Claudia Teunissen

Claudia Teunissen
Project Manager National Bowel Screening Programme
Nelson Marlborough District Health Board

Biography

Claudia has worked in the perioperative environment for 20 years in various surgical team roles, initially starting as a surgical assistant which involved scrubbing, circulating and assisting during various surgical procedures in the Netherlands, before moving into a perioperative educator position where she was part of a pilot group implementing a Dutch prototype of the Surgical Safety Checklist to enhance safe surgical team work.

Over the past ten years she’s published several articles on team work in the Dutch Perioperative magazine, lectured at local faculty and played a significant part in revising the national perioperative curricula which has intensified her knowledge towards effective team work and the importance of effective surgical teams.

After emigration to New Zealand in 2009, she commenced a position as perioperative nurse in Christchurch Hospital where she took a lead role in implementing change management projects and supported the introduction of the Surgical Safety Checklist. Subsequently, she took on the role as Clinical Nurse Specialist for the specialty of Gynaecology & Obstetrics in Christchurch Women’s Hospital.

In this role Claudia continued implementing change management and team projects in perioperative care in close collaboration with the midwifery services. In 2013, she started a position as Charge Nurse Manager Operating Theatres in Nelson hospital, where she further improved the locally implemented Surgical Checklist in close collaboration with the Health Quality & Safety Committee New Zealand (HQSCNZ) involving the entire perioperative team.

Furthermore, Claudia has initiated regular simulation exercises with the multidisciplinary perioperative team to establish collaborative practice, foster a culture of safety and ascertain shared goals. For her Master degree in Health Sciences she has researched the establishment of effective and high-functioning surgical teams which she has implemented in practice at Nelson Hospital.

In her current role (secondment), Claudia is managing the National Bowel Screening Project for the Nelson and Marlborough region emphasizing effective interdisciplinary teamwork.