01/06/2025
🌟A HENTY HEALTH ICON🌟
Lauren helps Henty live better!
Lauren Coe is most likely Henty’s current longest serving health professional and, yet, you might have little idea of what her job actually involves. That is, unless you’ve needed her services and you’ve discovered she’s an essential element of successful care for the aged in their own home.
A career nurse who started more than 40 years ago at one of Australia’s largest hospitals, The Alfred in Melbourne, and went on to become a midwife and NICU (neonatal intensive care unit) specialist, Lauren has been Henty’s community nurse for more than 20 years.
What is a community nurse?
In Henty it is a four-day-a-week role filled by Lauren three days (with Colleen Nicholls of Holbrook on the fourth day) and a community nurse works to help the elderly and frail stay living independently as long as possible in their own homes.
After an initial assessment, the care receiver is set up with a plan which involves the community nurse visiting them in their home to assist with a range of nursing tasks, such as wound care, health education and palliative care.
Some recipients may only receive visits on a short-term basis while recovering from illness or injury, while there are some who Lauren has been working with for many years.
“Fran Fifield initially recruited me for the job and it has been a good job to have while raising a family,” Lauren said. Lauren and farmer husband Grenville now have three grown sons.
“There’s no shift work or weekend work and it is good to feel useful in making people’s lives easier.”
After her years of observing how people age, Lauren has some simple tips for people wanting a healthy later life:
1. Do your exercises. Work on strength and balance and take advantage of classes on offer
2. Get a personal alarm, especially if you live alone
3. Plan ahead, as waiting lists for some care packages are lengthy – don’t wait for a crisis.
How do you access community nurse services? Through your GP or via the Henty MPS or by contacting the Community Care Intake Service (CCIS) on 1800 654 324. A full assessment is carried out and a suitable care package will be developed.
