GV Hospice is one of the leading palliative care providers in Australia, being ranked third out of 72 providers nationally — made possible by clinical lead Annie Jorgensen and her team of eight nurses.
“Our nurses are passionate about palliative care; they're passionate about ensuring our patients can be just that little bit better if we can help and that they get the care where they want it,” Ms Jorgensen said.
“Five of our nurses are currently doing postgraduate studies in palliative care to enhance their knowledge and skills.
“Which is impressive for a small service, that we've got staff willing to continue that education and apply that to our patient care.
“I think they’re just committed and see the value in what they do every day.”
By providing leading, 24/7 palliative care, a nurse or volunteer is only a phone call away to support a family in need, whether that is simply advice and guidance over the phone, or a visit from an experienced carer.
“The ability for patients to be able to ring and speak to a nurse that they know ... for some guidance any time of the day or night just relieves that stress,” Ms Jorgensen said.
To achieve a top ranking, there are 20 benchmarks across all areas of care that GV Hospice staff had to meet.
“Nationally, a lot of agencies are getting about five out of the 20 benchmarks, while GV Hospice is maintaining 16 to 17 of the 20 benchmarks,” Ms Jorgensen said.
She said palliative care as a clinical speciality was still in its infancy, and to have nurses dedicated to this form of care would keep GV Hospice as a leading palliative care provider.
“Where to go from here is looking at where the areas of improvement can be ... we're always aiming to improve our benchmark.
“We're just hoping that in the future, we can extend our interdisciplinary team with maybe some allied health staff actually employed by hospice that can help also support our service.”
GV Hospice president Jeanette Powell said the completion of the new building would support and enrich hospice and palliative care services to Greater Shepparton.
“The building provides an opportunity to develop our workforce to meet the growing needs of our diverse community and provide increased options of care supporting people with life-limiting illness or during their end of life care,” she said.