Canadian Patient Safety Week: Spotlight on quality improvement and patient safety leaders at Nova Scotia Health

Canadian Patient Safety Week (CPSW), led by Healthcare Excellence Canada, is a national campaign that unites people to learn, share and take action to improve patient safety.

This year’s theme, All Voices for Safer Care, invites us to listen more deeply, ask important questions and take meaningful action together. Safer care doesn’t happen by chance, it takes collective responsibility, conversations and systems that make space for every voice.

This year we’re recognizing two standout leaders whose commitment to quality improvement is strengthening patient safety across our province.

Through their leadership and collaboration, Trina Peters and Lianne Nixon are driving meaningful change that ensures every Nova Scotian receives safe, high-quality care — reflecting the true spirit of Canadian Patient Safety Week.

Trina Peters, provincial quality leader, Cancer Care Program

When it comes to cancer treatment, every safety measure matters.

For Trina Peters, systemic therapy quality lead for Nova Scotia Health’s Cancer Care Program, ensuring patients receive safe, effective care is at the heart of her work.

“My focus is on systemic therapy for cancer treatments, including chemotherapy, immunotherapy, targeted and hormonal therapies,” she explains. “Essentially, all of the systemic medications that treat cancer.”

Trina’s role is provincial in scope, touching cancer care sites across Nova Scotia. Her work focuses on patient safety, risk assessment, quality improvement and accreditation, the pillars of a strong, reliable cancer care system.

Trina’s path into quality improvement began years before she joined the Cancer Care Program. She first worked as a genetics technologist at the IWK Health Centre, where she became involved in a large-scale quality improvement project to bring essential lab testing back in-house.

“We ran an 18-month project that solved a significant issue and repatriated all our tests,” she recalls. “That experience really sparked my interest in quality improvement.”

After completing her nursing education, Trina worked as an oncology clinic nurse at the Cape Breton Cancer Centre for five years. That front-line experience continues to shape her perspective today.

“When you’re working in busy clinics, sometimes you’re in survival mode, doing your best for the patients in front of you,” she says. “In this role, I get to make broader changes that help hundreds or thousands of patients.”

No two days in Trina’s role are the same. She co-leads the Systemic Therapy Quality Improvement and Patient Safety Committee, as well as an incident trends committee that reviews safety incidents quarterly.

“We look for patterns, like gaps in communication at care transitions,” she explains. “When we see something that needs improvement, we can turn it into a quality improvement project.”

One of those projects has become a province-wide initiative. Through national collaboration with the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP Canada), ISMP Canada analyzed medication safety incidents in community pharmacies over a five-year period.

“We found medication safety gaps in our processes for oral cancer medications,” she says. “Now we’re working on a plan for quality improvement to involve oncology pharmacists as a bridge between hospital teams and community pharmacies. With the hopes they’ll verify prescriptions, provide community pharmacy co-ordination of the prescription and do patient teaching, adding more checks and balances before anything reaches the patient.”

Another key focus is preparing for Nova Scotia Health’s transition to new electronic clinical information systems. Trina and the oncology team are working to identify and address potential safety risks that may arise with new technology.

“It is best to think proactively about how to make these systems as safe as possible from the start,” she says.

Patient voices play an essential role in shaping quality initiatives. Trina works with the Cancer Care Patient and Family Advisory Council (PFAC), which provides valuable feedback on quality improvement, quality reviews, projects and accreditation work.

“We bring patient and family advisors into our meetings or reach out to them for feedback, because their perspective is so important,” she explains. “Their input helps us see things we might miss and ensures we’re designing processes that make sense for patients.”

The PFAC is made up of Nova Scotians with lived experience of cancer, either personally or as family members. Their involvement, Trina says, is one of the most rewarding parts of the program.

Trina’s work currently is taking her across the province, meeting with teams at various cancer care sites to ensure quality and safety.

“We recently visited one of our smaller sites (at the Aberdeen Hospital in New Glasgow) and it’s treating a lot of patients,” she says. “It’s wonderful to see care happening closer to home. For some patients, travel can be a barrier and reducing that barrier can make all the difference.”

