Monash Health is one of the three leading health services for organ donation in Victoria, as part of Donate Life Week we introduce you to our team.
What is the Donate Life team’s role at Monash Health?
Our team is responsible for:
- Taking referrals for patients who are at end of life care and supporting conversations with their families
- Checking if patients have registered their wishes to be an organ donor on the Australian Organ Donation Register
- Speaking with families about organ and tissue donation and supporting them and their loved one through the donation process
- Education of medical, nursing and allied health staff about organ donation
- Supporting staff during the donation process
- Coordinating logistics of a donation case work up from consent though to organising theatre and retrieval teams
- Encouraging routine referral across the hospital
- Following up with donor families after organ donation has occurred and providing them with bereavement resources and support
Who is in our Donate Life team?
Here at Monash Health we have five Donation Specialist Nursing Coordinators (DSNC’s):
- Nina Seng
- Erin Bryen
- Katie Goode
- Chelsey Vladic
- Indra Gramnea.
Along with this we also have four Medical Donation Specialist’s (MDS):
- Dr Wisam Al Bassam who is an Intensive Care Consultant at Monash Medical Centre
- Caroline Killick who is an Adult and Paediatric Intensive Care Consultant across both MMC and Monash Children’s Hospitals.
- Dr Richard Hayden is also a Medical Donation Specialist who is an ED Consultant at both Monash Medical Centre and Dandenong Hospitals
- Dr George Lucas also works as an Intensive Care Consultant at Dandenong Hospital and as an MDS.
Tell us about the importance of Donate Life week and what it means to the team?
Donate Life week is an opportunity to spread awareness about organ and tissue donation. It is all a reminder to everyone to have the conversation with the most important people in their lives and register their wish.
This week also allows the donation team, donor families and recipients to remember the generous donors and their families who have helped save the lives of many people through the gift of organ and tissue donation.
For us at Monash Health this week is also an opportunity to acknowledge and thank the staff who care for these patients and their families.
Tell us about donations at Monash Health in the last 12 months?
In 2018, 32 generous donors at Monash Health provided lifesaving transplants to 94 recipients and helped many more people through the gift of eye and tissue donation.
Learn more about Donate Life Week here: https://donatelife.gov.au/resources/donatelife-week
