Lismore Base Hospital emergency department staff don bright Infectious Clothing for Fun Friday Scrub Club for mental health

Emergency department staff at Lismore Base Hospital are ditching their regular scrubs for much brighter, funkier numbers. Find out why the change.

Lismore Base Hospital staff have ditched their blue scrubs for bright printed ones in a partnership with Infectious Clothing to raise awareness of mental health of our front line healthcare workers.

Sally Thompson, one of many nurses working the emergency department in the Northern Rivers largest hospital said everyone there has been affected by the recent floods.

“We’ve had some challenging times over the last 12 months including the two floods,” she said.

“We noticed team morale and mental health was low, so we decided to join the Infectious Fun Friday Scrub Club.”

Fun Friday Scrub Club is a mental health initiative that was started as a fun way to check in and celebrate the hardworking people who wear scrubs.

Wearing funky scrubs can open up conversations with teammates, giving staff the chance to check in with each other.

“The bright coloured scrubs bring joy to the patients, it brings joy to the nurses, doctors and paramedics who come into contact with us,” Ms Thompson said.

Lismore Base Hospital emergency nurse Sally Thompson speaking about Fun Friday Scrub Club and the importance of mental health of our frontline health workers. Picture: Cath Piltz

Ex-Lismore resident and now CEO of Infectious Clothing Sally Doran said mental health is an important issue, especially since the pandemic, in the healthcare space.

“We know our front line healthcare workers are severely impacted and running on burnout,” Ms Doran said,

“They’ve had floods destroy some of their houses and with the extra workload they’re really having a tough time.”

Ms Doran trained as a nurse at Southern Cross University in Lismore and said the area holds a special place in her heart.

“My house that was next to McDonald's went under.

“When Sally Thompson from Lismore reached out to us, we gave them $1000 worth of scrubs for the Fun Friday Scrub Club.”

The initiative runs in many hospitals across the country.

“Liverpool Hospital in Sydney love it, their whole hospital does it every Friday,” Ms Doran said.

“The nursing team there originally weren’t allowed to do it but the social workers took it to the executives with a massive survey that showed patients, staff, admin, it had a really positive affect on everyone.”

Lismore Base Hospital emergency unit staff in Fun Friday Scrub Club tops donated by Infectious Clothing as a mental health initiative for healthcare workers. Back Row (L-R): Kathy Macnamara, Emma-Jane Davies (NUM 3 ED), Alison Gibson, Kath Shaw, Alice Lehmkuhl, Andy Chandler, Leesa Simmons, Hannah Short, Tanya Yager, Donna Kylstra, Lydia BolziccoFront Row (L-R): Stephanie Emery, Sally Thompson, Nicole Eather, Jenny Thompson, Lee Haslau, Carli Malcolm, Olivia Ledingham.

Lismore Base Hospital emergency nurse Carli Malcolm said the Fun Friday scrubs are way more comfortable than their ordinary uniform.

“It’s a good chance to brighten up Fridays,” Ms Malcolm said.

“We check on each other and it’s a bit of a competition with each other too – we’re always trying to out do each other (laughs).”

Olivia Ledingham RN said the Fun Friday scrub club is a great chance to show some personality and step away from the generic blue scrubs for a day.

“It’s a chance to wear some crazy ones, some really interesting ones and some of our favourite colours other than navy blue for a change,” Ms Ledingham said.

Nurse Unit Manager from Lismore Base Hospital Emergency department, Nicole Eather said the initiative is great for their team.

“It’s been really busy in the winter months and as leaders it is important to be a part of the team to encourage them to have a great day, touch base with each other to see how they are doing, to work and support each other,” Ms Eather said.

Ms Eather said they have had a positive response from patients.

“They love it, a lot are very supportive of nurses and know how hard we work,” Ms Eather said.

Ms Thompson said each Friday staff don bright scrubs to raise awareness around mental health.

“Nurses are actually people, not superheroes and we are dealing with our own mental health as humans in a challenging environment at times and it’s important that we look after ourselves and just start that conversation around mental health.”