It's a busy place!

Hi Everyone

I'm in my second week of my placement at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) and it's going very well.

I work in RPH's PR department which consists of two people, a PR manager and a PR officer, yes that's right, only TWO! I also found it very surprising that only two people are dealing with all the PR matters for a large organisation that has over 7,000 employees and several different departments. As you can imagine, it's always very busy in the office, however they seem to manage and they've both been extremely mindful of providing me with meaningful work which has been great. I've been sitting in on the staff meetings so I've gotten some insight in to what kinds of issues their dealing with and how they're addressed. In the short time that I've been at RPH I've already learnt so much and taken part in lots of activity.
One of the first things I noticed was the number of calls from media RPH receive. It's mainly from television networks and newspapers, they're after the condition report of patients that have been involved in severe accidents/trauma so that they can set up an interview or include it in their news story. It has been interesting to see the hospital's interaction with media.
One of the major projects I've been working on so far is RPH's website. The information needs to be updated and presented in a manner that is user friendly so I've been sorting out the department services and setting it out in a clear and professional format. As the website is the first point of contact for a lot of people, this is really important. It's mind-boggling just how many departments there are, getting my head around all their names and what they're about has been a bit of a challenge. I can't say it's been the most exciting task that I've been set but it's a great introduction and a great way for me to learn about the organisation.
On my second day I went over to the Shenton Park campus where a staff forum and employee of the month ceremony was being held. I helped to set up and handed out employee feedback surveys at the end of the forum. The forum is a chance to inform staff (from various departments) of changes or new programs at the hospital and also a chance for staff to raise their concerns and ask the executive officer questions. I think this is a good initiative of RPH and it was interesting to hear what the various staff members had to say.
What I'm most thrilled about so far is that I got to write my first media release and it has been agreed to get published! As it is currently OT (Occupational Therapy) week, I interviewed an outpatient (and his therapist) that has been receiving OT/rehabilitation treatment at RPH. His story is inspirational and it is relevant to what OT week is all about.I've attached a link for OT week for those of you who would like to know a little more about it. The patient is from Gingin so the piece will be published in the local paper 'The Advocate'. It's great to have written a media release for a real publication, quite the experience!

I think that's it for now. I look forward to sharing what I get up to next..

Miru