Brenna Trading Pty Ltd in partnership with the Australian Catholic University and OneCare Limited has been awarded an ARIIA grant for their project ‘Clear communication between nurses and families: a digital communication tool improving staff productivity, retention and service delivery in aged care’.
Can a digital app improve the wellbeing of both aged care residents’ loved ones and nursing staff?
Australian Catholic University will evaluate the effectiveness of a mobile application (Brenna) that streamlines communication between registered nurses and family members of residents at OneCare residential aged-care homes in Tasmania. The app assists nurses including those from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds (CALD) provide clear updates to a resident’s loved ones.
In a world first, the benefits of a structured nurse communication tool will assess:
- Staff: reductions to stress, burnout, and time spent on communication tasks; usefulness for CALD staff.
- Loved ones: impact upon communication clarity, trust, and satisfaction with the service provider.
- Service: the impact of tool on the service will be assessed via staff retention and cost-benefit analysis.
A mixed method approach will use online surveys, and individual/group discussions along with ‘Time in motion study of staff workflows’.
This work has a translational impact across the entire Australian aged care sector as the tool facilitates compliance with The Aged Care Quality Standards, particularly Standard 2 ‘Ongoing assessment and planning with consumers’, and Standard 3 ‘Personal care and clinical care’.