VOL. 15 NO. 1 WINTER brought to you by

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VOL. 15 NO. 1 | WINTER 2013

brought to you by

• Ask Dr. Rodger • Model in Motion • Recognizing our Nurses

TOH Ethics • myTOH Portal • What’s New in Nursing Education

Lynn Kachuik

is Canada’s fi rst

Oncology Nurse

of the Year

Oncology

and palliative care nurses are like quarterbacks, who coordinate and move patient care forward with the support of their team members, said Advanced Practice Nurse Lynn Kachuik while accepting her recent award as Canada’s ﬁ rst Oncology Nurse of the Year.

“We cannot do it alone and need many other health-care professionals and non-professionals to work together to provide optimum care,” she said after receiving the award from the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology.

She also knows, from ﬁ rst-hand experience, how vital it is to include the patient’s family as an integral part of the team. Lynn was inspired to change professions, from teacher to nurse, after caring for her son Jeffrey, who was diagnosed with kidney disease at age three and died in 1984 at age six. While in the hospital, she overhead a doctor reprimand a resident who wondered why the mother should be consulted. “Because she knows Jeffrey the best,” the doctor explained. “You always consider the family.”

Lynn, the APN who leads TOH’s Supportive and Palliative Care, has seen the team approach develop over the years. Nurses now

work to their full scope of practice, collaborating on inter-professional teams. “The TOH model really promotes that. Each member has something to contribute.”

Lynn has focused on oncology and palliative care nursing throughout her career, which has included work in the U.S. and at TOH from 1992–98 and since

2002. She’s passionate about the key role that nurses play.

“Nurses are really the heart of health care because we’re there 24/7,” she said. “Nurses are the glue that holds the system together.” They help patients and their families navigate the health-care system and break down barriers.

Jeffrey inspired not only his mother but also their family doctor, who kept a Grade 1 drawing from Jeffrey hanging in his ofﬁ ce – showing that he wanted to be a hematologist when he grew up because he “wanted to take blood without making the kids cry.”

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From the desk of the

Senior Vice-President, Professional Practice,

and Chief Nursing Executive

The

theme of this Nursing News

edition, Working Together, reﬂ ects The

Ottawa Hospital’s and nursing’s value of

collaboration. Nurses at TOH selected this

value to guide our corporate action many

years ago because nursing cannot take

place without collaboration. It has been

deﬁ ned by you as “joint communication and

decision-making that respects the unique

qualities of each individual. Collaboration is

collegial interdependence with other nurses,

members of the health-care team, patients/

family and the internal/external health-care

community.”

Within

the current health-care context and

the challenges of providing care with limited

resources, working together is taken to an

all-new level. Its importance is greater than

ever. The Model of Nursing Clinical Practice

and the Inter-Professional Model of Patient

Care have guided many teams as they

worked together to increase collaboration

and efﬁ ciency while effectively coordinating

continuity of care and providing a more

compassionate environment for patients

and families and for all of us as well. Many

other features of our organization promote

working together. The value of working

together is demonstrated by the success

of the clinical nurse expert role, the Unit

Council, the Inter-Professional Council on

several units/services, the many (over 30)

work groups and reﬂ ective groups within

nursing, and between professionals and

staff and with our partners.

Because of the dedication and commitment

of hundreds and hundreds of nurses, we

are collectively living our value of working

together. The future is challenging but also

bright because of the leadership of all of

you in all your domains of practice. I would

like to commend all the teams that are

continually collaborating to improve our

work life and the care our patients receive.

Professionally yours,

Dr. Ginette Lemire Rodger, RN

Senior Vice-President, Professional

Practice, and Chief Nursing Executive

“Because of the

dedication and

commitment of

hundreds and

hundreds of nurses,

we are collectively

living our value of

working together.”

