District Nursing and Palliative Care

District Nursing

Bass Coast Health District Nursing Service provides a range of clinical nursing needs for people in their own home to support independence and improve health and wellbeing. The District Nursing Service recognises that every individual has different needs and is considerate of cultural diversity.

The District Nursing Service provides care that is tailored to client needs and is delivered by a team of trained, competent and experienced Registered and Enrolled Nurses. 

The District Nursing Service can provide:

• Wound care management 
• continence care 
• support and monitoring for client medication management 
• client support in stoma care 
• assistance with managing diabetes 
• comprehensive assessment for client needs and referrals in close consultation with the client.
• Nursing services for clients receiving cancer care for symptom management and dressings for treatment devices such as Peripheral Inserted Central Catheters.

The District Nursing team is the same team that provides the Bass Coast Health Palliative Care Services (see below).

Fee for service: there might be a cost to the service depending on what criteria the patient comes under. Eg. DVA

Palliative Care Nursing

Bass Coast Health Palliative Care Service is about living well, with the focus on supporting client comfort and independence in the home.
The Palliative Care Service provides holistic care that is tailored to individual needs and is considerate of cultural diversity.
The Palliative Care team, support the client, carer and family through their journey.

The Palliative Care service:

• Aims to enhance quality of life and may also positively influence the course of illness
• Is applicable early in the course of illness, in conjunction with other therapies that are intended to prolong life, such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy, and includes those investigations needed to better understand and manage distressing symptoms
• Integrates the psychological and spiritual aspects of patient care
• Affirms life and regards dying as a normal process
• Offers a support system to help patients live as actively as possible until death
• Addresses symptom management
• Intends neither to hasten nor postpone death.

The Palliative Care Nurses can:

• Provide access to limited out of hours nursing service 7 days a week
• Support and provide education to clients and carers.
• Liaise closely with family and carers.
• Liaise closely with other healthcare providers such as doctors, specialists and allied health.
• Provide access to consult with a specialist palliative care physician/nurse practitioner if/when needed
• Arrange equipment to provide safe and more effective care of the client in their own home. Costs will be discussed as applicable
• Organise hospital /hospice respite if needed
• Follow up bereavement visits and referral for grief counselling as required.

Referral Criteria

• A doctor’s or health professional’s referral is required (as per below*)
• Additional information is required relevant to the referral eg. recent scans and test results, specialist letters, wound care plan.
• Further information may be requested upon contact (see contact details below).
• Patients returning home from public hospital are eligible for post-acute care. Call 03 5671 3135 for further information.
• Clients who are aged over 65 years old need to be referred via My Aged Care. This is in addition to the health professional's referral.
• You can access the My Aged Care website or call 1800 200 482.

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