The welcoming address to the 37th Australian Ophthalmic Nurses Association New South Wales Conference by Sydney ophthalmologist Dr Con Petsoglou was on lifelong learning. “We start with no specialised knowledge in a new field, after six months we know so much,” he said, likening this to, “…reaching The Peak of Mr Stupid before crashing down into The Valley of Despair’! His journey of lifelong learning analogy included a trek up The Slope of Enlightenment before finally reaching The Plateau of Sustainability.
Dr Petsoglou highlighted new technologies and the importance of having good IT systems in place to disseminate information. His examples included the sharing of lectures on cellphones, this being where ‘the youth of today’ look for answers.
Keynote speaker was ‘UK Nurse of the Year 2019’ Taurai Matare, advanced nurse practitioner from Whipps Cross University Hospital. Matare discussed leadership and the development of a multi-skilled ophthalmic workforce, noting the challenges in getting funding to overcome the traditional barriers of poor career progression. She discussed the challenges of a staff culture of bullying and harassment and lack of understanding among the nursing hierarchy. She shared on how she had personally overcome these challenges and now managed a unit that runs nurse-led laser clinics, medical retina assessments and post-operative cataract follow ups. On hearing this, some of the New Zealand nurses had to bite their tongues, as we have been doing some of that for quite some time.
Interestingly, to help 350+ patients per day move smoothly through the department, Matare said they have one staff member who wears a yellow high-vis vest and acts as a patient flow coordinator. She said this has resulted in less complaints and ‘happier’ patients - an interesting idea that could be looked at for our units? Wrapping up, Matare gave an inspired talk about a four-hour turnaround triage that provides safe and effective care, rapid pathways that can be accessed within two weeks, and described an education leaflet given to all patients.
Gareth Hockey gave a presentation on post-operative infection following a traumatic eye injury and the importance of documentation. As I sat there, all I could hear were two of my mentors from Greenlane Eye Clinic saying, “If it isn’t written, it didn’t happen.” Hockey shared a woeful tale of a discharge without adequate patient understanding or follow-up appointments in place, and not having a phone number that worked over a long weekend! All of which resulted in two more surgeries for a severe orbital infection and 27 days in hospital mopping up something that was completely avoidable. It was a salutary lesson for us all about good discharge planning.