L.-R.: NANCY POULIOT, RPN, GINETTE L. RODGER, RN, AND MICHELINE SAVAGE, RN

Nursing News

EDITED AND COORDINATED BY THE NURSING COMMUNICATION WORK GROUP

THE NURSING NEWS IS A QUARTERLY CORPORATE NEWSLETTER WRITTEN BY NURSES FOR NURSES AT THE OTTAWA HOSPITAL TO:

• INFORM NURSES OF NEW PROGRAMS AND PROCESSES, UPCOMING EVENTS, AND NEW TRENDS IN NURSING IN REGARDS TO PATIENT CARE, EDUCATION AND RESEARCH • RECOGNIZE INDIVIDUAL NURSES OR

GROUPS OF NURSES FOR SPECIFIC ACCOMPLISHMENTS INCLUDING QUALITY IMPROVEMENT INITIATIVES, RESEARCH PROJECTS, EDUCATIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS AND PUBLICATIONS AS WELL AS PRESENTATIONS AT INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL CONFERENCES

• PROMOTE CAMARADERIE AMONGST NURSES THROUGHOUT THE OTTAWA HOSPITAL

• PROVIDE A VENUE FOR FEEDBACK ON ISSUES AS APPROPRIATE

FOR INFORMATION

CONTACT:

CO-CHAIRS

BARB KYD-STRICKLAND, EXT. 16663 VACANT

NURSING NEWS EDITOR

VACANT

MEMBERS

CATHY ADAMSON GILLIAN REID-MCDONALD ADRIANA VILLA-COADY

EDITING AND TRANSLATION

TOHCOMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT

LAYOUT, DESIGN AND PRINTING

TOH PRINTING SERVICES

DISTRIBUTION

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Nursing

Work Groups

and Contacts

MODEL OF NURSING CLINICAL PRACTICE WORK GROUP

GINETTE RODGER – [email protected] COMMUNICATION WORK GROUP

BARB KYD-STRICKLAND – [email protected] NURSING BEST PRACTICES LISA FREEMAN – EXT. 16979 NURSING RESEARCH KATHY MOMTAHAN – EXT. 16035 POLICY, PROCEDURE AND PROTOCOL DIANE MULLALY – [email protected] NATALIE LADOUCEUR – EXT. 78623 NURSING PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE COMMITTEE

GINETTE RODGER – [email protected] NURSING WEEK

GINETTE RODGER – [email protected] NANCY JACOBS (ONA)

ONA/NPP

GINETTE RODGER – [email protected] FRANCES SMITH – 613-731-1314 EXT. 260 CORPORATE NURSING CLINICAL PRACTICE COMMITTEE

EVELYN KERR – EXT. 16060 TRACEY BUNGAY

RECRUITMENT, RETENTION, RECOGNITION CHERYL-ANNE SMITH – EXT. 17894

ROBYN DEVEY – EXT. 19897 EDUCATION

KIRSTI WEEKES – EXT. 78439 JOANNE GAUTHIER – EXT. 75641 MANAGEMENT WORK GROUP KIM STEVENSON – EXT. 72134 ADVANCED PRACTICE NURSES LAURA WILDING – EXT. 17086 CLINICAL PATHWAYS

BARB D’ENTREMONT – EXT. 71898 IS/IT NURSING ADVISORY JULIE LATREILLE – EXT. 78405 PAM BUSH – EXT. 78719

NURSING CLINICAL DOCUMENTATION EVELYN KERR – EXT. 16060

NURSING KNOWLEDGE TRANSLATION PAMELA TKACH – EXT. 16897

MARGARET QUIRIE – EXT. 16910 INTERNATIONALLY EDUCATED NURSES WORK GROUP

KIRSTI WEEKES – EXT. 78439 DEBBIE KAYE – EXT. 16349

NURSING INFORMATICS STRATEGIC PLANNING

PAM BUSH – EXT. 78719 KATHY MOMTAHAN – EXT. 16035

Ask Dr. Rodger

As many TOH nurses

go on to graduate

studies, would you

consider having a

semi-annual symposium with

these nurses to review

their research topics

and results, as well

as recommendations

and their potential

implementation at TOH?

