The School of Nursing helps with the Royal Jubilee Hospital Patient Care Centre Tower move
By Robbyn Lanning
On Sunday, March 13, over 200 UVic Nursing “Students on the Move” helped transfer nearly 300 patients from the Royal Jubilee Hospital’s old inpatient units to its new Patient Care Centre (PCC) Tower in just under eight hours. Teams of nursing undergrads volunteered their time, working four- and six-hour shifts, to help Vancouver Island Health Authority (VIHA) staff receive patients relocating from the old hospital.
With patients being moved to the PCC at the staggering rate of one every two minutes, the students created a buddy system, providing the essential service of orienting patients to their new surroundings one-on-one.
Dr. Lynn Stevenson, VIHA executive vice-president, people, organizational development, practice and chief nurse, witnessed “the enormous contribution the students made to helping the patients settle in to their new environment. … [The students] provided a wonderful safety valve for the receiving RNs who would not have had the time to just be with the patients as they were very busy taking report on each new patient as he or she arrived.”
Third-year nursing student and Students on the Move (SOTM) team leader Christine Lockhart was pleased to help coordinate student participation in the event. “It’s all about collaboration and partnerships,” says Lockhart. “I’m proud to be part of a student body where so many people cared enough to be there that day.”
Natalie Tran, third-year nursing student and SOTM team leader, described a round of applause given to the first wave of student helpers by the PCC nursing staff. Tran observed that participation in the move was a way for students to give back to nurses who serve as preceptors during student practicum placements.
The PCC is a building where research manifests into real-world practice. The building is a departure from the older hospital as it emphasizes the human side of care, rather than focusing on the diagnoses and treatment of diseases—activities that now take place in an adjacent building. Simple changes to room design,
such as configuring bed placement so that patients’ faces—rather than feet—are visible at a glance, allow nurses to assess patients both more efficiently and personally.
Over 80 per cent of the rooms in the PCC house single beds, each equipped with its own adjoining toilet and washing facility. Rooms are designed so that patients can rest in privacy while friends and family are able to visit in increased comfort over extended periods of time. Sound-dampening panels are used in walls and ceilings, patient rooms contain large windows to supply natural light and fresh air resulting in a comforting and less institutional atmosphere—innovations that may speed patient recovery times by as much as 20 per cent.
Amber Hawkins, third-year nursing student and SOTM team leader, describes how the design promotes togetherness in healthcare. “Nursing stations have been replaced with collaboration centres where nurses, along with dieticians, physiotherapists, social workers and other health care professionals will work together in a community,” says Hawkins. “When you are a nurse, you nurse everyone; every age, background, gender—there’s not just one type of nurse, and we are all part of a larger health team.”
Making use of this unusual event, School of Nursing Director, Dr. Noreen Frisch and VIHA Professional Practice Office, Practice Consultant, Diana Campbell are collaborating to conduct a survey of patients, VIHA staff and UVic Nursing students to evaluate the use of nursing students as support-persons during
the major hospital move. This unique research has the potential to impact thousands by aiding in understanding of how to support patients when a move from one building to another becomes part of their hospital experience.
From 2011 Spring Communiqué
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