RNSH NICU takes first place in Kangaroo-A-Thon Earlier this year, the Royal North Shore Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) participated in the annual Miracle Babies Kangaroo-A-Thon and were recently
The RNSH NICU participates in the Kangaroo- A-Thon every year, and this year RNSH was awarded first place out of 26 participating hospitals around the world for logging an incredible 626 hours and 35 minutes of parent’s kangaroo caring with their babies. The aim of the event is to raise awareness of brain development, neuro-protection, attachment building and immunity boosting that skin-to-skin contact between parents and babies provides. As winners, the RNSH NICU was awarded a new recliner chair for parents to use for cuddling and feeding their baby as well as resting beside their baby during long days in the NICU. NICU Clinical Nurse Consultant Emily Macnaught said the Kangaroo-A-Thon is an excellent way to raise awareness and have parents and staff actively involved in learning about the benefits of skin-to-skin contact. “It’s a way parents can be part of their baby’s care and do something pleasant to minimise stress for their baby and themselves,” she said. “It’s fantastic that events like this exist to raise awareness on the importance of skin-to-skin contact for parents and their babies.” devices can assist with patient monitoring and advancements in robotics and smart instruments. Presentations by the team included their work investigating ceramic hip resurfacing and examining the bio-mechanics of hip and knee replacements and spinopelvic issues. The Sydney Musculoskeletal Health Team, whose Kolling researchers are based at RNSH, works with leaders in health on research, clinical services and training. About 1.7 billion people worldwide have musculoskeletal conditions. Lower back pain, osteoarthritis, neck pain, rheumatoid arthritis and gout are some of the major musculoskeletal disorders and are one of the leading contributors to disability worldwide. The annual ISTA, which was established in 1988, is attended by hundreds of surgeons, scientists, engineers and industry representatives from across the world to advance the technology in arthroplasty. “It’s great to be part of this event because it’s a place where you find and meet like-minded people from across the world who ultimately are trying to improve the quality of life for patients in this area,” Professor Walter, a former ISTA President, said. “It’s a privilege to be involved.”
announced as winners of the event. The goal of the Kangaroo-A-Thon is to encourage all NICUs to actively promote kangaroo care. Kangaroo care involves parents holding their babies against their bare chests and as part of the event, the NICU staff logged how many hours this was done for across the unit over a two-week period.
RNSH NICU staff with the new recliner chair that was awarded to the unit
Kolling researchers present at international congress Kolling Institute researchers have helped
map out exciting future developments for the rehabilitation of hip and knee replacement patients at a vital conference. A team of researchers from the Sydney Musculoskeletal Health – a partnership between the University of Sydney, Sydney Local Health District and Northern Sydney Local Health District - recently attended the International Society for Technology in Arthroplasty’s (ISTA) annual congress in Hawaii. As well as meeting up and sharing ideas with professionals from across the globe, team members gave several presentations detailing their research in the area of technologies in arthroplasty. Bill Walter, Professor of Orthopaedics and Traumatic Surgery at the University of Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospital, led the team at the congress and said it had been an amazing experience. “You have the world’s greatest concentration of expert knowledge in this area,” he said. “It’s a bit of a mind-explosion being involved in it. “It’s very exciting meeting people trying to resolve some of the problems facing hip and knee replacement patients.” Presentations at the event included the exploration of developing technologies such as Artificial Intelligence, how wearable
NSLHDNEWS | ISSUE 17| 9 SEPTEMBER 2022
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