Dr. Kathy Momtahan is our Corporate Lead for Nursing Research. She has a dedicated role in helping all nurses, whether or not they are students, with their research questions, topics and methods. If you are a student, this assistance is given in collaboration with your faculty member. I do know that several students are already consulting experts at TOH in their topic areas. As well, we have Research Grand Rounds several times a year led by Dr. Momtahan; some of you have presented and received critiques and recommendations in this forum.

As for the potential implementation of graduate-student research ﬁ ndings at TOH, this would depend on the breadth and depth of knowledge in the area of study. As you know, one or few research ﬁ ndings on a topic cannot be

generalized unless the appropriate methodology was selected, and there is sufﬁ cient replication of ﬁ ndings to support implementation or knowledge translation.

How can we foster

a positive, egalitarian

relationship among

physicians and nurses,

especially in the areas

that have historically been

anything but?

The greatest positive, egalitarian relationship in health care is usually based on knowledge and sharing the same goals in patient care. There is no doubt that the history and the evolution of these two professions affect today’s reality, but do not determine our future, only our journey. I do believe that nurses and our colleague physicians share the goal of the best care for patients even when an ethical dilemma exists. Today’s nurses and many other professionals continue learning as a life-long journey. We now have nurses who have more schooling than physicians, which was unheard of a few years ago. Our ability to work together as equals exists in several practice areas at TOH. These opportunities have grown and will continue to do so. In my view, we are on the road to many, many more positive, egalitarian relationships in the future.

INFLUENZA IS HERE

Get your fl u shot today!

Infl uenza has hit Ontario and Ottawa hard. TOH has seen a signifi cant increase in the number of patients and staff members with the fl u. It’s extremely important that all staff members get vaccinated, practise excellent hand hygiene and follow all protocols to control the virus’ transmission.

Don’t forget, for the safety of you and your patients, get the ﬂ u shot.

Please get your ﬂ u shot on an inpatient unit or visit an Occupational Health and Safety ofﬁ ce.

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Nursing Professional

Practice Department

(NPPD)

TWO MAIN OFFICES: GENERAL CAMPUS, RM 1351 613-737-8899 EXT. 78760 CIVIC CAMPUS, 1ST FLOOR PATERSON BUILDING 613-798-5555 EXT. 14976

SENIOR VP, PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE, AND CHIEF NURSING EXECUTIVE GINETTE RODGER – EXT. 78749 EXECUTIVE SECRETARY KAREN JOHNSTON – EXT. 78749

DIRECTOR, NURSING CLINICAL PRACTICE EVELYN KERR – EXT. 16060

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION ASSISTANT NATALIE LAPOINTE – EXT. 14976

CORPORATE COORDINATORS

CLINICAL PATHWAYS

BARB D’ENTREMONT – EXT. 71898 NURSING EDUCATION

KIRSTI WEEKES – EXT. 78439 NURSING ENHANCEMENT ROBIN DEVEY – EXT. 19897 NURSING BEST PRACTICES LISA FREEMAN – EXT. 16979

NURSING RESEARCH AND ASSOCIATE CLINICAL INVESTIGATOR

KATHY MOMTAHAN – EXT. 16035

NURSING RECRUITMENT, RETENTION AND RECOGNITION

CHERYL-ANNE SMITH – EXT. 17894

CORPORATE ASSOCIATE COORDINATORS

NURSING CLINICAL PRACTICE ELISE CLOW – EXT. 19970 ANDREA JEWELL – EXT. 17248 NURSING EDUCATION NANCY FRAZER – EXT. 16097

LEARNING RESOURCES CONSULTANT, CENTRES FOR NURSING EXCELLENCE PAMELA TKACH – EXT. 16897 OR 73204 OR 82409

INFORMATICS ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT LOUISE KLAASSEN – EXT. 78760

