There's no such thing as a typical nurse!
When my sister and I were little our grandmother made
us Nurse's Uniforms.
They consisted of Nurse's Hats, white with two black stripes; aprons
with a
red cross on the bib; a thermometer and a stethoscope.
We played for hours, closing off the bedroom hallway of our bungalow,
each
of the three bedrooms becoming a patient's room, complete with handbasin,
paper bags for waste. Our dolls were the patients, when our baby brother
took off in disgust. We'd diagnose, hand out medication, give back rubs,
and boss each other around... mostly me since I was older.
Nurse. If you grew up in the 60's, it was one of three career options
for a
girl. (two guesses for the others).
Today, the role of Nurse is significantly different. In fact, nursing
is a
diversified career option and covers much more than hospital corridors.
Sophistication of technology, advancement of family health clinics,
specialization of diagnostic equipment... the demands are many.
Caregivers range from PSW (Personal Support Worker) to RN (Registered
Nurse)
to RPN (Registered Practical Nurse) to RNEC (Registered Nurse Extended
Class) to Nurse Practitioner.
Today, in Simcoe County, 30 Nurse Practitioners are carrying huge loads
of
medical service, in order to shift the workload from our enormous doctor
shortage.
Jackie Giddings is one of them. Jackie began her nursing career as
an RN in
1974. She has a long background in nursing care, including 12 years
at RVH
in the Emergency Department. She added to her four years post secondary
education and with at least two years nursing experience, she took her
Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner Program and then a provincial
exam
which licences her to perform Nurse Practitioner services. It's taken
eight
years to become a Nurse Practitioner.
As a Nurse Practitioner, Jackie can order and reorder medications,
lab
tests, xrays. She can diagnose and confer. She is a valued asset to
the
medical system in Simcoe County.
In 2003 the province mandated 117 nurse practitioners into key roles
in
Ontario's health system. Simcoe County got seven of these; one went
to
Grove Park Home. And that is Jackie Giddings. As an employee of Grove
Park
Home, Jackie's responsible for caring for 143 residents in the home,
and her
full time position is funded by the Ministry of Health.
The Nurse Practitioner's roles are unique. Not only can they give primary
medical care, they run women's wellness clinics; they look after 'orphaned'
patients... people who are living in the region with no family physican,
and
no follow up care. They operate sexual health clinics through the public
health system and now with the new family health teams, Nurse Practitioners
are working with 3-4 family physicians to round out medical care.
"People without family doctors go to walk-in clinics or emergency
departments. A husband and wife with a couple of kids have no where
to
go... for shots, checkups, continued care so the family health teams
really
help doctors take on more patients. It's scary that people with diabetes
and no family doctor are getting their service from a walk-in clinic!"
At Grove Park Home, Jackie's office is open to the community, too.
She has
almost 500 patients registered to her through Georgian College. Two
days of
every week she runs a clinic for Georgian students who have no health
care.
Georgian doesn't have a health office due to lost funding.
Jackie says her work with Georgian students is diverse. As well as
sexual
health issues, students come for testing, for annual physicals for work
placements and college entry. They come with acute sports injuries and
afflictions like strept throat, pneumonia... things that Jackie diagnoses.
She deals with a lot of mental health issues, too. "Sometimes
they're
referred by the college because a staff person feels they may need
medication. I screen them first, especially now that they're only 17
and
away from home for the first time. They're stressed out; they're not
eating
properly; they need to talk about how they're feeling, what their stresses
are," she says.
"I send them for blood tests... often they are really low in iron
which can
be a huge factor in depression. They're not eating iron-loaded red meat
because it's too expensive.
"I'm not a counsellor but I am a mother and I have kids who've
gone through
college and university so I can listen to them, do some lab tests, do
a
physical and I can refer them to my physician partners."
Those partners see patients in Jackie's Grove Park Home office two
days each
month.
Jackie's work day is long, diverse and very rewarding. She sees patients
in
the community who are without a family doctor. She works with Dr. McTurk,
the doctor at Grove Park Home and together they choose courses of action
which allow residents to avoid a hospital stay.
All over Simcoe County, NP's are taking their place in a medical system
that
is pressured by shortages. Thanks, Jackie!
Donna Douglas is a Barrie writer. You can reach her at
donna@donnadouglas.com
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