Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service

NEW DOCS: Welcome to our newest team of junior doctors! 👩🏽⚕️👨🏽⚕️ Our 59 new interns begin their journey with Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service, as they gain broad generalist experience over the next two years. 👉🏽 80% of our interns come from Queensland universities. 40% from James Cook University and 30% from the University of Queensland. 👉🏽 Our new interns are part of a Prevocational Doctor Program. 👉🏽 Almost all (90%) of the interns from 2024 have stayed on with us this year! We look forward to supporting our newest junior doctors as they begin their careers in Far North Queensland💐❤ and we thank them for serving our community! 🙏🏽 Please join us in making them feel welcome 👋

NEW BUILDING: On 22 January, we officially opened our new Acute Mental Health Inpatient Building at Cairns Hospital with patients to move in early February. The new building, located at the southern end of the hospital, provides state-of-the-art care for acute mental health patients, with a focus on calming, therapeutic spaces. It is a 53-bed unit with 10 dedicated mental health intensive care beds, to treat our most unwell patients. As you can see from the images, everything about the new building has been designed with client healing in mind, from the colours on the walls through to the layout of rooms. The new building has been officially called Jugarrbaajing; a name which means ‘unsettled mind’, selected by representatives of the Gimuy Walubara Yidinji Traditional Owner group 📸 You’re invited to our open day on Friday 24 January, 2:30pm - 5:30pm, Cairns Hospital, Corner of Kerwin and Lake Sts, Cairns

Mental health nursing vacancies We are currently recruiting to a number of registered and enrolled nursing roles to work in our new Mental Health Inpatient Service building in Cairns. With the building set to become fully operational in the next few weeks, this three-storey centre offers a gentle and calming space with noise-suppression design elements. The building is equipped with three sensory modulation rooms, a gymnasium, therapy and activities area, occupational therapy kitchen and sensory garden, with many of the internal walls featuring photographic murals of local Far North Queensland scenery. As a nurse in the Adult Acute Mental Health Inpatient Service, your role will include: ▪ Dispensing, administration, and recording of medication in ieMR ▪ Recognizing and responding to acute and/or physical deterioration ▪ Engaging in the Primary Nursing Model of Care and formulating nursing care plans as required. ▪ Liaising with the multi-disciplinary team and adhering to treatment plans. ▪ Conducting personal belongings checks and ensuring proper storage. ▪ Ensuring compliance with Mental Health Act 2016 requirements. Click on these vacancies below for more information and to apply: ⭐ Enrolled Nurse (Nurse Grade 3) Permanent full-time or part-time $71,234-$75,602 p.a. Closes 5 February 2025 https://lnkd.in/grqENgkA ⭐ Enrolled Nurse Advanced Scope (Nurse Grade 4) Permanent full-time or part-time $77,840-$82,599 p.a. Closes 5 February 2025 https://lnkd.in/gcsbpfSk ⭐ Registered Nurse (Nurse Grade 5) Permanent full-time or part-time $82,753-$106,144 p.a. Closes 5 February 2025 https://lnkd.in/gyT5XSnk You can read more about our new Mental Health Inpatient Service building here: https://lnkd.in/gFtCJe8p

First Peoples: You are invited to provide feedback on your health needs and the health needs of your community. ‘Nothing about us without us' Health Equity Yarning Community Consultation Help us deliver health care that improves First Peoples' health outcomes, experiences, and access to health care. Your voices, lived experiences, and cultural authority will inform the next First Peoples Health Equity Strategy and Implementation Plan for the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. When: Friday 7 February Time: 8.00 am – 2.00 pm Where: Pullman Reef Hotel Casino, Wharf Street Cairns. Michaelmas Cay Ballroom Lunch and morning tea will be provided. First Peoples friends and allies are invited to attend to support the community. Please register using this link: https://lnkd.in/gATRHG5D Registrations close Monday 27 January

