February 19, 2015

• Video added to LTC nursing orientation

• Retirement session

• safeTALK creates suicide-safer communities

• SHEA awards

Continued on Page 2

RQHR nurse receives national HIV nursing award Meet Debbie Rodger, Clinic Coordinator for the Infectious Diseases Clinic (IDC) at the Regina General Hospital. Rodger has been ‘the’ nurse since she began working at the hospital in the late 1990s. In the summer of 2014, Michelle Bilan, Public Health Nurse, and Susanne Nasewich, HIV Strategy Coordinator/ Supervisor, nominated Rodger for the HIV/AIDS Certified Nurse of the Year award. The award is offered via the Association of Nurses in AIDs Care (ANAC), an American Nursing Organization.

Award candidates must meet the following criteria:

1. Currently certified as an HIV/AIDS Certified Registered Nurse (ACRN), or an Advanced AIDS Certified Registered Nurse;

2. Membership in the Association of Nurses in AIDS Care;3. Demonstrated excellence in HIV/AIDS nursing;4. Demonstrated leadership in ANAC or HIV/AIDS Nursing

Certification Board, or excellence as an HIV/AIDS nurse; 5. Demonstrated involvement in HIV/AIDS community activities, and 6. Fostered advancement of HIV/AIDS Certified Registered Nurses

through sharing of expertise.

In late fall of last year, the IDC was notified that Rodger was to receive the award and would be presented with it at their awards ceremony at their National Conference in November, 2014.

To say that Rodger fulfills all the criteria for this award is easy. She was instrumental in both Bilan and Nasewich’s success in writing and passing the ACRN exam in 2012. Rodger led the study group and was supportive and patient with the nurses while they were learning. With her help, the two nurses are now among the few ACRNs in the country.

Rodger demonstrates excellence in HIV/AIDS nursing every day. She is present with and for her patients and provides care that is never judgemental or punitive; despite an often challenging patient population.

Debbie Rodger, Clinic Coordinator for the Infectious Diseases Clinic.Photo credit: Medical Media Services.

Rodger demonstrates

excellence in HIV/AIDS

nursing every day. She is

present with and for her

patients and provides care

that is never judgemental or

punitive.

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She is also active in the IDC professional practice group, which is supported by the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association, and she is always available to assist with speaking to nurses and other care providers about HIV.

One of the key points Rodger often makes is that to do this work, with this patient group, nurses must be client-centered, practice via a “harm reduction lens,” and be non-judgemental, no matter the patient or the challenge. Rodger is also a

Board Member on the Canadian Association of Nurses in AIDS Care and will be well-equipped to bring the issues related to HIV in Saskatchewan to the national level.

Rodger also volunteers with Student Energy in Action for Regina Community Health most Saturdays, mentoring nurses and other newly practicing care providers, so that they may be able to provide equitable and good quality care to all those who live in the community,

most notably those who are vulnerable.

“Debbie is a mentor and support in our HIV Nursing community, she is someone that her patients can reliably count on, and is well-respected among her non-nurse colleagues and friends who work in/alongside HIV care in the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region,” said Susanne Nasewich, HIV Strategy Coordinator/Supervisor.

On behalf of the Health Region, congratulations to Rodger!

National HIV nursing award, cont’d

Mealtime Management video used in LTC nursing orientationOne of the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR) Dietitians working in long-term care (LTC), Sabrina Bovee, partnered with Steven McKnight from Medical Media Services and Regina Lutheran Home to create an educational video on enhancing the meal time experience for residents in long-term care.

The video will be used as a training tool to educate care partners on safe, nutritious and pleasurable eating experiences for residents in long-term care. Clinical Nutrition Services is pleased to announce that the video will be used as part of the standard LTC Nursing Orientation Day.

The benefits and usefulness of the Mealtime Management video as a training tool are currently being evaluated at long-term care homes across Canada.

Once the results of this evaluation process are known, the RQHR is hoping to make the video widely available to facilities across the country.

Clinical Nutrition Services would like to thank everyone who contributed to making the video and for the ongoing support in implementing this training tool region-wide.

The 12 minute video is available as a DVD or on the RQHR intranet at http://rhdintranet/RRCC/public/video/Meal-time%20Management.htm.

For more information, contact Sharon Walker, Manager, Clinical Nutrition Services, at sharon.walker@rqhealth.ca or 306-766-8641.

Sabrina Bovee, Registered Dietitian with RQHR (left), Debbie Rainville, volunteer actress from EDGE agency (middle), and Keith Dewar, CEO and President (right) are pictured together in the educational video on mealtime standards. Photo credit: Medical Media Services.

If so, the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region’s Retirement Session on April 29 will provide you with

valuable information to help you prepare. For an informational brochure and to register online, visit

http://rhdintranet/ eds/public/programs/Retirement/RetirementProgram.htm.

Are you retiring in three to six months?

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What if you could gain the skills and knowledge to help save a life? Through the half-day safeTALK workshop, you could.

safeTALK is a half-day alertness workshop that prepares anyone, regardless of prior experience or training, to become a suicide-alert helper. Suicide alert helpers are part of a suicide-safer community. The workshop helps members of the community identify persons with thoughts of suicide and connect them to suicide first aid resources.

