Woodville Dementia Unit at St Joseph’s Hospital in Stranorlar held a ‘Celebration Day’ to mark the achievements of their staff.
Woodville provide a mixture of long term care, assessment care and vital respite care for people who live with dementia. It is a 19 bedded unit and they provide respite to 30 clients on a rolling basis every 6/7 weeks.
They provide assessment for clients who need their medications reviewed and provide information and guidance surrounding the long term care process if required.
The celebration was to highlight the work staff do at Woodville and how they have focused on moving away from a medical way of working to a more person-centred way of working.
L to R: Staff members Joanne Craig, Sandra Gillespie and Sarah Mangan with their award winning poster
The staff are proud of the unit and the work that they do and wanted to share this through hosting the celebration day
The event was attended by approximately 80 people including residents, those availing of respite and staff and their family members. Also in attendance were staff from other HSE services. Mr Patrick Murray, Head of HR for CHO Area 1 was in attendance representing Mr John Hayes, Chief Officer of CHO 1. Those attending enjoyed food and music was provided by Gary Mangan.
Over the last few months Staff at Woodville have won two awards nationally for the work they are doing to increase person-centredness.
These included first prize for their project entitled “Everyday Language Counts” at the All Ireland Gerontological Nursing Association (AIGNA) conference and an award “Rooted in evidence & steering the future” at the Northwest Nursing & Midwifery Research Conference Awards.
According to Staff member Sandra Gillespie “Our awards are surrounding person centred language, how we speak to our clients our families and to each other. This has had a very positive affect on the ward and there is a great buzz about as it is great to be acknowledged for our achievements”.Staff Nurse Marie Tourish likened the Woodville Staff and the way we work to a family tree, stating “We the staff represent branches, and together we shape a tree, while trying to keep one another rooted. We are mindful that our personalities and characteristics impinge on the lives of those in our care”
Resident Willie Duncan with family, Megan, Karl, Micheala and Laura Doherty
