Estia Health’s Commitment to Person Centred Care

From the moment our nurses join Estia Health, we emphasise the importance of person centred care, but these workshops amplify that effort. While traditional nursing education provides essential clinical knowledge and skills, it often lacks a focus on personalised, compassionate care designed specifically for the Older Person. Recognising this gap, our workshops were designed with immense care and thoughtfulness to provide hands-on training that focuses on delivering tailored compassionate care that the Older Person needs. 

This first-of-its-kind initiative was a collaboration between Clinical Development Partners, Marguerite and Gilda. Together, they also worked closely with Alex, Head of Funding, and his team of funding managers, who joined each workshop to offer insights and answer questions. 

Marguerite, a passionate advocate for our nurses and residents, poured her heart into every detail of this project. Her goal was to empower our nurses with the confidence to create individualised care plans that reflect the needs and desires of each resident. In every workshop, she emphasised a key principle from Estia Health’s Person Centred Care framework, “There is nothing about me, without me,” reiterating the importance of involving residents in their own care decisions.

Over 6 weeks, Marguerite and Gilda delivered 23 face-to-face workshops in New South Wales, Queensland, Victoria and South Australia, seeing the attendance of nearly half of Estia Health’s Registered Nurses – an incredible 482 participants. One nurse from South Australia adapted our framework’s guiding principle ‘kind and curious’, stating "we are the kind and curious, not the fast and furious." A sentiment that struck a chord with everyone present. Inspired by this, Marguerite made it a point to remind our nurses of this quote in every session, setting the tone for how we deliver compassionate person centred care.  

Exploring the ‘why’  

The workshops, grounded in evidence-based principles, focused on the deeper meaning behind person centred care and the ‘why’. “It was more than just a training session, it was about transforming the way our nurses approach and understand care,” Marguerite shared. By digging deeper into the value of treating beyond what's needed on a medical level, we instil a sense of empathy and connection.

This emphasis was further reinforced through hands-on role-play components, which were particularly impactful. Marguerite and Gilda portrayed “Patricia” and “Roy”, a fictional husband and wife, with Patricia having to place her beloved husband into aged care. This exercise allowed our nurses to apply their learnings and develop a care plan for a new resident. Despite its humorous elements, the role-play was thoughtfully crafted. Nurses were required to delve into Roy's complex history, which included being a Vietnam War veteran. The details sparked lightbulb moments, helping nurses understand how to tailor care plans to meet individual needs.  

Deepening skills in tailored care 

As a deeper dive into care planning, important topics like trauma-aware and healing informed care, behaviour support and overcoming commonly faced challenges were covered. Gilda’s background in mental health provided valuable insights into creating effective behaviour support plans for residents facing mental health challenges, with Marguerite sharing effective strategies for how to care for residents who have limited communication ability or don’t speak English as a first language. By moving beyond theory based learning to include practical exercises, role plays and group work, it allowed our nurses to gain actionable tools to apply directly to their daily care.

Creating a safe space for learning and growth 

Marguerite’s approach to teaching, which blends storytelling with real-life experiences, resonated deeply, reflected through the direct impact on our nurses; the hugs, the thank yous, the genuine engagement. 

Throughout the training, nurses opened up, sharing personal stories, challenges and even shedding tears of both understanding and joy. This emotional response highlighted the supportive and safe space Marguerite and Gilda had created. 

Our nurses left feeling inspired and eager to apply what they had learned, with many thinking about specific residents and how they can positively update their care plans right away. One nurse in her 70s, who had retired twice but returned to work at Estia Health, told Marguerite that this was the best workshop she had ever attended in her long career. Additionally, two nurses, travelled two hours each way on their own initiative as they couldn’t attend a workshop available in their area, demonstrating the impact of the workshops and Marguerite’s impact as a teacher. 

The feedback from our Residential Aged Care Managers (RACMs) was also overwhelmingly positive, with many sharing how their nurses returned from the workshops excited and full of new ideas.