FINAL FOOTPRINTS: Many voices have come together to ensure families understand their loved ones’ end-of-life choices. The Your Final Footprints booklet is designed to help individuals plan the final chapter of their lives. "This project represents a collaboration of communities to make this process easier for us," said Patrick Wheeler, a consumer advisor for Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. Patrick emphasized the challenges families face when a loved one becomes seriously ill or injured. "This booklet guides our communities on how to have conversations about the kind of medical care you want," he explained. "By writing down your wishes, you make it easier for your family to make decisions during difficult times." Ian Appo, another consumer advisor, highlighted that it only takes a few hours to decide who should speak on your behalf if you're too unwell. “Start these conversations early,” Ian advised. “Share your wishes, concerns, and preferences for care with your family.” Your Final Footprints is an initiative of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Consultation Committee for Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. 📷 Patrick Wheeler (far right) with Ian Appo (far left) and the members of the committee who designed the In Your Footprints resource: From left Sabrina Davies, Ada Tillett Laura Lyall, and Louise Lawrie. For more information see https://lnkd.in/gzHGP2WU

You’re invited! Before staff and patients begin to move in, come and get an exclusive look 👀 at our new Mental Health Service Inpatient building at the community open day. 📅 Friday 24 January 🕝 2:30pm - 5:30pm 📍 Cairns Hospital, 165 The Esplanade You can read more about the project in our bulletin here: https://ow.ly/VULc50UFR8B

FRESH FACES: 60 medical graduates are starting their first day at work at the Cairns and Hinterland Hospital and Health Service. Dr Trent Yarwood (📸, right), director of clinical training at Cairns Hospital, said it was exciting to see the junior doctors fresh out of university, and ready to start developing their careers in medicine. “More than 80 per cent of our interns decide to stay on for a second year, and we have a lot of doctors – even many of our senior staff – who have been interns or worked at CHHHS as part of their training,” Dr Yarwood said. “It’s a really fabulous place to work, and you practice medicine pretty much unlike anywhere else in Australia.” All of the new interns, such as Gus and Annabelle (📸pictured, left and middle) will participate in a week-long orientation program to familiarise themselves with the Health Service, its clinical practice and procedures. Then they’ll begin the first of five rotations through a variety of units that may include general medicine, surgery, emergency medicine, and additional terms in other specialised areas, to ensure they get diverse experience across areas such as acute and critical care, chronic condition health care and perioperative care. For more information about careers with CHHHS, head to https://lnkd.in/gUMEWUKS

BOOK TODAY: BreastScreen Queensland’s Cairns service is open for free breast screening for women over the age of 40. A breast screen is an essential two-yearly health check for women over the age of 40 and does not require a doctor’s referral. Women aged between 50 and 74 are strongly recommended to have a breast screen every two years, as 75% of breast cancer diagnoses are in this age group. A breast screen takes an image of what is happening inside the breast tissue and is able to pick up small changes, often before they can be seen or felt by a woman or her doctor. One in seven women in Australia will develop breast cancer at some stage in their life. Screening is currently the most effective way to detect breast cancer in its earliest stages. Make your health a priority in 2025 - breast screening saves lives. Call 13 20 50 or visit https://lnkd.in/fi9mFnN

BULA: Cairns Hospital has been training one of the South Pacific’s few kidney disease experts, who will – in turn – train the next generation of specialists. For many years Dr Amrish Krishnan served in Fiji as the sole nephrologist, despite Fiji having one of the highest rates of kidney failure in the world. Dr Krishnan said Cairns Hospital had one of the best vascular access services in the Pacific region, and one of few hospitals in Australia where nephrologists performed a procedure called fistuloplasty, themselves. Naturally, Dr Krishnan chose Cairns Hospital for his advanced training attachment. Dr Krishnan will be training at the Cairns Hospital under the mentorship of interventional nephrologist and director of renal services, Dr Murty Mantha, before returning to Fiji, where he was born and grew up, to serve Fijians and other Pacific Islanders. To read more about this partnership, click here: https://lnkd.in/gCS2v57d

NEW YEAR, NEW LIFE: He’s the first baby in the Cairns region this year! 🥳 Welcome to baby Hayze with his very proud parents Letesha Fyffe and Ryan Dalzell who moved to Cairns from Western Australia one year ago. Hayze was born at Cairns Hospital at 3.10am on New Year’s Day at a healthy 8 pounds (3.6kg) with blonde hair and blue eyes. “We were so excited he was here we didn’t think to check whether he was a boy or a girl!” said Letesha. “He was due on Boxing Day so he’s well cooked!” A big thanks to all our staff who worked over the Christmas and New Year period to make sure that families like Hayze’s get great healthcare and are well looked after! 🙏 👏