Make sure to get your zzz’s. A good night’s rest can leave you with a sharper mind, a better mood, more energy, and a stronger immune system. Among other things, lack of adequate sleep can have negative effects on mood, appetite, concentration, metabolism, attention, school performance, and relationships. Improve your sleep by establishing a healthy routine that includes regular sleep and wake times, avoiding caffeine later in the day, avoiding screen use in the bedroom and before bedtime, ensuring your bedroom is dark and of a comfortable temperature.
Shared on behalf of Andrea Raynak, Director Nursing Practice
Please be advised Baxter Corporation has issued an urgent medical device correction for our current intravenous pump, the Novum IQ Large Volume Pump. This notice has been issued due to the potential for internal screws becoming loose and further, damaging the pumping mechanism valves. This damage has the potential to lead to the over infusion of the intravenous solution.
Prior to initiating an intravenous infusion, please complete the following;
1. Confirm the pumping mechanism valves (two visible white valves when the pump door is open) are not stuck, ensure they move up and down.
While the pump is infusing, please monitor the following;
1. Listen for any atypical sounds coming from the pump.
If the pumping mechanism valves appear to be stuck and/or there is any atypical noise noted, bring the pump to your Patient Care Manager. Ensure the pump is labeled and a biomedical requisition is complete.
Please see poster in link below for visual representation.
Quality care and patient safety is of utmost importance. Baxter Corporation is working diligently to resolve the issue. Further communication will come once the issue is resolved.
Congratulations to both Lindsey Serino and Lindsey Edwards — winners of the quarterly ‘Good Catch’ Awards.
Good Catch Awards highlight individuals, groups or departments who demonstrate their commitment to keeping patients safe by reporting a near miss. A ‘good catch’ (or near miss) is an event or situation that could have resulted in harm, but did not reach the patient because of chance or timely intervention. Reporting these events can help to identify gaps in order to prevent future adverse events from happening.
Lindsey S. works in the Clinical Lab and Lindsey E. is a member of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit team. They were each awarded a certificate and a gift card to the Goods & Co Market.
New winners will be randomly selected every quarter. Please continue submitting your near misses for a chance to win! Near miss reports are submitted through the Incident Learning System (patient safety incidents). Click on the ‘safety reporting‘ icon from your Novell home page, or go to the iNtranet and click ‘Safety Reporting‘ under ‘Informational‘.
For more information, contact Terry Fodë, Patient Safety Improvement Specialist (terry.fode@tbh.net).
Shared on behalf of Andrea Raynak, Director, Nursing Practice
I am pleased to announce that Emma Kilby has accepted the position of Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cardiology Services.
Emma graduated from Lakehead University with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and is currently working on a Masters of Nursing through Athabasca University.
The majority of Emma’s nursing career has been spent in Critical Care within the Intensive Care Unit. Within this role, she also worked on the Medical Emergency Management Team and the Regional Critical Care Response Team. She has exceptional clinical knowledge and skills, is a strong patient advocate, is a contributing member to the multidisciplinary team, and is able to prioritize care based on acuity- all skills which are directly transferable to her role as a CNS.
Emma recognizes the importance of furthering her knowledge and clinical skill set as evidenced by her formal and informal education and leadership activities. Emma is an Advanced Cardiac Life Support Instructor and has certifications in the following; Emergency Nursing Pediatric Course, Pediatric Advanced Life Support, and Trauma Nursing Core Course. Furthermore, Emma is affiliated with Lakehead University in the capacity of a Clinical and Lab Instructor.
When not at work, she enjoys spending time outdoors with her family and two St. Bernard dogs! Please join me in welcoming Emma to the role.
Coming to the Emergency Department (ED) can be a stressful experience. At Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC), we have a team of physicians, nurses, physician assistants, Indigenous Patient Navigators, medical learners, social workers, clerks and support workers dedicated to providing you and your family with safe, quality care while in our Hospital. In this series of videos, we want to introduce you to some team members you may encounter when you come into our ED.
Meet Jake, a Registered Nurse, and find out why he chooses to work in the ED at TBRHSC.
Raising the Barr supports young adults and children battling life threatening illnesses in Northwestern Ontario. Over the last three years, they have raised over $180k for our community through their annual golf tournament and “Golf Balls from Heaven” Helicopter Ball Drop. For more information, visit their website.
The Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Foundation will be selling “Golf Balls from Heaven” tickets in the Cafeteria on August 2 and 9, from 11:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.
Shared on behalf of Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President & CEO, TBRHSC and CEO, TBRHRI
Hello, Boozhou, Bonjour.
I wanted to quickly check in with everyone mid-summer with a bit of an update on what’s been going on this past month and what’s upcoming.
First and foremost, I would like to bring you up to speed on our efforts to keep you safe at work. As you know, workplace violence is an unacceptable problem faced in healthcare and this complex problem requires a collaborative, multi-faceted approach. I’ve been communicating with you for months on the many activities underway to combat workplace violence. And we’ve made progress. In April, May and June of last year, we saw 80 violent incidents against staff in the hospital. Since implementing changes including an increased police presence, we saw that number drop by almost 90% (10 total incidents) during the same three months this year. But, as I told the local media this past week, this is no reason to celebrate as even one incident is one too many. So, we have considerably more work to do.
