St Andrew's Toowoomba Hospital

St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital is a 137 bed ‘not for profit’ acute care private hospital. Any profits made by the hospital are reinvested back into the hospital to provide expansion of buildings, additional services, new equipment and staff training.

Opportunities for student placements

Medical and pallative care

32 bed medical ward with resources to give quality care to patients with medical conditions such as respiratory, cardiac, infections, circulatory, renal, diabetic and cancer treatment including haematology, oncology and chemotherapy. Trained staff, are available for stroke care and stroke rehabilitation. Allied Health Services available include speech therapist, occupational therapist, dietitian, physiotherapist and podiatrist.
Also incorporated is a 14 bed palliative care unit. The goal of the unit is the achievement of the best quality of life for patients and their families by focusing primarily on comfort and support.

Surgical

The surgical wards specialize in all areas of general, breast, orthopaedic, dental, gynaecological, urological, vascular and plastic surgery. Quality care is delivered by highly trained caring staff, using the latest technological resources.

Central Ward: 30 bed general surgical ward encompassing general surgery, urological surgery, gynaecological and breast surgery, vascular surgery, gastro-intestinal surgery and colorectal surgery.

East ward: 30 bed orthopaedic and plastic/reconstruction surgery, maxillofacial surgery, head and neck procedures, ENT and management of patients on telemetry.

Intensive care unit

8 Bed, level 2 Intensive Care Unit, equipped with central and bedside patient monitoring including telemetry ECG monitoring from East Ward and with the ICU. The unit has 24hr medical cover provided by In House Medical Officers and Intensive Care Specialists. The nursing staff, are highly trained in this specialty and many are accessing further study at postgraduate level.

Perioperative services

Operating Theatres: The operating suite contains 5 operating theatres together with a pre-operative area. Patients undergoing surgical procedures can be admitted to theatre wither through the Day Hospital or for inpatients, from their designated ward.

Day Hospital: Our modern Day Hospital comprises of 2 procedure rooms in which a range of procedures are performed including endoscopy procedures, dental and urodynamics.

Recovery: The recovery area located in the Day Hospital has specific allocation for Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 Recovery.

CSD (Central Sterilising Department): A specialized area supplying sterile equipment to the Operating Rooms and the Hospital ward areas.

Cardiac/Vascular Catheterisation Laboratory: Complete with its own diagnostic x-ray and imaging equipment, the Cardiac Cath Lab allows Cardiologists to perform cardiac catherisation diagnostic procedures here rather than in Brisbane.

Mental health unit:

Offered only to Mentor/Fellow students, the Mental Health Unit (West Ward) is a 16 bed unit providing inpatient care for voluntary patients. The service provides highly specialized care for patients diagnosed with mental health problems including depression, post-natal depression, eating disorders, substance abuse and dependency. The facility provides daily group programs to provide help and support for the patient’s return to the community.

St Andrew's cancer care centre

Medical oncology unit (ROQ)

The Radiation Oncology service is available to all patients requiring radiotherapy treatment, irrespective of their financial status. Patients have access to the service at St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital with out the need to travel to Brisbane for Radiotherapy services.

Radiation oncology unit

Diabetic education service

Our on-site Diabetic Educator is available to all areas of the hospital for inpatient education. An outpatient clinic is also conducted on a weekly basis. Outpatients require a doctor’s referral.

Renal dialysis unit

The Renal Dialysis Unit (Diaverum) is a 12 station haemodialysis unit providing specialized haemodialysis treatment for renal impaired patients. The unit is equipped with state of the art dialysis machines, the first of their kind outside of the USA. The nursing staff, are highly trained in this specialty and opportunities exist to do further study at postgraduate level.

Cardiac rehabilitation unit

The centre provides access to the Cardiac Rehabilitation Phase II program for people who have suffered any form of cardiac problems. Family members can also attend the program which runs 3 times a week over 7 weeks and provides clients with support to return to an active healthy lifestyle.

Staff developement team

Students both on block placement and as part of the Mentor/Fellowship program will be provided with a mentor for the duration of their clinical placement here at St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital. Students will be required to attend a two hour Orientation on the first day of commencement of their clinical placement. It is anticipated that the rest of the students first day will be orientating themselves to their allocated ward area.

The staff development team consists of:

full time Staff Development Coordinator
part-Time Clinical Nurse Educator, and
part Time Clerk.

Student Rosters

Student Rosters will be negotiated prior to the commencement of their clinical placement. It is the student’s responsibility to contact the Staff Development Coordinator to find out who their allocated mentor is and to negotiate their roster. Students will be expected to as part of their clinical experience to work all shifts, that is, morning shifts – 07:00 – 15:30, afternoon shifts – 14:30 – 23:00 and night duty 22:45 – 07:15.

Support is given to both students and mentors by the Clinical Nurse Educator and Staff Development Coordinator for the duration of the clinical placement. If students are experiencing any difficulties with their placement, they are encouraged to notify the Staff Development Coordinator or Clinical Nurse Educator to seek assistance. Students are also able to access any suitable educational opportunities available at St Andrew’s whilst on placement.

Students will be able to see first hand how our graduate program is run and have the opportunity to meet our current graduates. Details of our Graduate Program are available on the USQ Nursing Websites. If you are interested in a clinical placement at St Andrew’s Toowoomba Hospital, please see Kay Higlett, Clinical Liaison Officer.