Page 3 - TOH_Newsletter_July2024

MORE THAN WORDS | JULY 2024 3
SHARING KNOWLEDGE ACROSS THE SECTOR
In May, the 8th Biennial Palliative Care Nurses NZ Conference was held in Wellington. After submitting abstracts for consideration, four of our nurses were invited to participate. This included Anna Garton and Fiona Machin with a presentation to the group, and Sanae Masujima and Erena Whare with poster presentations.
“This conference is an opportunity to come together, to recognise and share the wealth of knowledge held in the palliative care community and explore how we can contribute to meeting the palliative care needs of this population in the future,” Sally Fleming Chair, Palliative Care Nurses New Zealand.
Anna and Fiona, both Palliative Care Facilitators (PCFs), help support, facilitate and coordinate palliative care services with our primary care providers in the Hutt Valley. Anna and Fiona’s presentation focused on their role, how they work and the services we offer.
Their presentation also included survey findings and feedback from primary care providers which helps us understand if our service currently meets the support required for their patients with palliative care needs.
Both Anna and Fiona enjoyed the conference and the chance to share their learnings with the group, answer questions, and were pleased with the warm feedback received.
Fiona and Anna.
Sanae and Erena.
Sanae and Erena each had posters on display showcasing their respective topics, available for attendees to view in-between sessions.
Sanae’s poster summarised Supportive Nursing Therapies in Aged Care. It is our understanding Te Omanga Hospice is the only hospice to offer these services within Aged Care. These therapies focus on nurturing a patient’s holistic being (body, soul, mind), providing patients with warmth, increased self-awareness, relaxation, balance, harmony, and strength.
Sanae focused on the types of treatments she uses, and some quotes and outcomes of her sessions, including this quote referring to one of her patient’s, “He is always calm and relaxed after your visit.”
Erena’s poster focused on Te Mahau - Te Omanga Hospice’s new tikanga Māori initiatives in the workplace. This included the development of a Te Omanga Hospice genealogy and Pepeha to help staff understand the whenua they are connecting to and the history of the Hospice.
“Thank you to Kura Moeahu for providing the history of the area and for gifting us our Pepeha, this knowledge enabled me to develop learning resources and tools to integrate into our service,” said Erena.
In addition to having the posters at the conference, they are now also on display at the Hospice. Both Sanae and Erena said they enjoyed having further discussions with colleagues about their projects and hearing key takeaways from staff.