a system that ensures vital non-clinical information can be used by all team members to aid compassionate, quality care.
Designed for patients that have a difficulty communicating, Roni’s patient preferences prompt sheet enables inpatients to highlight their likes and dislikes.
“We have a lot of patients with delirium or other cognitive impairments, which means they aren’t always able to speak consistently for themselves. These individuals are at risk of significant deterioration in their nutritional status, cognition, and overall wellbeing,” Roni said.
“Making sure that the patient feels heard, respected and valued, and that care is being delivered to match their unique needs, is so important. I don’t believe health care is as effective if it doesn’t take into account the ‘who’ and the ‘why’ of every patient.”
As a nurse, Roni finds it endlessly interesting to learn about how each person (and their family) experiences the spectrum of illness, recovery and health.
“It’s a privilege to meet people when they are at their most vulnerable, to learn from them and to offer to them what you have learned from others.”
The HESTA Australian Nursing & Midwifery Awards were announced at a ceremony on 10 May 2018.
Roni plans to use the prize money from her award win to help pay for a Master’s degree in nursing, in addition to funding work experience in under-resourced parts of Australia and the world. Well done!
