Working in the hospital system as a registered nurse provided Edith Hurt GAICD with particular insight into the pressures faced by those in critical clinical roles.

Complemented by years spent in IT project management, change management, consulting and digital transformations, Edith’s unique expertise allows her to sensitively guide care organisations through their new technology implementations with Rohling. 

“In aged care, disability services and health, this blend of skills and experience helps our clients by providing instant understanding of the pressures healthcare workers face every day and the patient journey,” the Organisational Change Manager says.

“There is a high value being placed on clinical experience in this context.”

“Whether it’s registered nurses or people with pharmacy backgrounds, all of those hands-on clinical roles are seeing a value in digital and process improvement, as well as in the training of staff,” she continues.

With a specialisation in orthopaedics and experience as a nursing unit manager of a surgical ward, Edith’s time at the senior levels of the frontline also gave her exposure to the needs of Australia’s ageing population in rehab facilities, including those who had suffered strokes.

“I certainly understand what it’s like to be run off your feet for an eight-hour shift and your focus is on patient care, but there’s still a lot of administration that has to be done as well, a lot of checking and double-checking of medications and care plans,” she says.

It’s this depth of clinical knowledge that health and aged care providers are now seeking within digital transformation project teams, in what is a growing trend.

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“Part of the advantage is around trust and speaking the same language, but part of it is also just knowing what questions to ask for anyone that goes into a particular sector as a business analyst, a project manager, a change manager, systems architect, all of which Rohling has excellent capability in,” Edith says.

“If you do have more knowledge about your stakeholders and you do speak the same language and you understand what it’s like to go to work each day for them, then you can prompt them and say, ‘But what about such and such?’,” she continues.

“And I think that in turn builds trust and people realise that you’re capable and that you understand.”

It certainly allows Edith to understand the implications of a new digital system, the likely disruptions caused by an implementation project, and how workers and care recipients will respond. She is able to tailor her change management techniques as a result to ensure each project has the best chance to succeed.

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“It does increase the likelihood of success, not only technical success but also the people change. An aged care organisation, for example, might retain more staff, they might be more confident in speaking to clients and retaining more clients through a change process,” Edith says.

“The greatest likelihood of a project’s success is having good sponsorship, good project management and someone looking after the people and processes via change management throughout that whole process.”  

Preparing for every eventuality and understanding the stakes are crucial within Edith’s approach.

“It’s important to consider the fallback ability to manage without systems if they go down, for example, and the contingency measures. Because I’ve seen that happen,” she says.

“Do people know what to do if an implementation is delayed or if their systems are unstable? It can cause problems if there aren’t contingency and backup measures in place for how to record information, for example.”

It is that level of expertise that can provide Rohling’s clients with peace of mind.

After working in the mental health space with Beyond Blue, then in cancer research funding, Edith sees her work with Rohling as the natural next step in an impressive career.

“I have chosen over the last decade to work in high impact, social purpose organisations,” she says.

“I also recently completed a master’s of data science strategy and leadership because I wanted to be up on AI and machine learning and understand hybrid cloud computing. Those skills are really quite fundamental these days to skilled professionals.

“I get the opportunity to use my registered nursing background, change management background, data science background and project management.

“I get to use all of my skill-set and experience in the work I do with Rohling within a growing sector that really needs quite a bit of help. So I’m excited to be here with Rohling, and doing purposeful work.”

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