Working to elevate aged care

With a place on the nation’s strategic reference group for nursing, high on Alyson Jarrett’s to-do list is raising the profile and profession of aged care nursing.  

With over 35 years of experience across aged care, acute and community nursing, Jarrett – deputy chief executive officer at aged care provider Whiddon – is well qualified to do so. 

“I have worked across a lot of different streams of nursing over my career now and it shows me exactly the specialty that aged care is,” Jarrett tells Australian Ageing Agenda.

In July, she was appointed to the Department of Health and Aged Care’s Nursing and Midwifery Strategic Reference Group as the representative of provider peak body Aged & Community Care Providers Association.

It provides her a platform to highlight how aged care nurses care for complex residents with challenging health conditions.

“To be a registered nurse in aged care, you need to have good clinical, diagnostic and assessment skills to be able to recognise the deteriorating resident and client, and make sure they’re getting what they need. People don’t recognise how complex that is in aged care,” says Jarrett.

“It’s an opportunity to elevate the nursing profession in aged care and think about ways we support that journey from novice to expert.”

The reference group – which is managed by Australia’s Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer, Adjunct Professor Alison McMillan, and includes the voices of nurses and midwives across Australia and work areas – meets at least four times a year to consult and feedback to the department about the profession’s policy and strategy issues related to the profession.

Workforce and education feature prominently in discussions, says Jarrett, who had already attended her first meeting at the time of speaking in mid-July. As part of her role, she gets to update the group on issues important for aged care nurses. Not surprisingly, that involves workforce sustainability.

“As we all know, we have a workforce shortage of registered nurses in Australia, and thinking about ways that we can encourage nurses to come and work in aged care, and also what we can do to retain them, is important.”

So is career progression, such as how to develop university courses to encourage advanced practitioners in aged care to mentor new nurses coming into the industry, and supporting workers from other countries, says Jarrett.

“We have a lot of overseas trained registered nurses coming into Australia to help with that workforce shortage, which is brilliant. But we also need to make sure these nurses who are leaving their homes and coming to live in Australia feel like they’re culturally safe.”

Cultural inclusion practices and supporting newcomers to learn what delivering aged care in Australia looks like are important, says Jarrett, who raised this particular issue at her first meeting.

“That has resulted in a few people reaching out and progressing some discussions around how we can better support those overseas trained nurses coming into Australia.”

Jarrett became a registered nurse in the early ’80s in the first cohort of students trained through university rather than in hospitals. She worked in a broad range of roles in hospitals, acute care, community nursing, non-government organisations and a Primary Health Network.

“I’ve spent more than 15 years, probably closer to 20 years, working in aged care, [in] home care and then moving into residential aged care.”

That includes more than 13 years over two periods in leadership roles at Whiddon – where today Jarrett is also chief operating officer.

We also need to make sure these nurses who are leaving their homes and coming to live in Australia feel like they’re culturally safe

Alyson Jarrett

Jarrett is based in Sydney but spends about one week a month at her other home – a farm on the far north coast of New South Wales. This fits with Whiddon’s footprint of 22 aged care homes throughout the state – mostly in rural and regional areas – and a single home and community care service in Queensland.

“We’ve got five homes within an hour, hour-and-a-half of where I live up north, so it works,” she says.

Still a registered nurse, “it’s been a while” since Jarrett’s practiced on the floor. “In Covid-19, yes. But as deputy CEO and chief operating officer, I’m more involved in those strategic issues and research.”

Every day isdifferent, says Jarrett, who considers herself a conduit to ensure the people providing care have what they need to do it well.

“I dip in and out of everything,” she tells AAA. “I feel I should always be available to our people. I try and get out to our homes and get to the home care services as much as possible and provide that support on the ground.”

“I see us all as being one team [and] I see my role as a supportive one to make sure we’re delivering the best care, and our team feel supported to do that.”

Jarrett is particularly passionate about research.

“We’re looking at building our research hub up more, and doing some more exciting research in the future,” she says.

Whiddon is already a sector leader in research and innovation, partnering with numerous institutions and organisations on many significant studies and pilots over more than a decade.

During the pandemic alone, Whiddon was the first aged care provider to introduce and trial rapid antigen testing in Australia and a key player in getting rapid PCR testing approved for use here.

“What drives us is positive outcomes for our people – whether they’re our residents, clients or the people who provide the care – looking at research that makes a difference to them and improves care outcomes or employment outcomes for our staff as well.”

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