UBC Nursing Students: Getting the Information Across!

By TORI ARFIN

Sexual health education and its presentation to students in schools can be a very controversial topic. Many teachers, participants working with school boards, and parents have mixed views on when and what they want their children to be introduced to. Regardless, this information is imperative for our youth to understand and utilize, when and if they are proceeding in sexual activities. With this information, students can make informed decisions regarding their sexual health and do so in a safe manner. They will also have increased awareness on where to access health services. A study in the Canadian Journal of Public Health identifies that adolescents report their main sources of information is from peers and the media. However, they also knew this information was not always accurate. Additionally, the participants in the study reported not knowing where to access health care services and want improvements.

UBC nursing students took the initiative of teaching sexual health education across various Richmond and Vancouver schools. We approached the lessons in a diverse, open, and inclusive way. This helped to ensure that students were comfortable taking part in the class, asking questions, and increased their understanding that there are many ways to practice safe sexual activities. We used multimedia presentation, activities about statistics, and case scenarios to keep the students engaged and identify correct information. We also stressed where the students could go and call if they had any concerns. Overall, we received great feedback and hope that this helps encourage the dissemination of knowledge by students to peers and aids the students in their future endeavors!

DiCenso, A., Borthwick, V. W., & Creatura, C. (2001). Completing the picture: Adolescents talk about what’s missing in sexual health services. Canadian journal of public health, 92(1), 35.

UBC Nursing students’ footcare clinic project wins BC Patient Safety & Quality Council Award

By NARISSA MAWJI

Snowflake Diagram

A project team of nursing students and faculty members participated in an 8-week I-CAN project sponsored by IHI Open School to take action in improving pre-existing services provided at monthly footcare clinics run by nursing students at the Union Gospel Mission (UGM). Foot care disorders impede the health and well-being of the underserved inner city clients at the UGM and promoting health and preventing disease is a goal of providing quality nursing care.

The I-CAN curriculum, provided by IHI Open School provided the students with tools in improvement, leadership and community organization to help create change in a real-world setting. By participating in this project, students were able to connect with various stakeholders, including UGM staff the clients themselves, to be able to gauge what their foot care and other medically related needs were. The team of students were then able to interview stakeholders in the area to build capacity, build mutual respect and work as a team to mobilize resources to meet the requested needs of connecting them to primary care health services in the Downtown Eastside. The outcomes of the project included 3 deliverables that could be used by nursing volunteers during the foot soak clinic: a “Foot Care Tips” card for clients; a referral process for clients and staff; and videos on foot assessment for student volunteers.

Although the nursing students initially believed that making an impact in such a short amount of time and within a new and challenging environment would be difficult, they were soon inspired and impressed with their ability to enact change, describing the experience as “empowering”, “energizing”, and “eye-opening. In addition, this project team was recently named runner-up for the Quality Culture Trailblazer award from the BC Patient Safety & Quality Council. Congratulations to the team!

https://bcpsqc.ca/quality-awards/2017-quality-awards/quality-culture-trailblazer/quality-culture-trailblazer-runner-up

UBC Nursing students supporting setting up of BC Women’s Provincial Milk Bank in Richmond

By GISELE DA SILVA

Donated milk is essential to the care and healing of premature and very sick babies in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). For over 40 years, the BC Women’s Provincial Milk Bank has been accepting breast milk donations for use with their tiniest and most vulnerable patients. Demand regularly outpaces the supply, and they are always eager for new donors.

However, donating was challenging for many families as the only way to donate was to drop off breast milk in person to BC Women’s directly. To make it more convenient for those who wished to donate, Vancouver Coastal Health opened several breast milk depots around the Lower Mainland in the summer of 2016, including one at the Richmond Health Unit. (http://www.vch.ca/locations-and-services/find-health-services/?program_id=14973) Thanks to the opening of the Richmond Breast Milk Depot, donating breast milk became easier and more convenient than ever.