CLERK TRAINING OFFICER MAGGIE KENNEDY – EXT. 71546

MANAGER, TOH MODELS OF NURSING AND INTER-PROFESSIONAL PATIENT CARE SALMA DEBS-IVALL – EXT. 73105 MoNCP RESEARCH COORDINATOR JENNIFER BENNETT – EXT. 16349 RESEARCH DATA ENTRY CLERK HUGO FORTIN – EXT. 19922

TOH Ethics services can help

guide decisions

TOH Ethics services can help

guide decisions

TOH Ethics services can help

TOH’s

Department of Clinical and Organizational Ethics is here to help. Our department provides education and consultation services by request, and can help you and your team work through difﬁ cult ethical issues.

Some of the issues we can help with are questions around end-of-life care,

withdrawing life-sustaining therapy, consent, capacity, goals of care, conﬂ ict of interest, non-compliance and other similar issues. During an ethics consultation, decisions will not be made for you. Instead, we will help you with your decision-making process through facilitation, clariﬁ cation and discussion of the issues and options. The department also provides educational services in the form of Grand Rounds, orientations and presentations

on speciﬁ c topics. These services can be requested at [email protected], or through locating. Simply ask for the Ethics

Consultation Service.

On Nov. 6, Dr. Tom Foreman, Director of Clinical and Organizational Ethics, gave an Ethics Grand Rounds presentation entitled “Withdrawal/Withholding of Treatment: Ethical Considerations in Light of the Rasouli Case” as part of an ethics awareness week. Dr. Foreman discussed ethical issues related to end-of-life care, futility and who has the right to decide whether to withhold or withdraw life-sustaining therapies. This presentation was broadcast to the Civic and Riverside campuses, as well as being available regionally on the Ontario Telemedicine Network.

If you would like to order this framework wallet card, please contact [email protected]

Clinical Ethics

Framework

Investigating the following questions can help in identifying ethical issues. After establishing relevant information, assess whether there are any challenging ethical issues that need to be addressed. If so, please contact the

Department of Clinical and Organizational Ethics to access our consultation services.

Identify the Facts Determine the Ethical _{Principles in Conflict}

• Medical Indications • Patient Preferences • Quality of Life • Contextual Features • Autonomy • Beneficence • Non-maleficence • Justice

Explore Options Act and Evaluate

• Consider options.

• Do the options fit with the patient’s wishes/values?

• Assess the risks and benefits. • Do the options comply with

corporate policy, regulations, and the law?

• Develop an action plan • Evaluate the plan

• Evaluate the outcome: what could you have done differently? What have you learned?

You can contact the Department of Clinical and Organizational EthicsDepartment of Clinical and Organizational Ethics for any

reason, at any time. To request an ethics consultation, please call

reason, at any time. To request an ethics consultation, please call 613-722-7000

and ask for ethics consultation services, or email [email protected] [email protected].

This framework is adapted from (1) Jonsen, Albert., Siegler, Mark., and William J. Winslade.

Clinical Ethics: A Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical MedicineA Practical Approach to Ethical Decisions in Clinical Medicine. Publisher:

McGraw-Hill Medical; 5 edition (May 22, 2002), and (2) Community Ethics Network (CEN).

“Ethical Decision-Making in the Community and Support Sector: Community Ethics

Toolkit”. 2008

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Model in Motion

The

care facilitator (CF) position is an important aspect of the Model of Nursing Clinical Practice at TOH. Unit care facilitators provide coordination and organizational support to the clinical manager of a unit. A large portion of the CF role is planning the ﬂ ow of patients through the unit, assigning nurses to patients based on patient needs, and supporting research, quality and safety initiatives. CFs communicate frequently with other members of the health-care team because they act as coordinator, consultant, facilitator and liaison.

Name:

Cindy (Cynthia) Cockram

Unit:

E6 Hemodialysis Civic Campus

Can you tell me a bit about yourself and your nursing experience?

