Donation MattersWelcome to Donation Matters
We are now settled into our new offices at Kogarah and I would like to thank all the staff who made our transition to Kogarah seamless, including the team from NSW Health, whilst we experienced an increase in organ donation rates.
Currently it is a very challenging but exciting time in the organ donation sector. For such a long time we have wanted to implement elements now found in the National Reform Agenda. We are confident that we can work with these reforms and resources to unite and improve the sector and increase organ donation rates.
This new funding and structure comes at an opportune time as there is an increase in awareness about organ and tissuedonation and donor numbers are on the rise. We are looking forward to continuing the momentum.
I would like to welcome all of the new staff to our Service. We know how challenging these roles can be and we have put in place structures and processes to support you in your daily work. We will be holding a two day Induction program includingan Australian Donor Awareness Program Training course (ADAPT) in November. This will be followed by a more intensivecourse in February 2010.
I would like to thank our team for continuing to work hard with the increase in donor numbers and for supporting our new team members. These new senior nurses will be a welcome addition to assist the Organ and Tissue Donation Servicemeet its goals and objectives.
Meet Kathryn Ainsworth
Kathryn Ainsworth is one of our new Clinical Nurse Specialists from the NSW Western region. Based at Orange, Kathryn who has spent 4 years in intensive care nursing covers the Bathurst, Dubbo and Orange base hospitals.
She came to organ donation after attending a conference and has been a convert ever since. Just a few weeks into the job, Kathryn is out there giving presentations to the hospitals in Orange to the nursing staff and to the Orange Health Council aswell as to the Bathurst Emergency Department. Systems are now in place to help donor families during the organ donation process and having someone like Kathryn there will help families through the donation process.
Bathurst has already achieved two donors in the last few months so Kathryn is very pleased and believes that there are more potential donors in the regional areas and we will start to see an increase in donation in the regions.
“People are very interested to find out more information after seeing a lot of media about organ donation and watching programs like ‘The Gift.’ It is very important for families to discuss organ donation and have a clear direction.”
“Facebook also has a lot of information about organ donation and transplantation so this is a good time to talk to people in regional areas,” she said.
Kathryn is doing just that: in the upcoming weeks she will be presenting at local community groups such as the Lions clubs.
Donor Rates
We have been experiencing a marked increase in organ donation in recent months which is keeping our staff very busy – well done!
Professional Development
A one-day induction course will be held on 4th November 2009 to integrate our new staff into the sector. It will provide basicinformation about the framework and process. The following day, an ADAPT training course will be held which will focus on donor management and family support.
National Authority
Kerry McKay, Communications Manager has been seconded to the AOTA for a period of three months to help with the National Communications launch and other projects.
Kerry is working one day per week at Kogarah and four days in Canberra.
Charter Wall — a new approach to Communication
The Parliamentary Secretary for Health, Mark Butler unveiled the National Communications Charter Signatories Wall at the National Authority’s offices on 17th September.
Trish Wills acting Manager NSW and Malynda Flarey NSW Health were among the 47 signatories, representing all levels of government, sector agencies and community organisations.
This was the first time that the sector has united to become one voice to eliminate public confusion about organ donation.
Mr Butler said: “The Wall of Signatories symbolises a new unified approach to promote community awareness and increase public confidence in organ donation."
“Our shared goal is to empower Australians to:
- discover the facts on organ and tissue donation
- make informed choices to decide whether to donate
- discuss with family so as to confidently know each other’s wishes in relation to organ donation."
Recruitment Update
Trish is excited by her quest:
We welcome Vanessa Thomas and Kerrie Burgess to administration roles in the OTDS office at Kogarah.