According to Statistics Canada’s most recent data, in 2008 12.8/100,000 people committed suicide in Saskatchewan.1

Most people with thoughts of suicide don’t truly want to die,

but they are struggling with the pain in their lives. Through their words and actions, they invite help from others to stay alive.

safeTALK-trained helpers can recognize these invitations and connect them with life-saving intervention resources, such as caregivers trained in Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST).

The workshop features:• Access to support from a local

community resource; • The simple yet effective

TALK steps: Tell, Ask, Listen, and Keep Safe; and

• Hands-on skills practice and development.

The Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region (RQHR) has been

offering the safeTALK program for nine years, thanks to Brenda Dubois, Aboriginal Community Development Coordinator. The program is sponsored by the RQHR Child and Youth Services Department.

To register for the next safeTALK session, contact Brenda Dubois, safeTALK Program Facilitator, at 306-766-6693 or brenda.dubois@rqhealth.ca. Dubois can also host a safeTALK workshop at your site, depending on the number of registrations.

For more information on the safeTALK program, visit www.livingworks.net/programs/safetalk.

safeTALK helps create suicide-safer communities

1 Statistics Canada. 2014. Health Trends. Statistics Canada Catalogue No. 82-213-XWE. Ottawa. Released June 12, 2014. http://www12.statcan.gc.ca/health-sante/82-213/index.cfm?Lang=ENG

On February 4, I had a Global Fibroid Ablation procedure at the Regina General Hospital. Prior to the surgery, I was apprehensive, nervous and unsure of what to expect. I am writing to express my sincere gratitude to the staff in the Day Surgery Unit.

Everyone I interacted with was friendly, helpful and efficient. Each interaction included the staff member introducing themselves and explaining their role. They answered all of my questions, and they explained either what they were doing or what they needed from me.

They put me at ease with their friendly, easygoing manner.

I interacted with many nurses, doctors, specialists, etc. that day, whether it was someone taking information, giving me direction, starting an intravenous, withdrawing blood, filling my water jug, asking about anesthesia, checking my incisions, wheeling me to surgery, or taking me down to the front door – the list goes on and on. I felt safe, looked after and important. It sounds funny to write that I felt important, but because everyone was so attentive and anticipated my needs I felt special.

The staff turned a situation that was stressful for me into a

very comforting, easy situation where I believe I had the best potential for success.

Thank you very much for the care you took in looking after my needs. I felt much more confident, at ease and relaxed going into surgery and in recovery than I could have possibly imagined.

Words cannot express how truly grateful I am for what you did for me.

Submitted by Jolaine Huber

PS I am healing well and quickly!

bouquetPatient appreciates friendly Day Surgery Unit staff

e-link is published weekly by the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region. We welcome submissions. Please submit items no later than two weeks before publication. Submissions are subject to the editorial guidelines of e-link. For more information, contact Communications at 306-766-5227 or email elink@rqhealth.ca.

© Copyright 2015Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region

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Since 2002, the SHEA ceremony has provided an unparalleled opportunity to celebrate innovation and excellence in the provision of frontline health and social care across

Saskatchewan. The awards recognize the devotion, professionalism and humanity of individuals and teams who are passionate about providing the best possible health

care experience to our local communities and then improving upon it.

One of the unique values of the SHEA is that it recognizes excellence across the whole spectrum of health care. In 2014, 11 individuals and groups were nominated,

including a community health nurse from a First Nation, a physical therapist, a volunteer treasurer from a non-profit health organization, a methadone clinic team, and a plastic surgeon. Nominees could also include emergency medical technicians,

scientists, educators, social workers, dietary and housekeeping aids, porters, or volunteers, from the obvious to the not so obvious members in all health care settings.

2015 Saskatchewan Health Care Excellence Awardswith founding and presenting sponsor Dr. Roberta McKay

Saturday, March 28Conexus Arts Centre

200A Lakeshore Drive, ReginaCelebrating Excellence in Health Care!

Appetizers at 6 p.m. Dinner at 7 p.m.Individual Tickets: $75 each OR table of 8: $550

For tickets call: AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan at 306-924-8420 or 1-877-210-7623.

All proceeds support the programs and services of AIDS Programs South Saskatchewan.

2015 Saskatchewan Health Care Excellence Awards (SHEA)

On January 27, I had back surgery at the Regina General Hospital. I am writing to tell you that I was treated very well, and I had the best surgery and recovery experience.

The pre-operation staff were informative and the Operating Room (OR) staff were great. They answered my questions and, in turn, asked the questions they should ask a patient.

Using the Bair Hugger made me feel nicely warm as I was being put under for my surgery. The anaesthesiologist put me to sleep

gradually, which was nice. Dr. Beggs wheeled me into the OR. It was comforting to see how well the doctors worked together with the OR staff.

After my surgery, I was on my feet the next day, and though there was some pain, it was manageable.

My post-operation experience was also great – the nurses were fabulous. They gave me a booklet about recovering from back surgery and informed me of what I should and should not be doing when recovering.

They also went through the exercises with me and made sure that I understood everything before I left.

I have worked in an OR in Yorkton for over twenty years, so I know what is supposed to happen when a patient undergoes surgery. I tip my hat to your hospital for the great staff – keep up the good work, because it shows!

Submitted by Brad Moroz, Yorkton

OR staff give patient a great experience

bouquet