Specialised nursing program expands into the Wimmera

The expansion of a specialised nursing program in Western Victoria will see more older people treated in their residential homes, reducing unnecessary transfers to hospital.

The Residential In-Reach (RIR) program has appointed its first Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) in the Wimmera, Christian Vidal, tasked with supporting on-site care of residents in aged care 
facilities. 

Mr Vidal joins a team of 12 Ballarat-based CNCs and two Nurse Practitioners, who also offer virtual assistance to Wimmera aged care teams. 

“Our overarching goal is to keep people in facilities, which is home for them, rather than going to  the emergency department or into a hospital,” RIR manager Sue Leibling said. 

“We know older people can get sicker in hospital, because they’re in bed all the time, they’re  exposed to hospital-acquired infections, and they’re not being cared for by familiar people. 

“Unless they absolutely need to be there, we want to keep them in their home and flourishing in  their own environment.” 

RIR facilitates an extensive list of services that enable clinically deteriorating residents to remain  on-site, including wound and infection management, medication monitoring/titration, oxygen therapy, falls assessments and delirium screening. The CNCs are well supported by Nurse 
Practitioners and a Geriatrician. 

“The referral order should be: try the GP first, then RIR, then Victoria Virtual Emergency Department, then transfer to emergency department if required,” Ms Leibling said. 

“Our highly qualified and experienced CNCs assess the residents, then use their clinical judgement to offer advice to staff or make plans for them to follow on site.”

Before his appointment, Christian Vidal was Nurse Unit Manager and Infection Control Lead at  Grampians Health Edenhope. 

He will offer virtual and face-to-face RIR services to public and private facilities across western 
Victoria. 

“I am really excited and motivated to make this program work,” he said. 

“We want people to be comfortable, not having to be transferred or waiting a long time for care; I 
know this will make a big difference.”