Clinical Nurse Erin Rosewood admits she has fallen in love with bones.
Erin is the face of Mackay Base Hospital’s new orthopaedics pre-admission screening clinic and has chosen to specialise in orthopaedics nursing.
“I initially wanted to work in cardiology but did six months of my post graduate year in a ward with a lot of orthopaedic patients and I fell in love with bones,” she said.
Erin went on to study a Master of Trauma Nursing and a Graduate Diploma in Orthopaedic Science.
She is enjoying working with like-minded passionate people.
“The team is all passionate about orthopaedics and I am proud of the nursing care we provide.
“We have had patients in traction for six weeks and we have nursed them so well they have no pressure injuries or hospital-acquired pneumonia, and this is something to be proud of,” she said.
Erin believes the new orthopaedics pre-admission screening clinic will ensure everyone on the waiting list is in the best position for surgery.
She will work with patients and their GP to ensure they are ready for surgery and have issues such as high blood sugar or blood pressure under control.
This is expected to result in fewer same-day cancellations which results in unused operating theatre time.
“The goal will be to mobilise on day one of their surgery and be home on day three. If we have shorter length of stay, we can offer more surgery.
“We will look at the home environment as well – and this can be as simple as organising in advance for any matts on the floor to be rolled up so they are not a trip risk.
It’s anticipated group pre-admission sessions will be held four weeks before surgery to help patients and their support person prepare with input from a physiotherapist and occupational therapist.
“We’ll run through the whole process, what we expect them to do before and what our goals and expectations are too.
“Patients will understand what their participation level needs to be and how they can help their recovery. Research shows that many patients who have a joint replaced have expectations that are unreachable – they think they will wake up pain free and hurdle out of here.
“And you never know people might make some friendships! We ran a trial clinic and there was one man preparing for a hip replacement after having his knee replaced earlier.
“He was able to share his previous experience of a knee replacement. The feedback from the participants was that sharing their experience helped reduce their anxiety.”
