Kate Spurway, Managing Director, Nursewatch

Is care in the home a lifestyle choice for you? Many of us find it hard and struggle with the notion of placing our ageing parents into a nursing home, however the alternative of being the primary carer would mean compromising and juggling our busy lives. With lack of alternatives being aged care services that provide only medical and nursing care at home, there is a noticeable gap in the industry.  With further research spent on understanding the importance of  relationships, social interaction, and emotional support in life, there has been an increasing search for holistic aged care that would help our aging parents spend the final stage of life full of joy, love, and meaning.

Kate Spurway was well aware of the issue and the need for more holistic aged care services in the market when she founded NurseWatch in February 2017. Leveraging her extensive experience as a registered nurse, she was determined to provide a premium medical and nursing care combined with social experience and wellness services tailored for the individual. “The creation of NurseWatch is a result of a culmination of passion to help improve and maintain the health of older persons, their independence and enjoyment of life, and to fulfill the desire to keep them at home,” says Kate.

The beginning journey of NurseWatch was deeply personal for Kate. After losing her mom in a car crash, Kate found herself in a difficult position where she had to ensure that her grieving father had the best support while at the same time keep up with her work. But she was not alone in the situation. And that’s when she decided to take action. She recalls, “NurseWatch was developed when I saw the need to relieve emotional stress on families who found themselves as primary carers but didn’t want to put their loved ones into aged care.”

Kate’s professional experience as a nurse and her understanding of the subject of community care and development was crucial in modeling the progressive aged care service of NurseWatch. She says, “Modelling of our ‘Wellness Care Social’ approachculminatedfrom my opportunity at the University of Wollongong where I completed my EMBA and wrote a mini-thesis on ‘Asset Based Community Development’.” Today, NurseWatch stands as the pioneer of the ‘Wellness Care Social’ approach of aged care, which places equal emphasis on care, wellness, and social interaction. 

Focusing On More than Just Quality Nursing Care

As a premier old age care provider, the unique trademarked model of NurseWatch that focuses on merging premium nursing care with enjoyable social experiences and wellness services has been very successful in practice with over 40,000 hours of care. As a part of this model, NurseWatch involves one-on-one and group activities tailored to the interests of its clients to improve their social health while instilling a sense of inclusion.

In addition, NurseWatch provides several regular wellness sessions such as yoga, mindfulness, kinesiology, nutrition, and massage by its experienced registered nurses who are affectionately called Compassionaires. This not only enhances the experience and overall wellbeing of clients but also helps them in shifting their focus away from illness and towards vitality, looking at proactive prevention as well as treatment. “Our tailored approach of engagement, social inclusion, and sensitivity to a personal relationship and family circumstances allows each person regardless of health status to thrive and enjoy positive living opportunities. All of this is overseen by our dedicated health concierge clinicians,” explains Kate.

As a testament to its inclusive quality health and wellness services, NurseWatch has received ISO Accreditation and Rainbow Tick Accreditation, the national benchmark of inclusive care.

Fostering a Value-Driven Culture

NurseWatch’s culture is driven by its five fundamental principles—ethical behavior, diversity, professional standing, professional development, and quality management. Keeping all these core values as the fundamentals, the organisation shapes its decisions and aligns its activities to consistently deliver against its purpose and promise. It applies ACWA’s principles of social inclusion, equity, individual worth, and human dignity in all day to day professional practices regardless of race, religion, gender, or age. In fact, NurseWatch is a proud Foundation Member of ACON’s Pride in Health and Wellbeing Programme, with its own LGBTI Concierge.

As CEO of NurseWatch, Kate ensures that the team upholds the values through proper mentorship, training, and support. Her immense focus on nurturing a learning environment has also been a significant factor for the team to explore and contribute more to the progressive care approach of the company.

As NurseWatch is also focused on the emotional care of the client’s families, the Compassionaires are trained to form genuine long-term working relationships with clients and their primary carers while remaining vigilant and professional at all times.

Delivering Convenient Online Booking Experience

To make the booking process seamless and easier for the users, NurseWatch offers an intuitive online booking platform with convenient time slots of two consecutive hours up to eight hours each day. It allows care seekers to choose their favourite Compassionaire and easily book care in advance. Once booked, it sends personalised care itinerary to the client and the care schedule to the assigned nurse through the online rostering system, Deputy. Nurses can share information regarding the wellness of each client in real-time before and after each shift that is managed by a dedicated Nursing Manager.

Reshaping the Future of Quality Aged Care

With its easy-to-access service, collaborative culture, client-centric approach, and value-proposition, NurseWatch has been transcending the traditional model of care. Moving ahead, it aims to continue reshaping the aged care model by enhancing its primary care offering with nurse practitioners, telehealth services, and technology in the home to support clients. Meanwhile, as a leader in the industry with 20 years of extensive nursing experience, Kate plans to continue mentoring the upcoming primary care nurses to enable them to redefine the future of quality healthcare in Australia. “I will continue to mentor the next generation of primary care nurses while offering a career path for motivated nurses in every stage of their career who have complementary skill sets that can add value to the wellness of clients in and out of their home,” says Kate.

In the coming years, the organisation intends to expand its footprint around the globe with services in Melbourne, Brisbane, Hong Kong, Israel, Japan, and New Zealand.

As the pioneer of the ‘Wellness Care Social’, NurseWatch has paved a new model for the medical industry to emulate for better aged care service. Drawing inspiration from the personal experience of Kate, NurseWatch has carved a progressive home care approach for the aging population, holistic in nature, driven by a passion to help, guided by strong ethical values, and sustained by integrity and service excellence.