I began my nursing career at the Ottawa Civic Hospital in September 1977 on One Pavilion South, a medical unit. I was one of two RNs hired that year from southern Ontario. We had graduated from Fanshawe College, Victoria Hospital Campus, in London, Ontario. I had originally planned to stay at the Ottawa Civic Hospital for one year and then move back home, until I met my husband who was working as an orderly on the Orthopaedic Unit. I transferred to Hemodialysis in June 1979, worked in ICU from July 1980 until 1985 and returned to Hemodialysis in June 1986. I have remained there ever since, working part-time and full-time. I also had a nine-month term as Acting Clinical Manager of the Hemodialysis Unit.

How long have you been in the care facilitator role?

I have been a care facilitator at the Civic Campus since the Nephrology program amalgamated over 10 years ago.

What was it about the CF role that made you interested in this position?

When I started, the role was very much what I had been doing as Acting Clinical Manager. I enjoy organizing multiple patients and staff, and collaborating with physicians and other members of the multi-disciplinary team.

Can you tell me about your role and responsibilities as a CF?

I work with E6 Clinical Manager Vanessa

Deck, Nurse Educator Dana Foisy and Liaison RN Danielle Reklitis to effectively and efﬁ ciently run the 18-station Hemodialysis Unit. We treat approximately 125 patients a week, from home and in hospital. In dialysis we have a motto: ”Give us a sink and a drain, a patient with an access and we can do dialysis anywhere!” Many of the acute care areas, such as ICU, Trauma, ER, AMA, NACU and all areas of the Heart Institute, will attest to this!

What quality and education activities are you involved in or responsible for?

I have trained 18 of our staff members to act as charge nurses. I am responsible for discussing unit ﬂ ow with newly orientated staff. I organize the unit to send staff to Lunch and Learn, Skills Fair and ongoing education sessions held routinely by our nurse educator. I assign a nurse daily to ensure that our quality control measures are met (e.g. AED daily checks).

I am also a member of our Nephrology Clinical Practice Committee where I participate in developing policies and procedures that guide and improve nephrology nursing practice.

How do you provide managerial support?

I am the “hub” of the unit activity, situated at a desk in the middle of the unit. All patients know who I am because I am the keeper of the patient schedule. My personal patient motto is “To live with dialysis, not for it.” I have been able to arrange many short trips away for patients, with the assistance of the liaison nurse. As

part of management coverage, most staff will come to me ﬁ rst with issues for guidance. I round on patients and I act as a reviewer for the unit in PSLS. I am responsible for recording monthly statistics for our unit. As well, at the Civic Campus, I am the historian of the unit: I keep the manager informed about historical aspects.

What types of challenges do you face and how do you address them?

Trying to leave work on time is always a challenge because I believe I need to be here for the patients when they want to see me. I also talk a lot!

I also manage many issues not related to patients. These come from many centres in Ontario with medical needs not necessarily related to nephrology. Many patients are admitted with other physical needs along with their hemodialysis requirements and I must coordinate their care with the needs of the admitting services.

We have an amazing inter-professional and support staff team that is involved in this life-sustaining treatment, and we have some of the ﬁ nest nephrologists on our service.

What are the most enjoyable and rewarding aspects of your role as CF?

I come to work each and every day loving my job. It is never boring, always challenging and some days all-encompassing. It can also be exhausting, but I wouldn’t trade it for any other job. The dialysis patients often become part of a large family in the Hemodialysis Unit. They are here three times a week and usually for the remainder of their lives unless they receive a kidney transplant. During patient rounding it is an honour to hear patients express their gratitude for the excellent care they receive from the nursing staff. I pride myself on being just a small part of this “small but mighty unit.”

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Mentorship and Guardian Angel pins

A letter to a preceptor

from a previous student

A letter to a preceptor

from a previous student

A letter to a preceptor

I have

a very special story I want to

share with you.

