Miramichi Emergency Department named most improved in treatment times of febrile neutropenic children
Staff at Horizon’s Sussex Health Centre collected and donated 171 pairs of pyjamas to the Sussex Salvation Army in mid-December as part of their second annual PJ Drive. Estelle Arbing, Emergency Department nurse, and Monica Tays, the health centre’s nurse manager, spearheaded the drive, which garnered support not only from staff, but also friends, family and community members, all who were happy to help in the drive. The original goal of the PJ drive was 50 pairs, to surpass last year’s donation of 41 pairs. “Did we ever surpass that goal!” said Monica. A special kudos goes to Estelle for her persistence in finding people to support this goal. The team is already looking forward to their third annual PJ drive in 2019! Sussex Health Centre staff helps community sleep better over the holiday season
Blankets knit with care bring comfort to children in crisis
hope patients and families can be reassured they will receive quality, and experience the least amount of stress possible during their visit.” Marilyn Underhill, the hospital’s executive director, said she is thrilled about this recognition from APPHON. “This is thanks to the hard work and dedication of staff and physicians in our continued support of providing excellent patient care,” Marilyn said. APPHON acts as a vehicle for communication, education, advocacy, and development of standards to achieve goals of comprehensive health services, clinical care, education and research related to the health care of children with hematologic or oncologic disorders and for their families. Michelle and Kara said they are happy to see everyone’s work translate into meeting the standards of pediatric febrile neutropenia treatment times. “We are pleased to be recognised by APPHON and we will continue to work hard to maintain the standards,” Kara said.
The Emergency Department at Horizon’s Miramichi Regional Hospital (MRH) was recently named the most improved - and best - in terms of treatment times of febrile neutropenic children in all the Atlantic provinces. In early December, representatives from the Atlantic Province’s Paediatric Hematology Oncology Network (APPHON) performed a “levels of care” visit at Horizon’s MRH. These visits happen every four years to review standards of care and treatment times for paediatric febrile neutropenia. Neutropenic children are children who are undergoing chemotherapy and are often left with a diminished immune function. When a child has diminished immune function and then becomes sick or develops a fever it becomes a serious health risk. Michelle Watling, clinical resource and critical care nurse, said in Miramichi most of these children’s first point of access to care is through the Emergency Department (ED), and after an APPHON visit in 2011, staff set up plans to improve the care they provided.
“Pediatrics set up an audit process and began tracking our pediatric febrile neutropenia pediatrics outpatient clinics and emergency room visits,” said Michelle. Kara Barter, pediatric nurse, said they worked together to make these improvements. “We looked at each visit and what we could do to improve our system to meet our goals,” said Kara. Michelle said staff began practices such as including critical patient information and guidelines in triage, adding antibiotics to AcuDose machine, educating staff on febrile neutropenia, providing feedback post visits and so on. Through these efforts, numbers improved steadily over the years and APPHON’s audit in 2017 showed treatment times for febrile neutropenia at MRH as the most improved in Atlantic Canada, and meeting the standards of care. “This was a team effort and includes all the ED nursing staff and doctors,” said Michelle. “With the ED meeting the treatment standards, we
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Trena Brown, nurse m anager in the Emergency Department at Horizon’s The Moncton Hospital, was on hand to gratefully accept the donation from Elizabeth Stewart.
Horizon and its patients are fortunate to benefit from the kindness of people in the community like Elizabeth Stewart. During the holiday season, Elizabeth donated 14 packages to the Emergency Department at Horizon’s The Moncton Hospital. Each package contained a hand-knit blanket, teddy bear and matching blanket for the teddy.
Elizabeth knitted and then donated the blankets in memory of her daughter, Terri- Lynn, who was killed while flagging traffic on a road construction site at the young age of 19. Terri-Lynn loved children and planned to become a teacher; this thoughtful gesture helps keep her memory alive. These special blankets will bring comfort to some of the sickest and most frightened children requiring care. “The gift is very generous,” said Trena Brown, Emergency Department Nurse Manager. “The blankets represent that human connection we all need, and to be able to provide that to children in crisis is very important.” Elizabeth began working on the blankets during the summer, each of which took about a week and a half to complete. She loved the idea of creating a smaller version for the teddy bears — a little something to provide extra comfort to children. “Blankets allow us to restore a sense of security and trust for our most critically-injured pediatric patients,” said Trena. “Sometimes, we have to send kids by air to the IWK (Health Centre in Halifax). A blanket and teddy would be perfect travelling companions.”
Estelle Arbing, Emergency Department nurse, and Monica Tays, the health centre’s nurse manager, are photographed with pairs of pyjamas collected by staff, family members, friends and community members as part of their second annual PJ Drive.
Members of Horizon’s Miramichi Regional Hospital Emergency Department and Pediatrics team pose with the Atlantic Province’s Paediatric Hematology Oncology Network (APPHON) Pediatric Oncology Supportive Care Guidelines. Front row, from left: registered nurses Holly Newman, Monique Daigle and Jessica Sargent; Susanna Dewolfe, pharmacist; and Sandra Daigle, LPN. Back row, from left: registered nurses Michelle Foran and Renee Squires; Pam Power, Emergency Department nurse manager; registered nurses MichelleWatling and Carolyn Sutherland; Dr. Bill Martin; and Kara Barter, registered nurse.
Elizabeth holds one of her hand-knit blankets. Each blanket takes about a week and a half to complete.
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