A specialised team of nurses at Metro South Health is delivering front line care to isolated and COVID-positive patients in the comfort of their homes.

The Acute Care@Home service has had a positive impact on the number of patients requiring admission to hospital throughout the pandemic and has also helped to limit the number of unwell people needing to be out in the community to seek treatment.

Acute Care@Home Assistant Director of Nursing Melissa McCusker said the nurses were given a difficult task at the beginning of the pandemic, as more information about the novel virus was being discovered every day.

“The teams are always there to care for patients, but the pandemic presented a rapid and steep learning curve about dealing with a new disease, sometimes daily changes in protocols, new requirements, new equipment and training in PPE protocols,” Ms McCusker said.

“Providing a pandemic response was not something any of our nurses have experienced before, and they continued to put patients first when very little was known about the virus.

“They were incredibly adaptable and professional going into people’s homes and in many cases trying to answer the questions and ease the fears of their patients and patients’ families in an uncertain and fluid situation. “They rose to the challenge and the results of their phenomenal contribution can be seen with the continued decline of active cases in Metro South.”

Acute Care@Home has a team of 60 nurses across Princess Alexandra, Logan, Redland and Queen Elizabeth II hospitals. The team continues to monitor patients across the Metro South Health catchment who are isolating at home or at a hotel.

This article was originally posted via Metro South Health on 29 June 2020. Orginal Article link https://metrosouth.health.qld.gov.au/news/taking-the-front-line-to-the-front-door

Metro South Health's Director of Nursing Education Bernadette Thomson will explore how Metro South health successfully developed a training strategy for non-clinical staff to improve patient experience during COVID-19 at the upcoming Leadership and Innovation in Nursing Online Event on Thursday 20 August 2020. Register your pass by clicking the 'register now' button above.