Remember when you gave me that Guardian Angel pin, which I cherish so very much? When you gave it to me, you told me when the time was right to pass it on and I did just that. Last week we had a 15-year-old, inspirational young man transferred to our unit, who had traveled here from London, England, against all medical advice as he was in the end stages of osteosarcoma. He came here because he found this “healer” online. The plan was to attend two weeks of “healing classes” and then have the interaction with this healer in Toronto with a hope to be cured. It was his last wish and because insurance would not approve him to travel, his Mom made the bold choice to bring him over here and try it, out of pocket, despite knowing her son’s life was growing shorter.

Unfortunately he attended only a couple of healing classes before his cancer spread to his lungs, causing a pleural effusion requiring

a three-day stay in ICU before coming to us. While here, we worked to get him out to this healer (once again, against all medical advice). On Saturday evening he decided he wanted to go home, as the healer was refusing to see him. Heartbreaking as that was, his Mom did not have the money to bring him home. Sunday night he really deteriorated; on Monday, my unit tried to fi nd donors through international funds and through Sick Kids to get him home to his family for his fi nal hours. I was back at work with him yesterday and we truly did not know if he would make it home as he was doing so poorly. That is where the Guardian Angel pin came in. We had a potential donor but it had not been confi rmed; emotions were high on the unit and I decided he needed that angel, so I passed it on to him and his Mom and let them know it was very special to me. We both cried as he thanked me for it. I encouraged him to hang on until we could get him home safely into the arms of his family.

Within half an hour, the donor was conﬁ rmed!!! They were scheduled to ﬂ y out of Toronto, by 7 p.m. It was incredible!! He literally held that angel pin close to him all day. When they found out they got the donation, his Mom said, “Your angel worked!!” His spirits improved after that: he was more alert, was breathing better and was able to sit up in the wheelchair for the remainder of the day.

We found out this morning he landed alive, and safely.

I hope this warms your heart to know that that beautiful angel pin made a mark on someone else’s life as it did mine!

Talk soon, Jenn, RN

What’s up

in Nursing

What’s up

in Nursing

What’s up

Education?

in Nursing

Education?

in Nursing

An

exciting new Nursing Education structure was launched on Sept. 11, 2012. Each TOH nurse educator will join colleagues in one of the four new weekly work groups that will address the following:

1

Policy and Procedures, Medical Directives, etc.

2

Innovative Teaching Methods

3

Standardizing Orientation and Projects

4

Teaching Teams

These collaborative work groups will be able to move forward corporate initiatives, projects, policy review and implementation, and innovative teaching methodology in a timely manner and provide clinical nurses at TOH with the latest in nursing education. Nurse educators will now report to their respective clinical directors as well as Kirsti Weekes, Corporate Coordinator of Nursing Education in the Nursing Professional Practice Department, to facilitate a uniﬁ ed approach to nursing education at TOH.

Congratulations to all of the nurse educators who are enthusiastically engaged in their work groups.

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Pam’s Computer Corner

myTOH Portal provides electronic gateway

The

Internet is a global system of millions of connected computer networks. TOH has an internal connection of computers that functions in the same way the Internet does, but only computers within the hospital

can access this TOH internal network. This way we can keep information more secure.

The only way to access this restricted information from home or on an auto log-on computer is to use myTOH Portal. The

portal is an electronic gateway that allows employees to gain access to the internal network when working off-site or on an auto log-on computer.

Key features accessible off-site include:

Feature

Location

Description

Important Notes

Top left

Access InfoNet, room bookings or Collaboration Suite software.

Links to documents on InfoNet do not always download properly when accessed outside the hospital.

Top middle

Access your e-mail using Outlook. If you have a ﬁ le stored on a network drive, just open the appropriate application and go ﬁ le



open. (e.g. use Word to open a Word ﬁ le)

To use these applications from home, you must load Citrix on your computer (see below). All auto log-on computers in the hospital already have Citrix.

Citrix:

_{Top right}

Citrix is a program that allows

multiple people to access the same program. You need it to use any of the Microsoft Ofﬁ ce programs on the portal.

