Kelly Frerk is the only community nurse navigator in Tasmania, yet she manages to cover every corner of the island to help people access aged care services.
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Recent government reforms to homecare packages, designed to help the elderly stay in their own home for longer rather than move into a nursing home, can be a difficult path to navigate, but Kelly is able to de-mystify the system.
“Those packages made available through MyAgedCare are being assigned to clients who have gone through the registration process and now they’re faced with an overwhelming number of service providers,” she said.
“The old community home support program will be phased out by 2020 so it’s a busy time with more than 1200 people on our books who need assistance.
Kelly works for The District Nurses - one of Tasmania’s oldest not-for-profit community organisations.
It’s a service that helps people manage daily activities that may have become challenging due to illness, frailty or disability and its nurses work as professionals in collaboration with other health care workers.
As a registered nurse Kelly is well trained to know what her clients need, even when there’s complex health issues to consider.
She checks to see if there is an issue around things like falls, nutrition, mobility and medication. As she travels the state she also speaks at aged care forums and relevant community events to inform and educate.
Learning skills around medicine and end-of-life care became all important when her first husband became terminally ill.
What keeps me motivated is going out and seeing people who need our help and seeing the difference we can make to their health and also to provide the best possible last moments when people are dying at home.
“I wanted to know everything about his illness and how best to deal with it, not only to get rid of confusion but to empower me,” she said.
Kelly started out as a community support worker with The District Nurses more than 14 years ago before beginning formal training as an enrolled nurse and later as a registered nurse.
“Once I was on my own I also wanted more stability in my job – and I knew I could use my personal experience when talking to people and empathise because I’d been there and seen it all,” she said.
“What keeps me motivated is going out and seeing people who need our help and seeing the difference we can make to their health and also to provide the best possible last moments when people are dying at home.
“That’s what I wanted for my husband and I feel grateful that I can now help other people and really make a difference.”