The hospital began implementing a new strategic plan as part of the five-year funding agreement between Waitaki District Health Services and the Southern District Health Board struck earlier this year.
The 31-page plan the health provider and the health board agreed to as the two sides finalised the funding deal included the need for "workforce enhancement and development" as one of several recommendations from a clinical review of services conducted last year.
And after the hospital’s four-bed Takaro Lodge was moved to Oamaru’s new Observatory Retirement Village in August, a three-bed inpatient room was converted into "a multifunction training room for all disciplines" by education officer Trish Bloxsom, the health company’s chief executive Robert Gonzales said. Ongoing staff training or skills development could occur much more easily with the dedicated space, Mr Gonzales said.
"If they’re in the middle of a night shift and they’ve got half an hour or whatever, they can just come in here and do it."
Inpatient co-ordinator Barbara McCallum said in the past nursing staff would travel to Dunedin or Timaru for training, or instructors would be brought in to the hospital.
But soon "in-house" instructors could offer training at Oamaru Hospital as well.
The skills lab was centrally located in the inpatient ward and nurses could pop in for "five minutes" to run through a scenario at a time that suited them.
As well as online training for all staff at the hospital, nurses could continue competency-related training such as CPR level 6, intravenous cannulations and plastering.
As a part of the new plan, two new roles had been created at the hospital, Mr Gonzales said. A clinical nursing manager position had been filled by Lesley Clare, who moved to Oamaru from Christchurch. An Allied Health and community liaison manager role was to be taken up by Sally Hosie, of Nelson.