It’s free and it does not take much space on your computer.

Middle

Webmail is a basic e-mail program that allows you to check your e-mail messages when you are using a computer that does not have Citrix.

This program may have errors when trying to send messages or open attachments. It is always better to use Outlook whenever possible.

Bottom left

The HRIS system is the human resources system. Here, you can apply for a job, print your pay stubs or update your personal information.

Remember to sign out when you are ﬁ nished.

Bottom left

ELM is the learning management system. Here, you can register or take online education like WHMIS or pain training.

These records remain part of your HR record and will be accessible as long as you work at TOH.

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Ovarian

Walk of Hope

celebrates

Walk of Hope

celebrates

Walk of Hope

community

spirit

community

spirit

community

The

Ovarian Canada Walk of Hope

took place at Mooney’s Bay Park in Ottawa on Sept. 9, 2012, raising money solely for ovarian cancer research, awareness and support programs. It also celebrated a spirit of community and hope for women and families whose lives have been touched by ovarian cancer.

Our team members who participated in this event were:

CDCU nurses: Karen Smithers, RN; Jacinthe Forget, RN; Alana Blake, RN; Soﬁ je Zaplluzha, RN; Kelly Ann Baines, RN; Joanne Adam, Nurse Liaison; Lynn Jolicoeur, APN; Libby Contestabile, Clinical Nurse Educator; Lisa Rambout, Pharmacist; and Jennifer Fotheringham, Social Worker.

Did you know?

Nursing

students often ﬁ nd their preceptorship experience so positive that they choose to become TOH nurses.

This year was another record year for accommodating nursing preceptorship placements. An additional 30 students were accommodated over last year, for a total of 318 preceptorships!

Again, many units generously increased the number of students accommodated. Special thanks and acknowledgement go to F7, D5, 7NW, A5, 5NE, 5NW, 8E, 5E and B2 for the large number of placements they accommodated. ICU and ED at both campuses

also signiﬁ cantly increased their numbers of preceptorship placements.

Thank you to the preceptors, unit staff, clinical managers and nurse educators for sharing your knowledge and skills and for providing a supportive learning environment. It takes

a team to support this number of students. Preceptorships are your contribution to shaping the nurses of tomorrow, the nurses who will care for our loved ones.

If you are interested in being a preceptor, please speak to your clinical manager. Another preceptorship workshop “Facilitating Learning Experiences” will be held on May 30.

Various preceptorship resources are also available on InfoNet



TOH

Education



Nursing



Preceptorship material. If you have questions about nursing students or preceptorships, please contact Nancy Frazer at

[email protected] or 16097

Remember to include

preceptoring on

your resumé and when

applying for bursaries

and tuition assistance!

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Recognizing our Nurses

This

year marked the 13th

anniversary of TOH’s Nursing Recognition Celebration. On Nov. 8, 2012, over 300 nurses came together at the Hampton Inn Convention Centre for an awards ceremony to recognize their professional accomplishments.

Many of the donors, who support nursing research, provide bursaries, and support tuition reimbursement and CNA certiﬁ cation, attended and congratulated the individual nurses on their accomplishments. We are very lucky to have community support for our nurses, making it possible for them to continue their education, conduct research and spread the message about the great work being done at TOH.

This year’s peer-nominated award recipients were:

• Susan McNeely – Wendy Nicklin Professional Image of Nursing Award • Nancy Parent – Sue Robblee Clinical

Practice Award

These recipients are well-respected nurses whose impressive commitment to patient care and education has been nothing short of spectacular.

The Annual Team Nursing Award allows a patient or family to nominate a team of nurses that best exempliﬁ es TOH’s values of compassion, commitment to quality, working

together and respect for the individual. This year’s award was presented to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit team at the General Campus by Kate Eggins, who told the story of her family’s successful journey.

This year, TOH had award nominations from all campuses. This is a true testament to the outstanding care provided at TOH and all of the hospital’s nurses should be proud of their achievements.

