Bupa Tamworth care manager Rebecca Linich won the Excellence in Care Leadership Award in the national Bupa awards.

“It is judged out of all the care homes in Australia,” Mrs Linich said.

“It is judged on where certain care managers had shown leadership in driving certain aspects of care with one care manager winning it for improving palliative care and mine was for looking at veteran health.” 

Mrs Linich, a Solomon Islands veteran, said she wanted to acknowledge post-traumatic stress in veterans and base their care around their differing needs.

“Veterans will disclose to other veterans more readily than they will to civilians because they know that another veteran understands,” she said.

“It’s about building that veteran relationship. We have our young veterans in the community and they are coming in and spending one-on-one time with our veterans.”

There are 12 veterans in the care home as well as war widows and, Mrs Linich said, the program meant veterans could connect with others who understood some of their experiences.

“I have connected particularly with one resident, in sitting down and talking to him and his behaviours have settled,” Mrs Linich said.

“It’s given them a voice because they’re speaking to someone who is a military person who understands their experience to a degree.”

The award, she said, meant that all the effort and hard work she’d put in towards making a difference was recognised and that others’ sacrifice and courage was recognised.

“It gives me more passion and drive to continue with it,” she said.

“I can see it being such a big, positive program that could mean so much with the Vietnam War veterans coming through to aged care.”

Mrs Linich paid tribute to her team who had helped make the program a reality.

“The program couldn’t have worked without the support of everyone, because it took a bit of vision to see how this was going to work,” she said.

“Knowing I had the support of general manager Richard Williams and the other care manager Louise Oliphant really made a difference.”

The Tamworth nurse said she would love to see the program introduced into other care homes.

The awards were presented last Wednesday night at a ceremony in Sydney.