Jen's New Work

Well, week 1 has come and gone and I am feeling good about the new job.

For those of you unaware, I am the new manager at Riverside Centre. The NSW Department of Ageing, Disability and Home Care have 3 remaining Large Residential Centres. These are institutions for people with developmental and physical disability. The NSW state government are in the process of changing disability services across the state. (Thankfully.) DADHC is the largest human services organisation in NSW and as the name suggests, encompasses aged care, disability services and home care services.

Riverside Centre, is one of 3 remaining LRC (Large Residential Centres), as I mentioned. Hunter Residences encompass facilities at Stockton, Tomaree, Peat Island, and Kanangra which are all located in the Newcastle to Central Coast area of NSW. The Metro Residences are Marsden (at Westmead), Lachlan (at Ashfield) and Grosvenor. And then there is Riverside. Riverside is in Orange on the campus at Bloomfield. Between these 3 LRC there are over 1,500 residents.

I am really excited about working at Riverside; the role is a new one and so there will be a bit of an adjustment for everyone. The people are great, the staff are compassionate, competent and take pride in their work. The residents are happy and engage well and the facility itself is stunning. It is heritage listed and just gorgeous.

Monday was a bit fragmented and Tuesday I had an exec meeting in Sydney with the other LRCs. Wednesday things started to really pick up, which was a ripper because I arrived on Thursday morning and it was fan-bloody-tastic.

I did my thing until half ten again then wandered down stairs and had a chin wag with the admin crew.

After that, I said to Russell, the retiring Nurse Manager Accommodation & Services, that I was going walk about. Which I did. I got back to the office around 4pm!!! I had a lot of people to see and chat to. I really enjoyed it and the feedback was great and the staff are wonderful and compassionate and committed and the residents are delightful. I have picked up a few drawings already (a few residents who were very outgoing whom I met on Wednesday remembered me when I dropped in on Thursday and so I came back to the office with three drawings and pictures they had drawn for me and are now on my wall)

Here is the run down:

There are 6 units, one of which is the admin office.

They are all named for Rivers, hence the name Riverside. When Riverside was a part of Bloomfield hospital (1940's until 1985) the units were named after local rivers and when someone from Bloomfield was coming to the disability units they would say they were going to 'riverside' which explains things well because there ain't no river round here!

The buildings are absolutely gorgeous- as I mentioned they are heritage listed. Huge ceilings, beautiful mouldings, leadlight windows, all the beautiful things found in heritage cottages.

The campus is gorgeous also- it is surrounded by a country golf club on one side, a nature reserve on two other sides and I can't see what is on the other side of Bloomfield hospital from here in my office. Bloomfield hospital is a mental health facility with 10 or 12 units for the care of mentally ill patients and two drug and alcohol units. There is also specialist centres (6 in all) so Bloomfield is big. It is part of the Department of Health and is not us. We separated from Health in 1985 when DADHC was created. (NSW Dept of Ageing, Disability and Home Care) I have been out to Bloomfield a lot with my work with Lifeline.

Riverside is actually 8 units, 2 of which are vacant and no longer used, but because they are heritage listed, they can not be demolished so they are just there and are empty. One of them, Ward 5 will become a laundry and the washing machines arrived today and will be installed next week. (another story)

The organisation is structured like a hospital, but it is NOT a hospital in that sense of the word. I will draw you a chart: (just click it to see a larger image)

A Legend for you:
RUNM = residential unit nurse manager

RN = Registered Nurse

EN= Enrolled Nurse

AIN = Assistant in Nursing

I will start with the residential units:

Bell Unit- Bell is a unit for frail aged clients and is run by Ray (RUNM) and has 16 residents- I really like Ray, he and I are going to get along a treat.

Namoi Unit- Namoi is a bit of a mixed bag and is run by Kerry and has 15 residents- I have not had a chance to catch up with Kerry but her staff are all ok

Macleay Hostel- has 3 very highly functional residents and is the flag ship unit of Riverside- it is fitted out with all the mod cons and looks a treat. It has a kitchen and dining area unlike the other units which have a place where residents go and are fed by staff or at least where they pick up their meals to feed themselves, but in Macleay, the residents cook and prepare their own meals which is really, really good. (A nutritionist comes in a day a week to plan the following week's meals for each unit)

Peel Unit- has 14 residents, this is the only all male unit. It is divided in 2 operational units, one is high functioning and the other is very low functioning. There are 2 CJP (Criminal Justice Program) clients here. Both Macleay and Peel are run by Chris- I must have spent 2 hours here, it is great. A really well run ship and Chris and Ray are like peas in a pod and work closely, I really like Chris also. Peel does not have the luxuries or mod cons of either Macleay or Bell; largely due to the destruction of property which happens here. It also has a fenced and secure yard. Whereas the others have open courtyards and gardens and are really pretty.

Narran Unit- Narran is the unit with the most dependant and low functioning residents, it is run at the moment by Kate who is on leave and has 18 clients.

So, in testing your math, there is 66 clients, however 86 is the capacity with about 40 or so staff.

The other unit, in case you were not paying attention after looking at the org chart, there was another unit which I have not mentioned, Severn Oakes is a Day Program facility only, there is a coordinator there as well as domestic staff however it is not a residential unit.

There is a juke box and dance room as well as an art and craft room and a theatre room in Severn Oakes. Each unit also has a garden and a covered picnic area and a pretty back yard feel. Severn Oakes also has the relaxation room and spa area for residents.

Finally, Nymagee is the unit that is no longer direct care and has been transformed into an office for the administrative centre. In this office is the admin clerk, the account clerk, the Nurse Manager and his off sider, a Nurse Systems Support Coordinator and myself.

Now, there was a whole range of other positions which appear on that org chart, but they are vacant.

In a nutshell, now then, you have a bit of a picture of my new centre. More on the job another time. Hope you have a stellar weekend! I am about to take the kids for a walk.

Toodles!!