Patients want to be better able

to identify nurses

Patients

and their families often have difﬁ culty identifying who is providing their care. If nurses wear a distinct uniform, it’s easier for patients and families to know who is a nurse.

It is interesting that the issue of nursing uniforms has become contentious over the years. The history of nursing uniforms dates back to the time of Florence Nightingale, when they were worn with pride and served as a beacon to wounded soldiers, letting them know that the person approaching their bedside was someone who would help ease their pain. Recently, Nova Scotia nurses

adopted a mandatory uniform.

The idea of a uniform is not a new one and professions such as the police and the ﬁ re service are integrally connected with wearing uniforms. In both these services, wearing uniforms has served as a point of pride to those brave men and women who have won the right to wear them. The same should hold true of the nursing profession; not everyone has earned the right to call themselves a nurse and those who do should be proud to wear a uniform as a symbol of their qualiﬁ cations.

Most importantly, patients should not have to question who is approaching their bedside. Wearing a standardized uniform would symbolize the professionalism of nurses and assure patients that the person approaching their bedside is a nurse. We would like your feedback about a standardized uniform for TOH nurses to help our patients distinguish nurses from all other staff. I hope that you will reﬂ ect on what has been written and provide us with you feedback about this issue.

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Stroke unit offers clear

benefi ts for patients

Clustering

stroke patients together in an acute stroke unit has proven to have many beneﬁ ts for patients, including reduced lengths of stays and reduced likelihood of death or disability.

Since the Champlain Regional Stroke Network (CRSN) ofﬁ cially launched the Acute Stroke Unit at the General Campus last January, stroke patients have been clustered on the 5NW and AMA units. CRSN Best Practice Team members Isabelle Martineau, Tracey Dyks, Lise Zakutney, Elizabeth Snieder, Karen Mallet and Alexis Near have worked together with the 5NW/AMA team in best-practice stroke-patient assessment and care over the past nine months.

“I love the Stroke Clinical Pathway; you don’t miss anything when you follow it,” said RN Bonita Boucher. “The stroke training helped me polish up my skills for caring for stroke patients.” Meanwhile, RN Sylvia Pearce noted that the pathway “makes a big difference in

the timelines for patients to receive necessary treatments. They receive physiotherapy, for example, right away and this prevents de-conditioning.”

While RPN Becky Pena was doing an assessment according to the pathway, she noticed a decline in the patient’s vision. “We sent her to the Eye Institute and she really did have a problem that they were able to treat.”

Acute Stroke Unit champions Magalie Isralon-Jura, Judy Macleod, Margaret Mackenzie-Neil and Carl Smith work with Prudy Menard, Nurse Educator, to maintain proﬁ ciency in stroke care. The stroke unit has been running efﬁ ciently thanks to the hard work of Clinical Manager Teresa Seguin and all the staff who have learned about stroke-care best practices. For more information, please contact Whitney Kucey, CRSN Acute Care Coordinator.

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WITH OUR THANKS

We would like to extend our gratitude to Sue Eggleton for her longstanding and wonderful contributions to The Ottawa Hospital, the Nursing Professional Practice Department and Nursing News!

As Sue embarks on a new career path outside TOH, we wanted to let her know how grateful we are for the work she has done.

Sue began her career at TOH in the Civic Campus Intensive Care Unit in September 2001. In 2002, she moved to the NPP Department, assisting with special projects such as developing policies around annual Nursing Registration and Basic Cardiac Life Support certifi cation. In 2003 she accepted the Clerk Educator position.

At the same time, she became

Editor-in-Chief of Nursing News. Sue has overseen

the production of 40 issues of Nursing

News, fi ve of which were special editions for

Nursing Week. She has been instrumental in developing guidelines for the production of Nursing News and special editions while working closely with the Communications, Translation and Printing departments. One of Sue’s true focuses was to ensure that nurses’ voices were heard.