She says those visits also provide an opportunity to hear directly from front-line teams about what’s working and what could be improved.

“I often think back to my own time as an oncology nurse,” she adds. “It’s important that changes we make actually help the people delivering care every day.”

For Trina, one of the most fulfilling aspects of her role is being able to turn ideas into action.

“As a front-line nurse, I’d see things that needed improvement but didn’t have a way to take it forward,” she says. “Now, I get to help make those changes happen.”

She collaborates closely with physicians, pharmacists and other quality leaders across the province to strengthen cancer care services and maintain a consistent standard of excellence.

“We’re working together across programs, zones and professions to make cancer care safer and more patient-centered,” she says. “It’s exciting to be part of a system that’s always learning and improving.”

Lianne Nixon, quality leader, Mental Health and Addictions, Central Zone

When it comes to patient safety in mental health and addictions, Lianne Nixon believes safety means more than preventing physical harm. It’s also about creating a culture of compassion, respect and psychological well-being.

As one of two quality leaders for Mental Health and Addictions (MHA) in Nova Scotia Health’s Central Zone, Lianne plays a key role in helping teams across the system strengthen their commitment to safety and quality. With a background as a social worker at the East Coast Forensic Hospital for over a decade, her path into quality improvement was a natural extension of her advocacy for patients and families.

“I’ve always been an advocate for mental health,” she says. “In this role, I still get to do that, just in a different way. I’m helping to make sure our policies, procedures and care pathways are inclusive, trauma-informed and respectful of the diverse cultures and communities we serve.”

Before stepping into her current position in 2023, Lianne worked with Correctional Health Services as a quality lead during their first accreditation assessment under new national standards. That experience deepened her understanding of how safety and quality practices can transform care environments for both patients and providers.

Much of Lianne’s work involves collaborating with teams across the zone to monitor quality indicators, review safety incidents and identify opportunities for improvement. But her approach to safety goes beyond physical protection.

“In mental health and addictions, we see a lot of incidents related to patient protection and sometimes aggression,” she explains. “That means our focus isn’t just on preventing physical harm. We’re also thinking about emotional, psychological and spiritual safety. Those forms of harm are just as real, and we need to address them.”

She emphasizes that patient and staff safety go hand in hand.

“If staff don’t feel safe, physically or psychologically, they can’t give their full attention to patients,” she says. “Supporting our teams’ safety helps ensure our patients receive the best care possible.”

In recent months, the Mental Health and Addictions Program (MHA) rolled out Safewards, a trauma-informed approach to safety within inpatient mental health units across Nova Scotia.

“Safewards is about making psychiatric units safer and more supportive for both clients and staff,” she says. “For decades, these spaces may not have felt safe for everyone. We’re changing that, making them places of healing, not just treatment.”

Lianne also works closely with Patient and Family Advisors (PFAs), who play an active role on every quality team within Mental Health and Addictions.

“Our advisors bring an outside perspective that’s so valuable,” she says. “They help us see things we might miss when we’re immersed day-to-day. They’re part of every stage of our work, from identifying problems to developing solutions.”

Lianne is part of a tight-knit network of six MHA quality leads across the province, all working toward one goal: ensuring anyone accessing mental health and addictions services in Nova Scotia receives the same standard of care, no matter where they live.

“We’re becoming more connected and organized as a province,” she says. “It’s exciting to see how far we’ve come, and where we’re headed over the next five to 10 years. The work we’re doing now will shape how safe, consistent and compassionate care looks across Nova Scotia.”

As someone who has spent her career advocating for people experiencing mental health and addiction challenges, Lianne says she feels proud to be part of this evolution.

“Our teams are some of the most amazing, non-judgmental people you’ll meet,” she says. “They accept people where they’re at and help them work toward their own goals. It’s a privilege to support them, and to know that together, we’re making care safer for everyone.”

Thank you to Lianne, Trina and everyone across Nova Scotia Health whose dedication, collaboration and compassion continue to make care safer for patients, families and communities every day!

Photos of (L-R) Lianne Nixon and Trina Peters.