Nursing & Clinical Services

Nursing & Clinical Services

A full nursing team — clinical assessments, care planning, reports, staff training and hands-on clinical care. Available as part of your Lionheart supports, or on its own.

A standalone service, not an add-on

Nursing here is a service in its own right rather than something running quietly behind a support package, and it’s led by our Nursing Director, Michele.

You can engage our nursing team for a clinical assessment, a care plan, a report, or staff training — whether or not Lionheart delivers any other support for you.

We are registered for Community Nursing Care and Assist Personal Activities — High Intensity, and our nurses hold current recency of practice.

RN

What you can engage us for

  • Clinical assessment
  • Care and health plans
  • Clinical reports
  • Training for support workers
  • Ongoing clinical oversight
  • Direct nursing care

Talk to the nursing team

(07) 4910 8777
Based at our Tank Street site

How our nurses make support person-centred

“Person-centred” is on every provider’s website. Here is the actual mechanism behind ours — because the thing that makes support fit a person is not good intentions, it’s who does the assessing and who trains the people turning up.

This process is led by our Nursing Director, Michele, and delivered by our nursing team.

  1. Before support starts

    A nurse meets you and your family

    Not a form, not a phone call from head office. One of our nursing team sits down with every family we work with, in person, before the first shift. They’re there to understand the person — how you communicate, what a good day looks like, what the hard parts of the day actually are, what has gone wrong with support before.

  2. Assessment

    They write it down properly

    That visit produces a clinical assessment and a written care and health plan — the document your support team actually works to. It is specific to you, not a template with your name at the top.

  3. Your team

    The assessment decides who supports you

    Our nurses shape the team around what the assessment found — the skills it needs, and who is matched to you. Your team is chosen for your situation, rather than whoever happens to be free that day.

  4. Training

    Your support workers are trained on you

    This is the part that matters most. Our support workers are trained by our own Registered Nurses, on your plan and your needs — not sent off to complete a generic online module about a condition. If you have a tracheostomy, the people supporting you are trained on your airway management plan.

  5. Every shift

    A nurse is always reachable

    Support workers can escalate to a nurse on any shift, including after hours. Nobody has to guess, and nobody has to wait until Monday.

  6. Ongoing

    It gets reviewed — on schedule, and whenever things change

    Nurses re-assess at regular intervals, and again whenever something shifts: a hospital admission, a new diagnosis, a change in how you’re going. Assessments and reports are kept current rather than filed once and forgotten.

  7. Connected

    They talk to the rest of your health team

    With your consent, our nurses liaise with your GP, the hospital, specialists and allied health — so your support team and your health team aren’t working from different information.

It’s a loop, not a checklist. Assessment shapes the plan, the plan shapes the team, the team is trained to the plan, and what the team sees day to day feeds back into the next assessment. That circuit is why support stays fitted to the person as they change — and it’s the reason we can say yes to complex clinical needs.
Assessments & reports

Clinical assessments and reports

A good clinical report is the difference between a plan that reflects someone’s actual needs and one that doesn’t. Our nurses write assessments and reports that are specific, evidence-based and readable — by the participant, by their family, and by whoever has to act on them.

For participants and families

An independent clinical view of what support is actually needed, written in language you can use.

For support coordinators

Assessments and reports that come back current and specific, so you’re not chasing or interpreting.

For plan reviews

Clinical evidence of need, documented properly.

We describe what we assess and observe. What your plan funds is a matter for your support coordinator, plan manager or the NDIA — we deliberately don’t advise on that.

What our nurses cover

This is the full list — not a sample. Our nursing team both delivers these supports and trains our support workers in them.

Tracheostomy care
Enteral feeding (PEG & nasogastric)
Oxygen
Suctioning
CPAP & BiPAP
Epilepsy & high seizure risk
Difficulty swallowing & choking
Pressure care & simple wound care
Stoma care
Complex bowel care
Catheter care
Managing diabetes
Allergy & EpiPen
High-risk medications
Infection control
Palliative care
Care governance

Who is accountable for clinical decisions

Clinical governance sits with our Nursing Director, Michele. In practice that means:

  • Scope of practice and delegation. What a Registered Nurse does, what an Enrolled Nurse does, and what a support worker can be trained and delegated to do is decided by a nurse, in writing, for each person.
  • Care plans and clinical records. Michele sets the standard they are written to and reviews them, so a plan is a working clinical document rather than a form that was filled in once.
  • Medication management. How medication is prompted, administered, recorded and reviewed, and who is authorised to do which.
  • Restrictive practices. Oversight of any practice that could be restrictive, and the reporting that goes with it.
Investigations

When something goes wrong

Where an incident has a clinical element, Michele oversees the investigation — what happened, whether the care plan or the training contributed, and what changes as a result.

Findings are recorded in DCIQ alongside every other incident, complaint and compliment, and reported as patterns rather than single events. If the answer is that our plan or our training was wrong, that is what gets written down.

Where a matter is not clinical, it is investigated by our Compliance team on the same system, so nothing depends on which door it came through. How feedback and incidents are handled.

Behaviour support training

We also have a qualified Maybo trainer on staff to support the implementation of positive behaviour support plans.

“I was so impressed with all of you — your knowledge, your bedside manner, your professionalism, your humour. You made me feel comfortable to have a wound dressed in a not-nice part of the anatomy. I think you’ve healed me physically and mentally. Perhaps made me feel not so disabled.”

Participant, after six months of Lionheart nursing support

Frequently asked questions

Can we engage your nurses without using Lionheart for other supports?

Yes. Nursing is a standalone service — you can engage us for an assessment, a care plan, a report or staff training on its own.

Why does Lionheart focus on complex care specifically?

Because we couldn't find it for our own daughter. Being turned away by other providers over tracheostomy care is literally why Lionheart exists — see Our Story.

Do your support workers have formal clinical training?

Yes. Staff supporting clinically complex participants are trained by our own Registered Nurses, specific to that participant's needs — not general disability support training alone.

Do you support palliative care at home?

Yes, where appropriate to the person's plan and wishes. Talk to us directly about what's involved.

We've been turned away by other providers. Is it worth calling?

Yes. Please call. That situation is the reason this organisation exists, so it’s worth a conversation.

Need a clinical assessment or report?

Talk to our nursing team directly — whether or not Lionheart provides your other supports.