National Nursing Week

WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - THURSDAY, MAY 5, 2016 11 Nurses With You Every Step Of The Way In the Northern Health Region, nursing is foundational to the care of those we serve. On behalf of our citizens, Board, and Executive, we thank each nurse in the Northern Health Region for your caring, knowledge, judgement and skill. With the Northern Health Region geographically being the largest of five RHA's in the province of Manitoba, just imagine the career opportunities available!! In the found On be we tha Region judge With t being of Man oppor Or contact our Recruitment Officers: •• • ••• • ••- €‚ƒ•• • •ƒ„€€ƒ…†„ƒ…„…• • ••- €…ƒ€„•† ‡ˆ• ‰Š‹ ˆŒ „€… ˆŒ Ž' ' ˆŒ „ •"• • ••- ……„ƒ••†† • •ƒ„……ƒ€……ƒ†‚†‚ • ••- ……„ƒ••…… ‡ˆ• Š‹ For more career opportunities and required qualifications, please visit our website at: ‰‰‰‹‹ ˆ " •––– BY JENNIFER MCFEE for the Free Press The scope of nursing extends far beyond hospital and clinic settings to focus on caring for the community as a whole. I n the area of managing education within community health services, Rebecca Neto applies a full range of skills she has developed during her career. This area of nursing focuses collectively on all community-based services, such as population public health, home care, primary health care and community mental health. As manager of community education and strategic initiatives, Neto strives to ensure that these community programs work cohesively together for the best overall results. "I try to minimize duplication to plan and collaborate together so that we can ideally serve our clients better and be more efficient," she says. "I don't actually have a team that reports to me, so my job is to infiltrate and influence and get people together. I get the right people around the table so we can plan and organize our work." Her wealth of community-based experience provides Neto with a unique perspective. She's tackled positions ranging from a visiting home- care nurse to staff development coordinator. She's also worked in primary care as both a nurse and a team manager. "It's a complex system. It's similar to a hospital that has all its programs contained within its walls and roof. But in the community, we deliver programs and services but don't have those walls," she says. "We have to be able to reach the staff when they do congregate, or come up with some meaningful opportunities to get them into the office so that we can provide them with education and keep them engaged. You have to be creative." To deal with information overload, she strives to ensure that all communication is pertinent and succinct. Recently, she used her communications and management skills to convey the importance of equity throughout the health-care system. Community health assessments have provided quantitative data that shows a discernible difference in lifespans in different population segments. To examine this issue, a working group was formed and a workshop about equity was held to provide managers information and tools to address these modifiable factors that affect health outcomes. "I think that we worked well to not just give didactic information on what is equity. Instead, we asked people tough questions and brought forward examples. We guided them through reflection on privilege, advantage and disadvantage, and what that means," Neto says. "We looked at how we all have these preconceived notions that we have to face on a personal basis in order to do our work better and recognize the opportunities when they exist to lessen that gap within people's health." She also focuses on online learning opportunities as a way for caregivers to access education in a timely way that works best with their schedule. Right now, she's working on a module about the theory behind health behaviour change. "Health behaviour change is a way to focus on meeting people where they're at and helping guide decisions to optimize their health. When health care providers can understand where a person is at regarding readiness to change, the provider can use specific strategies to respond," Neto says. "The online module is intended to make learning useful and accessible for when they need it." In another initiative, hospital home teams aim to optimize patient flow and keep people out of hospitals if they don't need to be there. "Hospital home teams rally around people who had either been in the hospital frequently or were unable to get out of the hospital due to insufficient support. Maybe they are lacking social support or resources, which keeps them using the hospital system like a Band-Aid," she says. "These teams come and work with the client at their home to assess them and understand what's required and link them with their community networks. That way, they can be healthier and stay at home where they prefer to be." The role has proven to be a perfect fit for Neto, who has a master's degree in nursing with a focus on administration. "I really like how population health and community health are just so grassroots. It's connecting with people to keep them home safely and autonomously and independently. That's what I'm most passionate about. For me, I find it fulfilling. Every day is different," she says. "As a nurse, you want to help and you want to do good. I think everybody comes to work wanting to do their best job. So my job is to help support that and get those systems and education in place to support their work. I try to rally the people, provide them with their education and let them hit the ground running." ✚ NURSES: WITH YOU EVERY STEP OF THE WAY A VOICE IN THE DARKNESS One of the things I have enjoyed most in my nursing career has been the many different paths we are able to take. The opportunity to learn new skills and gain competencies in different specialties is a unique aspect to nursing. Even within oncology, there are numerous disease sites we could specialize in, to expand our knowledge base. Whether the kind of nursing care you deliver is bedside or a virtual service, the impact we have on a patient's journey is the same. My latest role is as a nurse navigator; someone who acts as a support, educator and advocate for patients, primarily in oncology. Most of our contact with patients is over the telephone. When I first began as a nurse navigator, it was a difficult transition as we are primarily a virtual service. I missed seeing the faces of patients and families in a bustling clinic. As time went on, patients appreciated that they did not have to "come down to another appointment" to seek nursing support. They liked that they could pick up the phone and talk to us, even if was on a weekend. I saw that the impact of care we were giving over the telephone was the same as having a physical presence with the patient. This was becoming another one of those "paths" that I was incorporating into my nursing experience. I have seen that the value of a phone call is just as meaningful as a clinic visit. When a patient has arrived home after spending 12 hours in an ER to learn that the preliminary tests they underwent indicate a suspicion of cancer, we phone them because there is a need for support. We phone them because there is no one to help them process the information. We phone them to keep them moving forward. Whether the focus of support is nurse-driven or social work-driven, our patient's feedback keeps us working together as a team and keeps our passion for what we do fuelled. Nurses don't forget. We carry patient stories with us. We can recall patient names and faces — sometimes easier than members of our own family! Patients also don't forget. I want to share some quotes that our patients have provided to us. We have asked them if we can share their stories: "Thank you for being there for me as a team! You knew what I needed before I knew what I needed. Your amazing support will stay with me forever." "What a difference a day makes; feeling important enough in the health-care system for someone to spend some time with me even on the telephone." "The Navigation Program turned out to not only be a life-saver, but something that filled that dreadful gap between being given a death sentence and being given hope. No one should have to endure the anguish of simply waiting and wondering… and waiting some more." Nicole Koschik, RN Winnipeg Cancer Hub, WRHA COMMUNITY HEALTH CARE SERVICES CONNECT WITH PEOPLE AT HOME Providing grassroots support: Manager of Staff and Clinical Education for Community Health Services Rebecca Neto. PHOTO BY DARCY FINLEY NURSING MOMENTS << Continued from previous NURSING MOMENTS PHOTOS COURTESY OF WINNIPEG REGIONAL HEALTH AUTHORITY

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