Our aim is to provide you and your whanau/family with the information you need, should you be a patient or visitor in our surgical ward.

We have a clinical nurse manager who works (Monday - Friday, 7am - 3.30pm) and clinical nurse coordinators working each shift. We are here to provide overarching leadership to support our team in providing you with the best care possible.

Vision
In line with Whanganui District Health Board’s overarching vision ‘better health and independence’, our team are committed to providing you with safe patient care, in an environment where you and your families/whanau will be treated with dignity and respect by a professional and compassionate team.

Our multidisciplinary team will provide you and your family/whanau with information in a clear and open manner. Your input and feedback is encouraged and will enable us to work together to achieve the best possible outcome.

Model of nursing care
When you are a patient or visitor in our ward you will notice that we use a ‘team nursing’ model for providing your nursing care. This includes a registered nurse, an enrolled nurse and a health care assistant. The team may vary at times depending on the level of skill required to care for you safely. You will always have a registered nurse who will have overall responsibility for your care and they will introduce themselves to you at the beginning of each shift.

Integrated healthcare team
We also work closely with a wider healthcare team. This includes doctors, physiotherapists, nurses, occupational therapists, speech and language therapists, social workers, chaplains, ward receptionists and Spotless Services staff providing cleaning and food services. All of the team are here to care for you while you are here and on your return home.

Releasing Time to Care programme
Our team uses the Releasing Time to Care programme. This programme helps us to improve ward systems and processes so we can spend more time caring for you. The Releasing Time to Care programme also makes sure the ward environment is safe for patients.

Releasing Time to Care also means that we use:

• hourly rounding – where your nurse or healthcare assistant meets with you every hour to ensure your needs are being met. This is a great opportunity to catch up and ask any questions

• bedside handover – where your nursing team will come to your bedside or chair and discuss your care when one shift of nurses swaps with another shift of nurses. This will ensure you and your whanau/family are involved in decision-making and planning of your care and a good standard of care has been provided.