Bringing relevant information to diverse groups about emergency department services: The BRIDGE project

Bringing relevant information to diverse groups about emergency department services: The BRIDGE Project Alan Ajami The St George Hospital emergency department identified the need to engage the community to ensure fairer access to health resources for patients from non English speaking backgrounds (NESB). This has become known as the Bridge Project. This project developed a transportable education program that sought to inform the community of their health care choices and the emergency department service delivery. Aim To develop and implement a transportable education program and to better inform the community about health care resources to assist them in making their own health care decisions. Method The BRIDGE coordinator developed consultation between divere groups in the community and the emergency department (ED) and provided information to help individuals cope with the ED experience using project resources including a video translated into five languages. Information resources tailored patient information handouts in the specific language and cultural need for each community visit. ED visits and tours were arranged along with the production of the education video featuring information about emergency department health care delivery. Results An evaluation questionnaire was used after each education session conducted in the community. Approximately 97% of participants have found these sessions useful. There have been many positive comments from group participants calling for more community sharing sessions on health care. More than 94% of those attending the educational sessions reported they had a better understanding of how emergency departments function and what to expect and 98% reported that the education session would change how they utilised health resources in their local community, which was inclusive of the ED. Before the education session 40% of those present reported that they were unaware of available community health resources. Conclusion The benefits of this innovative project for the emergency staff have been to develop greater tolerance and understanding of patients from NESB. Increasingly staff need to be aware of the cultural needs and expectations of patients from NESB. Leadership: investing in our future Robert Crouch Effective leadership is fundamental to organisations, teams and individuals. Often we see others as leaders or wait for others to take the lead. Historically nursing has been underrepresented in key health decisions and decisionmaking processes. We have a valuable contribution to make to health at a local, national and international level. Sometimes we lack the tools to be effective leaders but sometimes we just lack courage. This paper will draw on the work of some of the great leaders, such as Shackleton, and explore how we can apply some of their principles to everyday practice. Whether you are a staff nurse, charge nurse or unit manager, you have a lot to offer other people. Drawing on recent work from the UK around a structured training and development programme for ED consultant nurses, lessons learned about clinical leadership will be shared. This paper will challenge you to recognise some of the opportunities you have to influence and lead others. With leadership comes responsibility. To survive as effective leaders we need to invest in ourselves and those around us. This paper will explore some of the strategies needed to survive as a leader in today's healthcare climate. Reference Morrel, M. & Capparell, S. (2001) Shackleton'sWay- Leadership lessonsj%m the greatAntartic explo~vr. London: Nicholas Brealey Publishing

ABSTRACTS 4th International Conferencefor Emergency Nurses,Sydney 2003

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