Balance of care - a management tool to determine appropriate staff to patient ratio in an emergency and critical care facility
Tracks
Stream Two - Room E2
| Thursday, April 18, 2024 |
| 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM |
| Room E2 |
Overview
Michelle Rouffignac
Speaker
Michelle Rouffignac
Murdoch University
Balance of care - a management tool to determine appropriate staff to patient ratio in an emergency and critical care facility
Abstract
The COVID 19 pandemic created many challenges for the veterinary industry. With pet ownership increasing and families spending more time around their pets, the need for veterinary care rose to unprecedented levels. In particular, emergency centres were running at capacity and often with limited staff. Veterinary staff struggled through these changes but this came at a cost to staff including psychological distress (eg. burn out) and errors in patient care.
This presentation discusses a system that was developed and introduced at The Animal Hospital Murdoch University (TAHMU) by a team of emergency veterinarians and nurses to provide a tool to monitor and take decisive, supported action when the staff to patient ratios in the intensive care unit (ICU) shifted to an unsustainable number.
In addition to discussing the process of development of the Balance of Care (BOC) score this presentation will demonstrate how use of the score maximised staff retention and served as a tool to minimise medical errors in the care of hospitalised pets.
This presentation discusses a system that was developed and introduced at The Animal Hospital Murdoch University (TAHMU) by a team of emergency veterinarians and nurses to provide a tool to monitor and take decisive, supported action when the staff to patient ratios in the intensive care unit (ICU) shifted to an unsustainable number.
In addition to discussing the process of development of the Balance of Care (BOC) score this presentation will demonstrate how use of the score maximised staff retention and served as a tool to minimise medical errors in the care of hospitalised pets.
Biography
Michelle has a varied career working in Zoo Veterinary Nursing, Blood Bank Management and as the Nurse Supervisor for the Emergency & Critical Care Service. Michelle enjoys sharing time actively participating on the clinical floor and working in a leadership role within the Animal Hospital. Michelle has been the reciprocate of a VNCA Scholarship, Government Endeavour Award and a Winston Churchill Fellowship Trust. She used these opportunities to travel to other facilities to learn new skills and technology to support Veterinary Nursing in Australia.
