“Imagine, a place where health care providers and allied professionals come together with patients and families to learn not about death, but about living,” palliative care nurse Katrina Patterson said of the Valley Hospice, set to open to the community later this year. “I can hardly wait.”
Whether you’re a member of Harbourview Hospital’s adult day program or recovering on the rehabilitation and restorative care unit, recreational therapist Kevin Stairs is there to help you reach your goals. “It’s about developing trust with those individuals that I work with,” he said, “and really, getting a sense of what their goals are, understanding their challenges and stressors, and giving them a chance to be heard.”
Nurse practitioner Maria Ceschiutti always saw herself working in health care. “I don’t know if I ever thought of myself as anybody other than a professional in health care,” said Ceschiutti, who works out of the newly constructed collaborative health care centre in Shelburne, nestled conveniently next to Roseway Hospital. “When I learned about nurse practitioners, I just knew that job was made for me and that was absolutely what I was meant to do."
Nova Scotia Health Authority (NSHA) is reassuring the community of Neils Harbour that laboratory services at Buchanan Memorial Hospital are not closing and will continue to be delivered. “We recognize the importance of the hospital services delivered at this site for all residents and visitors who are North of Cape Smokey,” NSHA President and CEO Janet Knox said.
QEII Health Sciences Centre anesthesiologist Dr. Michael Schmidt and his research team have received funding of almost $350,000 to support their work in developing measures that will help improve outcomes for older surgical patients. The Toronto-based Centre for Aging and Brain Health Innovation recently awarded the grant for a two-year project titled: Computerized assessment for Post-Operative Cognitive Decline (POCD) in elderly surgical populations – a multi-centre study.
The annual Wellness Fund celebration hosted by Nova Scotia Health Authority’s Southeastern Community Health Board was buzzing with the excitement of 11 non-profit organizations that have received grants to improve health in their communities. Among this year’s deserving grant recipients is Family SOS’s BEEA Honey with Heart, “a youth-led social enterprise project” that give participants ranging in ages 12 through 17 the responsibilities of “managing beehives, ensuring the well-being of the bees, and educating their community on the importance of bees on a global level.”
If there is a problem related to medication safety in in Halifax, Eastern Shore and West Hants, Holly Carver is there to find a solution. Should the wrong medication be loaded in automated dispensing cabinets or administered to patients, the medication safety pharmacy practice assistant reviews the process and investigates the health care team’s involvement to understand how to address the issue.
For charge nurse Kendra McCarthy, patient safety is a vital part of every task her team takes on at the Halifax Infirmary’s medical surgical intermediate care unit. McCarthy is constantly striving to ensure patients on her unit at the QEII Health Sciences Centre site receive the best care possible.
Visitor restrictions are in place on 2 East & West, an acute care unit at Inverness Consolidated Memorial Hospital. The restrictions are in place to help limit the spread of flu-like illness among patients on the unit.
