In the Spotlight
Long Term Care
Gina Trinidad, Chief Operating Officer of Long Term Care and Deer Lodge Centre
We asked Gina Trinidad to provide some suggestions and ideas to inspire nurses who work in long term care about how they can help facilitate improved patient flow. Here are her thoughts:
Beyond their role
What I want nurses to do in LTC is really to push the boundaries a bit in terms of their role as leaders, instead of being limited by ideas like, "I don't have time for this" or "that's not my job". Go beyond and be creative with existing resources and be proactive in seeking the support to do that.
It's about nurses working to full scope of practice, and embracing the part of their role that involves looking at a client holistically. There are always opportunities to help set out expectations with the person and their family, or share communication at each and any point of contact.
I would invite nurses in long term care to think beyond their traditional role and how they can help with patient flow, because many nurses don't see it or the impact their practice could potentially have.
Nurses and the admission process
Nurses have a role to play with the admission process. Nurses can help people get to long term care when they need the care.
Doing an admission right sets a positive tone for the person and their family's experience with their long term care journey and admission to a personal care home. Running through the admissions process - particularly if things go badly - can set a difficult tone for the person and their family. Spending time at the beginning can often mean spending less time down the road in addressing any concerns and issues that may arise.
Nurses and leadership
Nurses have a leadership role because they see the person and their family on a daily basis. This relationship can allow the chance for a nurse to set goals and objectives with a family around advance care planning. Things change in long term care all the time. Asking a person and their family, "If this happens, what do you want done?" is an important part of patient flow.
I think we need to empower nurses to make the time to embrace this part of their role. Because it can not only be helpful for the system but also for a person to understand what their care would be like in the personal care home versus the hospital if they develop pneumonia, for example. Some conditions can be treated appropriately in a personal care home setting.
Nurses have the expertise to have conversations with the person and their family about how to safely manage a person's care in house and create a collaborative care plan around that. I would like to see them build the confidence to have more conversations like these.
Different approaches
Nurses need to speak up - whether the question is what's best for the person being cared for or offering their opinion in the creation of a strategic plan for long term care. Finding and using their voice first starts with support to speak up and have their needs communicated. Tell us what we can do better to provide quality of care.
I think it takes a shift for management and leadership at sites to better support nurses in working to full scope and allowing nurses that opportunity. We need to create LTC working environments where nurses are working to full scope and that becomes part of the culture. It's not about just giving meds, but nurses really taking on a leadership role within a unit.