Werribee Mercy Hospital staff received a double dose of honours at the recent Catholic Health Australia awards.
Hospital ethicist Cormac Nagle and dual diagnosis nurse Megan McKechnie both won major awards at the organisation’s national conference in Canberra last month.
The Reverend Nagle, who is also an associate professor, was presented with the Sister Maria Cunningham Lifetime Contribution award for his significant contribution to the church’s work in health and aged care.
The Werribee resident is an ordained priest who has been involved in Catholic healthcare since 1974, starting his career as a lecturer in bioethics to midwives at Mercy Hospital for Women in Heidelberg. He also lectured in social justice and ethics.
“I look after clinical aged care and make sure that the people who come into hospital are treated carefully … within our specific code of ethics” he said.
Mr Nagle served on Mercy Health’s research ethics committee and has had a number of articles published on ethics and morals.
“The most difficult part of my job is that, sometimes, we have to make decisions as to whether to continue care for a very sick patient or not.”
Ms McKechnie was named nurse of the year for her commitment to clients with complex alcohol and other drug-related problems.
She helped develop the alcohol-and- other-drug program at Werribee Mercy Hospital’s emergency department, supporting highly vulnerable people who self-refer for rehabilitation services.
“The overall aim is to improve the quality of care for those presenting with alcohol and other drug-related problems,” she said. “We’re aiming to provide timely access to the appropriate assessment and treatment, to bring about better outcomes for patients.”
Ms McKechnie said while the award was “huge”, her biggest reward was in helping others. “The difference you see in the people you work with … is the reward in itself.”
Mercy Health Group chief executive Stephen Cornelissen said both award recipients were great assets to Mercy Health.
“We often get caught up in the day-to-day business of health and aged care. These awards allow us to recognise the impact our frontline staff are having on the lives of their patients, clients and colleagues,” Mr Cornelissen said.
