caring Communication

Green-fingered staff at St
Joseph’s Hospital scoop first
prize in Ennis Tidy Towns
It is long recognised that gardens are often
to the soul what medicine is to the body – they
have the power to heal and restore.
St Joseph’s Hospital is an older person
residential facility located in Ennis Town with
120-beds registered with HIQA. A single story
building, the hospital is spread out over an extensive
campus.
Staff working within the hospital were aware
that many of the residents, prior to admission,
enjoyed gardening as a hobby and indeed for
some it had been an occupation. During conversations,
the residents frequently expressed a
great love for nature and an appreciation of the
changing seasons that a garden can signal.
It had been a long-held ambition of the staff
of the hospital to cultivate and develop the garden
facilities for the benefit of the residents/
patients, service users, their families
and visitors to the hospital. With this
in mind that staff of St Joseph’s
Hospital, Ennis came together
to form the St Joseph’s Hospital
Garden Committee. As
the campus was set out over
extensive grounds there were
several green areas located
throughout. It was decided, as a
first step, to address the unmet need
of maintaining and up keeping the central
garden area of the hospital. This garden was
the focal point for residents and their relatives
and friends who visited.
They set about their work with a common
purpose to create and maintain a safe and secure
green area offering a relaxed and tranquil
environment that would enable people enjoy
quiet time close to nature.
The hospital garden committee brought tremendous
energy, interest and vitality to their
The prize-winning garden at St Joseph’s. INSET : Mary and Annie Murphy, residents of St Joseph’s Hospital,
with Tony Kelly, Clare county hurler, in the garden of St Joseph’s Hospital.
work on the garden. The committee is made up
of members from a cross section of disciplines
based on site at St Joseph’s Hospital and
includes nursing, non-nursing, allied
health professions, clerical, management
and maintenance. The
committee is chaired by the
Director of Nursing.
Time dedicated by staff
to developing and maintaining
the garden is purely
voluntary. The Committee
have undertaken various fund
raising activities such as table
quizzes, coffee mornings, garden fetes,
book sales and Christmas Fairs to help with
the costs. The hard work and commitment by
staff helped transform the central garden. In
2014, staff took the bold move of entering the
garden into the Ennis Tidy Towns Competition.
St Joseph’s Hospital Central Garden was
awarded joint third place.
Staff were delighted to have achieved recognition
for such a worthy project. Spurred on
by the high placing, the Committee redoubled
their efforts, completing the central garden
and moving on to the next green space, a small
garden located near the Alder Unit. Staff,
again, gave generously of their time and helped
to breathe life into this space.
In 2015 the Committee decided to enter
both completed gardens in to the Ennis Tidy
Town’s Competition. After rigorous judging,
St Joseph’s Hospital Garden Committee saw
off the competition to claim first prize in two
categories. The Central Garden won the Large
Amenity Garden Category while the smaller
Alder Unit Garden claimed the accolade in the
Small Amenity Garden Category.
Maeve O’Connor, Director of Nursing at St
Joseph’s Hospital and Chair of the Committee,
commented, “This is a fantastic achievement
for the hospital and the Garden committee,
who are now even more determined to continue
their good work. It is a major recognition
of all the hard work and long hours that have
been lovingly put into the Garden.”
For one resident, the beautifully restored
gardens has given him ‘a special retreat and a
place to dream and feel at peace’.
Workplace Wellbeing Day
Ireland’s second National Workplace Wellbeing Day will take place on
Friday, April 8th. Public and private sector organisations across the country
are expected to participate in the day, which aims to improve employee
health through promoting better physical activity and nutrition in the
workplace. As part of this year’s activities, employers are being called upon
to arrange a “Lunchtime Mile” - a one mile cycle, jog, run, walk or swim for
employees in the vicinity of their workplace.
According to research¹ commissioned by the Nutrition and Health
Foundation (NHF), organisers of Workplace Wellbeing Day only one
in three workers takes the recommended level of exercise for a healthy
lifestyle each week. Three in 10 workers undertake no physical exercise
during work time with just over a quarter (27pc) describing themselves as
fairly or very physically active. On Friday, April 8th, employers are being
asked to put a special focus on wellbeing through promoting existing
and new initiatives available in their workplace as well as hosting special
events for staff, such as the “Lunchtime Mile”. Aramark, Bank of Ireland,
the Department of Public Expenditure, ESB, Intel, the NSAI and Waterford
Institute of Technology were among the hundreds of employers across
the public and private sectors that supported the inaugural event. They
organised a range of special events for staff on the day including healthy
breakfasts, health checks and talks, exercise and fitness classes, cookery
demonstrations and lunchtime walks.
spring 2016 | health matters | 53