Meet Samantha Hoole, who has spent the last year working as a Clinical Nurse Consultant with the new Bundaberg Hospital project team. Sam has worked closely with clinical colleagues to help shape the models of care for our new hospital. Through her commitment to collaboration, engagement, and a shared vision of patient-centred care, she’s played a key role in bringing together diverse perspectives to ensure our models of care foster both clinical excellence and compassionate, holistic support for patients.
What does your role entail and how have you contributed to the design discussions?
My background is emergency nursing, education and clinical redesign with experience in regional and metro Queensland and interstate. I bring a practical, bedside clinical perspective where I literally ask myself, "how will I work in this room, who am I caring for and how does this work in this space?". I consider how the patient will move through an area, how their care will change and evolve and how will we come together as a team to provide the best care possible in a range of spaces and scenarios.
During the past year I have been immersed in the designs, so I think the most important part I've played is helping our expert clinicians from each area engage with the designs, sink into the clinical mindset and "walk through" a room or department and identify changes we need to make to ensure that the design is right for their area of expertise.
Why do you believe it’s important to involve local hospital staff and patients in the design of the new hospital?
Regional Queensland has its own unique needs that are not often well understood by people who don't live and work here. It's important that we capture the voices, experience, local knowledge and clinical expertise of our people and our teams so that the service we build is what we need now and into the future. In the end, this is our hospital. Its design and function need to be right for the people that will work, learn, grow and be cared for there.
What did you enjoy most about participating in the design workshops?
Connecting with our local consumers, clinical teams, experts and leaders to build the vision of what care looks like in the new hospital. There is a lot of hope and excitement for what we can achieve with the growth of services in our region and how we can better serve our patients, clients, consumers and health partners. It is exciting to test and challenge how we currently do things and explore new ways of delivering health care. It is a continual journey toward excellence in regional health care that keeps the patient at the centre of our work, and I feel incredibly privileged to be part of it.
Which design elements do you think will most improve patient care or staff wellbeing?
The design has really considered the individual experience and the patient journey. Health is historically hierarchical and rather paternalistic. This design process has been collaborative and built around a patient experience. Similarly, we're designing in a post-COVID era when there's a new focus on the wellbeing of staff, armed with new knowledge on how we can create healthier workplaces. All this has been built into the design. Wellbeing doesn't happen by accident, and we have been deliberate in how we incorporate elements into our hospital so that it is a space people want to be in. I particularly love the access to outdoor spaces within clinical areas, the use of natural elements like timber finishings and the abundance of space and light.
What excites you most about seeing the hospital come to life?
It brings me so much hope for the future. I have worked in health since 2009, and the rate of change is only getting faster. This hospital isn't about recreating but innovating. The project team, the community and our local teams have worked so hard to create a hospital that is designed for the future. We've explored new ideas, challenged old ones and together we're creating something really amazing.
What will the new hospital mean for the community?
Growth and connection, a larger hospital delivering more care locally will grow our community and enable families and loved ones to stay closer to home and connected to their support networks when they need to access health care.
Finally, how do you maintain your health?
At the moment I prioritise my sleep. I know I am a kinder and better functioning human when I am rested. As the proud parent of a small, apparently nocturnal human, sleep can be elusive at times so making rest a priority is important for me and those around me. I also love spin class and do virtual classes through strange landscapes in my shed - less pleasant now that the weather has warmed up!