Although we started our work in the Emergency Department (ED), the intent has always been to scale some of our efforts to other areas of our organization. Lately, in our Hospital there have been some severe incidents that have occurred that are not specific to the ED. Through well thought-out interventions and strategic communication, we will continue to look to reduce and prevent the violence in our Hospital. We recognize that many of these initiatives and new ways of practice are costly, but funding should not stand in the way of providing a safe environment.
Speaking of EDs, hospitals across our region continue to struggle to keep their emergency departments open throughout the summer – the peak of vacation time. As you can imagine, the smaller hospitals in Northwestern Ontario are limited in the ability to have patients diverted to a nearby alternative ED, unlike our Southern Ontario counterparts. The impact of these regional closures extends beyond the community and often spill over to our ED. This at times can result in a much more critical situation for the patient. As an adjunct to the care being provided in the region, we are often able to assist through our regional specialized services.
Now more than ever, our programs such as the Regional Mental Health Assessment Team, Regional Critical Care Response Program and our Regional Paediatric Virtual Care Program can supplement critical components of the urgent care needed. We look to further expand on our abilities to virtually assist through these types of programs that can provide a vital lifeline.
As you know, hospitals across Canada are facing unprecedented challenges when it comes to health human resources, and we are certainly no exception to that. We have made progress, but we are looking for more opportunities and are hopeful that minor changes to funding arrangements and program services will augment our current recruitment efforts. In fact, we have made a compelling case to the provincial government that we face unique challenges on this front here in Northwestern Ontario. This was a major aspect of what I communicated last month when we got a visit from Dr. Karima Velji, Chief of Nursing & Professional Practice, Assistant Deputy Minister of Health. We are requesting urgent personalized incentives with all disciplines that can set us apart from regions in Southern Ontario and even Northeastern Ontario. We know we are unique, and we have requested this for all professions such as Nursing, Medical Laboratory Technologist (MLT) and Pharmacy. We will start with this approach, but I am hopeful the plans will bring some stability to all operations and open up other opportunities. I will keep you updated on our progress.
Despite the system-wide pressures all hospitals are facing, one thing I know for sure is that our teams continue to provide exceptional care and find innovative ways to help others who are looking to do the same. I am proud of our Hospital and the care we provide – each and every one of you should be also.
Finally, we all know you can’t beat summertime in Northern Ontario, so I hope you have had a chance to get in some vacation and enjoy our beautiful surroundings with friends and family.
Shared on behalf of Dr. David Welbourne, Laboratory Director & Chief of Pathology and Georgia Carr, Manager of Laboratory Services
I am pleased to announce Deanna Hicklin, as our new Quality & Safety Compliance Coordinator.
Deanna is a dedicated healthcare professional who has an exceptionally unique clinical background which has resulted in extensive knowledge and expertise which will benefit and support the laboratory services department in the field of medical laboratory sciences.
Deanna has worked as a Phlebotomist, ECG Technician and Clinical Research Associate & Ethics and Regulatory Lead (Clinical Trials). She is drawn to quality improvement and has played a key role in Accreditation Canada Diagnostics, Health Canada Inspections and OMNI – electronic Document Control System.
Deanna also holds the role of Academic Liaison for MLA and MLT students and is the MLA Practice Lead with the Professional Practice group working closely and collaborating with her peers to provide support and resources that enhance patient care.
Deanna has strong work ethic, is committed to ongoing professional development and has taken a wide variety of courses which has demonstrated that she keeps the bar raised high for life-long learning, especially in our rapidly evolving scientific field.
We are thrilled to have Deanna on our team and look forward to her unique perspective and diverse skillset.
Shared on behalf of Cora Rouillard, Information Technology Support Manager
I am pleased to announce Luke Perrier has accepted the position for IT Support Lead, reporting to the Manager, IT Support.
Luke graduated with an Honors Bachelor of Computer Science, from Lakehead University and has been with the TBRHSC/SJCG IT department since 2017. For the last 7 months he has been at St. Joseph’s Hospital, leading the re-cabling project and supporting day to day operations in an acting role. Luke’s knowledge and hard work makes him a true asset to our team.
Luke will be working alongside Domenic Falcetta, managing day to day support calls, projects and purchasing for both St. Joseph’s Care Group and Thunder Bay Regional Health Science Center.
Shared on behalf of Dawna Perry, Senior Director, Nursing, Academics and Practice Excellence
I am pleased to announce that Holly Freill has accepted the position of Interprofessional Educator at the Hospital.
Holly graduated from the University of Guelph with a B.A.Sc in Human Nutrition and completed a Masters Degree in Food & Nutrition through the University of Western Ontario.
Holly has extensive experience within the renal program where she has worked as a Dietitian for the last 11 years. She worked collaboratively in an interdisciplinary team to support nutritional status of end stage renal failure patients in both the inpatient and outpatient settings. Within this department, she designed and authored multiple publications on First Nations people living in remote communities with chronic kidney disease.
Holly is also affiliated with many of our community partners; Northern Ontario School of Medicine as a Preceptor and Adjunct Faculty, and with Lakehead University and Confederation College as a Sessional Lecturer. Holly is also the recipient of the Human Touch Award through Cancer Care Ontario and the recipient of our Walk the Talk Award.
We are thrilled to have Holly on our team and look forward to her unique perspective and the diverse skillset she will bring.
When not at work, she enjoys trail running, ultimate Frisbee and spending time with her family. Please join me in welcoming Holly to the role.
