CLP proves we’re growing great leaders

07 Apr, 2017, 9:00 am07 Apr, 2017, 9:32 am Sarah Mason 0 Comments

Graduates of the CLP program Phoebe Williams, Alison Szekely, Sunra Sumlut, Ken Poon, Loraine Stephenson, Wendy Cain, Shalini Balram, Sarah Messer, Donne Aiello, WSLHD executive director, people and culture, Helen Emmerson, leadership and coaching specialist Carole DuBern, Ruth Bunby, Gerard Regan, Director of Clinical Governance Luke Sloane, and Chaw Kaing. Graduates not shown are: Dearne Cruz, Kim Gray and Suhan Baskaranathan

It started as a project in WSLHD’s clinical leadership program. What it achieved was remarkable.

Registered nurses Sunra Sumlut and Chaw Khaing’s project – called ‘It’s in Your Hands’ – resulted in compliance in the high 90s, including one great result of 100 per cent compliance, in hand hygiene in their ward. To put that in perspective, the overall compliance rate in Australia is 84 per cent.

Their’s was one of a host of high-quality projects that came out of the 2016 Foundational Clinical Leadership Program (CLP), which aims at creating clinicians who lead consistent improvements in patient care, systems and use of resources.

Thirteen people graduated from the program – including two who had babies while they were doing it!

Sunra and Chaw – who work in Westmead Surgical High Dependency Unit – said the Clinical Leadership Program had been a valuable experience.

As part of their project, they hosted the first Hand Hygiene Awareness Launch Day in Westmead Hospital, and they plan to develop more innovative implementations to raise hand hygiene awareness for better, safer patient care.

“Learning about our own leadership/management styles and personality types has been the highlight of CLP,” they said. “We have become improved and confident leaders and our public speaking skills also improved.”

Participants in the CLP presented their projects to the Clinical Excellence Commission’s Director of Patient Safety Dr Bernadette Eather
and Acting Executive Director of People and Culture, Helen Emmerson.

All graduates plan to submit their projects to the WSLHD Quality Awards.