Perfect score for nursing

EMERALD Glades Nursing Home has been turned around in just over a year after the Department of Health placed a sanction on it.
The nursing home has just been given a perfect score for its health standards accreditation after undertaking intensive staff training.
In October last year the Victoria branch of the Australian Nursing Federation (ANF) announced that it had appointed new caretakers and management to bring the nursing home up to standard.
The ANF’s Victorian branch secretary Jan Brownrigg last year told The Mail that concerned staff had reported incidents of patient neglect, poor hygiene, and medical charts that were altered prior to inspections by the health authorities.
Other reports included a male resident who was bleeding heavily from the bowel having to wait six hours before an ambulance was called.
The staff members that reported these incidents of neglect were later dismissed for ‘whistle blowing’.
The current manager of Emerald Glades, Pat Browne, was appointed soon after.
In just two months Mr Browne was able to bring the nursing home up to health standards.
But he said only 12 months of accreditation was given because of the sanction that was placed on the nursing home.
Mr Browne said the health department again tested the facility earlier this month.
He said Emerald Glades scored 44 out of 44 on its health standards and that he was waiting on approval for accreditation for the next three years.
“Since taking over the management we have made a lot of changes to many areas that were previously a concern,” he said.
Mr Browne said areas that were assessed included the menu, maintenance, and staff education.
“We’ve had a tremendous push on educating the staff in the last 12 months and the staff have been very receptive to undertake further training,” he said.
The nursing home now has three food safety supervisors and a dietician that consults regularly on the menu for the residents.
Mr Browne said all the residents were happy and satisfied with the living environment at Emerald Glades and its recent accreditation performance results proved that it was now a safe place to be.