Wrapping up…

With only a couple more days to go, I’ve almost completed my placement at RPH. I’ve had such a great experience and it’s been a real pleasure working with the people in my department. I feel like I’ve really settled in so it’ll be sad to leave.

Over the last week I’ve been involved in the department’s planning meetings for the next year. We’ve discussed a number of areas and brainstormed ideas on how they can be improved. It has provided me with insight into the different forms of communication within the hospital and just how much the public relations role involves. From dealing with the media to internal and external publications, and liaising with all the departments for various reasons are just some of the activities, it’s a big job!

As the end of the year is approaching, the December issue of ‘Servio’ is all about ending on a positive note. It details staff achievements, award ceremonies, successful programs and the like. I have written up a couple of staff acknowledgement pieces that will be included in the publication and I attended the ceremony where a member of staff that I’d written about was awarded. It was nice to be a part of the process.

We’ve also been working on the January issue which is taking a fresh start to the year approach by acknowledging new staff members/interns and detailing new programs and training initiatives. I wrote up a piece about professional development that details two staff members that will have graduated from a course in relation to their role. I also took their photo to go with the piece. I enjoyed working on the story; I spoke with the staff members before writing so that I had better understanding of the course and what it has done for them etc. I can now see the importance of recognising staff achievements and efforts in increasing job satisfaction and enhancing performance.

I have taken a couple of things from my experience over the last week. Firstly is the importance of establishing a vision/objectives, audience and desired outcome for a publication. I’ve been made to do this in my studies so it has been good to see it in practice, without clear objectives the publication hasn’t a purpose and so it is difficult to attain favourable outcomes.

Everything that I have learnt about change management has become apparent to me, with the development of the new Fiona Stanley Hospital that will have a major impact on the various departments and employees. The importance of clear, consistent and ongoing communication during this time is evident. Employees want to know how the change will directly affect their role and so communicating the planning progress is essential in reducing uncertainty.

I will let you know how my last days at RPH go..

:)