Wellness & Lifestyles Recruitment Drive For ACFI Specialist Nurses Launched By Nick Heywood-Smith

Sept. 22, 2012 - PRLog -- Changes to the Australian Government's Aged Care Funding Instrument (ACFI) from July 1, 2012, recently led Wellness & Lifestyles CEO, Nick Heywood-Smith, to announce the creation of a Specialist Nurses Service to help Australian aged care facilities to manage their compliance and assessments of residents.  The response as been so great, that the company has now launched a recruitment promotion for more nurses to deliver the service.

The RNs will help aged care facilities to understand the ACFI changes, and then educate and assist centres’ staff about claiming the correct entitlement for each resident.

"The nurses delivering this ACFI specialist service are all required to have proven experience in aged care, and be able to perform the necessary medical assessments of residents" explained Mr Heywood-Smith.  "In some instances, they may also be required to advise staff, at all levels, on how to provide the most accurate ACFI assessments."

"Such comprehensive and accurate assessments will help to ensure that claims submitted to the Department of Health and Aging attract the most appropriate level of funding from the government" he continued.

Nick Heywood-Smith explained the need for the service, noting that the nursing staff who are involved in the day to day care of aged care centre residents rarely understand the intricacies of the ACFI.  And, he says, they do not have the time to conduct the assessments and subsequent paperwork needed to claim the correct level of funding - funding that will help them to provide the best and most appropriate level of care for each resident.

"We are looking for experienced aged care nurses who understand the ACFI, and who can relate to aged-care facility staff at all levels"  said Mr Heywood-Smith.  "Nurses with a demonstrated commitment to excellence, an eye for detail, and a genuine concern for the care of residents in aged-care centres, are ideal candidates."

RNs who would like to use their clinical expertise and ACFI knowledge in a broader context, without working shifts and weekends, are invited to enquire to W&L at http://www.wlconsultancy.com.au/careers/acfi-nurse-jobs

About Nick Heywood-Smith

Nick Heywood-Smith is a registered physiotherapist and CEO of Wellness & Lifestyles Australia (W&L) group of companies. W&L is a business that he developed with his wife Nikki which specialises in aged care, and provides mobile allied health and education services to clients and facilities across South Australia, Victoria and the Northern Territory.

Nick has been a registered physiotherapist since January 1999. Since completing his degree he has worked in a variety of health care settings in five different countries around the world. He was recently awarded Young Entrepreneur of the Year by Ernst & Young in the Central region.

About Wellness & Lifestyles (W&L)

Wellness & Lifestyles Australia (W&L) was established by Nick Heywood-Smith in 2003. It is a market leader in the provision of mobile allied health services in Australia. W&Ls core business is aged-care focused allied health services.

W&L has grown from a home office to a company with the full scope of allied health services including physiotherapy, podiatry, speech pathology, occupational therapy, dietetics, exercise physiology, psychology, diabetes educators, massage, natural therapies, educational training and specialist RNs to facilitate ACFI assessments, Australia-wide.

The company services to over 250 facilities and over 15,000 aged care beds. Its current clients consist of aged care facilities, the intellectually and physically disabled, community health services, day therapy centres, home care package providers, public and regional hospitals and private clients in their homes. Their vision to become the benchmark for aged care allied health care services in Australia, supplying ‘best in class’ services that surpass needs.

W&L provides a ‘one stop shop’ for allied health services for their clients and focus on providing a ‘work-life’ balance for their therapists.  This has been the key to their success.
To join the W&L team of allied health professionals visit wellnesslifestyles.com.au