Quality and safety in residential aged care to drastically improve thanks to innovative nurse-led program in Western Sydney Local Health District

Western Sydney Local Health District (WSLHD) has received a significant grant to support research which aims to improve the quality and safety of residential aged care in Australia.

Professor Ramon Z. Shaban, Clinical Chair and Director of Communicable Disease Control and Infection Prevention at the Western Sydney Local Health District, is the lead investigator and project director of the project which has received a 2022 MRFF (Medical Research Future Fund) Clinician Researchers – Nurse, Midwives and Allied Health grant for $1.4 million.

This project is an innovative nursing assessment framework called HIRAID Aged Care (History, Identify Red flags, Assessment, Interventions, Diagnostics), designed by nurses, for nurses.

Ramon said, “The need for high-quality aged care services in Australia is becoming increasingly important as the country’s population ages”.

Currently, over 1.3 million people use aged care services in Australia, with approximately 191,000 cared for in residential aged care facilities (RACFs), of which there are approximately 830 providers and 2,704 facilities across the country.

“As the older population’s health issues and needs are unique in their severity and complexity, it is essential to provide high-quality, safe nursing assessment, management, and care,” Ramon said.

Registered nurses in Australia’s RACFs require more support and skills to meet the contemporary complex health and wellbeing needs of residents.

Ramon said the HIRAID Aged Care framework is “designed to improve the quality and safety of person-centred aged care within RACFs, improve registered nurse (RN) practice, resident and family satisfaction, and reduce unwarranted hospital burden.

“The study will translate the evidence of a highly successful emergency nursing assessment framework, HIRAID, to the aged care sector.”

Anchored in a strong foundation of research evidence and expert input, HIRAID improves the clinical outcomes, quality of patient assessment, recognition and response to clinical deterioration, nurses’ communication, decision-making, situational awareness and task management skills, and nurses’ self-efficacy and levels of anxiety.

The life-saving emergency nursing assessment HIRAID framework is already being implemented in 31 emergency departments across New South Wales, Queensland, and Victoria.

This WSLHD research project in the Westmead Health Precinct will co-design and test the new aged care nursing assessment framework, HIRAID Aged Care, to improve the quality and safety of person-centred aged care within RACFs and will provide RNs with more support and skills to meet the contemporary complex health and wellbeing needs of residents, ultimately improving the quality of life for older Australians.

(Shaban RZ, Curtis K, Fry M, McCormack B, Parker D, Murgo M, Lam M, Low LF, Jeon YH, Lindley R, Waters D, Watson K, Dunsmore M, Considine J, Laranjo L, Squillacioti G, Thompson L, Smith A, Begum M, Dalton J, Ramsden C & Viengkham C. Nurse-Led Improvements to the Quality and Safety of Residential Aged Care – Project HIRAID Aged Care. 2022 MRFF Clinician Researchers – Nurse, Midwives and Allied Health. $1,494,519.50 ($3,386,969). Application 2023190.)