RSL Care nurse wins national nursing award
Catrin Dittmar, a Lake Macquarie nurse who kept aged care residents safe during a severe storm, was named Nurse of the Year at the 2015 HESTA Australian Nursing Awards last week.
Ms Dittmar was named Nurse of the Year at the 2015 HESTA Australian Nursing Awards
A nurse at the RSL Care Bolton Point retirement village, Ms Dittmar was recognised for her resilience, resourcefulness and the continuity of care she provided to residents when cyclonic winds hit the facility in April this year.
Unusually heavy rain and cyclonic winds hit Australia’s east coast in April 2015, with the storm causing power outages and damage to the property over several days.
RSL Care chief executive officer (CEO) Stephen Muggleton says that Ms Dittmar’s leadership was vital due to the absence of normal operational supports or buildings with full functionality, and that the delivery of continuity of quality care was most under threat during and after this significant weather event.
“The calmness of leadership and clear direction helped focus the activities of staff onto new tasks and flexible ways of working and enabled Catrin to harness the collective efforts of the team and ensure a continuity of quality care,” Mr Muggleton says.
“Catrin led from the front supporting and comforting both residents and staff with her inspirational leadership and dedication. Her efforts assured our residents’ care plans were delivered despite the extraordinarily challenging context she was operating within,” he says.
Ms Dittmar says that her priority was to re-organise the available care staff and limited resources around her to enable a flexible delivery of care that maintained the fundamentals, while at the same time reassuring residents with current information about the storm.
“After dealing with what was a chaotic situation over the hours and days that followed, we were able to slowly get back to an even footing, establishing a level of calm and order back into the facility,” Ms Dittmar says.
HESTA CEO Debby Blakey presented Ms Dittmar with the Award at an awards ceremony in Brisbane last week.
“We are pleased to recognise the dedication and commitment shown by Ms Dittmar in ensuring not only the safety of the residents but also ensuring they received quality care in extremely difficult circumstances,” says Ms Blakey.
Ms Dittmar says she plans to use the prize money to start her Master’s degree in Nursing, specialising in aged care and palliative care.
