Ms Shelley Vivian1, Ms Doris Lombardi1,2, Mr Simon Meyer-Henry1
1Royal Perth Bentley Group, Perth, Australia
2East Metropolitan Health Service, Perth, Australia
Method: A Project Officer was appointed on a fixed-term basis through a formal expression of interest process. Working under the direction of the IP&M Coordinator, the Project Officer was assigned projects of varying scale over a duration of eight months.
Results: Working in consultation with a number of services to instigate facility and systems-based quality improvement projects, the Project Officer provided project management direction, strategy and support to facilitate completion of organisation-wide change management projects.
Conclusion: The novel appointment of a Project Officer to the IP&M Team ‘expanded horizons’ of traditional IP&M team membership, demonstrating considerable benefits to service improvement at an organisation and innovation level. By supporting the IP&M Nursing team through taking on the project management role, it was observed that there was increased capacity for innovation and completion of core business. Furthermore, the novel use of a Project Officer was noted anecdotally to strengthen hospital networks for IP&M by championing system-based change projects.
Background: The challenge of implementing innovative strategies and improvement projects whilst meeting increasing daily workload demands is a familiar one. At Royal Perth Bentley Group (RPBG), Western Australia the increased difficulty of meeting this challenge during COVID-19 pandemic planning, preparation and response was recognised by the Director of Nursing, Midwifery and Patient Support Services through the innovative appointment of a trial Project Officer to the Infection Prevention and Management (IP&M) Unit. This position supported the IP&M Coordinator by facilitating the implementation of organisation-wide infection control measures and quality improvement projects to achieve system-based change.
Biography: Shelley Vivian is currently the Acting Manager of Patient Support Services at Royal Perth Hospital Perth, Western Australia. She is also a qualified Speech Pathologist and has an interest in change management having recently worked as the Project Officer within the Infection Prevention and Management Team as part of an innovative trial. She finds swimming laps at her local pool helps her nut out solutions to complex project challenges.