But how to spread the word? To coincide with World Breastfeeding Week, UBC Nursing students worked with Richmond Public Health Unit staff and BCIT students on a social marketing campaign to highlight the importance of breastfeeding and to promote the milk depot. Students designed posters for distribution, designed display boards for public high traffic areas, and produced information packages for local physicians and pharmacies promoting the milk depot. By participating in this project, students learned to apply principles of health teaching and social marketing, taking into consideration the variety of people they wanted to reach.

The work paid off. The Richmond Breast Milk Depot is now the largest recipient of breast milk in the Lower Mainland!

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Homeless Connect

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Our students participated today at the Homeless Connect event in the DTES. Our station was extremely popular, we must have connected with at least 40 people. Lots of blood pressure checks and CanRisk screening for diabetes. Our stress balls made of balloons and rice were extremely popular, they were all gone within 1/2 hour. I saw one agitated woman sitting with it in her hand using it to calm herself. Lots of relationships built with other service providers in the area, many requests received for our students to participate in other events/activities in the surrounding area.

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Homeless Connect

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The students based at Evergreen Community Health Centre participated in the Homeless Connect event in the DTES. Here is Rob at the tobacco cessation booth playing a jeopardy game with a participant.

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Ranjit Dhari: Capturing the History of Public Health Nursing and its Transformation from Nurses’ Work Experiences

By RANJIT DHARI

My friend, Gilda Mahabir and I are passionate about Public Health Nursing, having had long careers as Public Health Nurses. As we observed many of our colleagues retiring we wanted to capture the stories of their amazing careers as Public health nurses. So we engaged in a project to capture the history of Public Health Nurses in British Columbia through their work as nurses.

The video below features a talk I gave at the Consortium of Nursing History Inquiry on March 9, 2016.

In a study of influences affecting public health nurses’ capacity to engage in health promotion work, public health nurses expressed a strong interest in preservation of their professional history. An oral history project was initiated in collaboration with the UBC Library and Archives to retain the history of public health nursing in BC Lower Mainland. Using a team approach, we conducted a series of oral history interviews with former public health nurses. This lecture highlights the process of oral history and the team approach of bringing public health nurses, faculty, students, and volunteers together as a way of engaging with nursing history and building capacity. Through the interviews we gain knowledge on the evolving PHN role and scope of practice in BC from nurses who experienced changes in practice first hand and often took a lead in implementing new practice initiatives.

Ranjit Dhari is a lecturer for the UBC School of Nursing. Passionate about Public Health Nursing, she worked for VCH as a Public Health Nurse for 29 years. She received her BSN in 1980 from the University of Manitoba and her MSN from UBC in 2013. Her Master’s Thesis is titled, An Exploration of Factors Influencing Public Health Nurses’ Capacity to Engage in Health Promotion.

Recommendations to improve relational practice in health care teams: a student perspective

UBC Nursing students highlight recommended practices in improving relational practice amongst health care teams in community settings. This video was created as a course assigment in N338 (Relational Inquiry) under Dr. Helen Brown, course leader.

Credits: Caitlin Butler, Maria Coelho, Sammi Borgstrom, Jessica Ardley, Natassia Chin

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UBC N336 Nursing Students participate in a world event: The Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge

By Ranjit Kaur Dhari (1), Joanne Ricci (2) & Alysha McFadden (3)
(1) Lecturer, N336 Course Leader
(2) Senior Instructor, N427 Course Leader
(3) Clinical Associate, Evergreen Community Health Center.

Each year the Quintessence Breastfeeding Challenge takes place around the world. “This fun event is a challenge for which geographic area (province, state or territory) has the most breastfeeding babies, as a percentage of the birthrate, “latched on” at 11am local time. To celebrate breastfeeding and milk-banking, and demonstrate promotion, protection and support for breastfeeding women and their families. It’s a chance for education and peer support done in a fun social way.” (http://www.babyfriendly.ca/general-information.aspx) This year’s theme emphasized the need for good, ongoing support from partners, families and health care professionals to help women be successful when choosing to breastfeed their babies.

UBC SON students June Chan & Kyle Lescisin (along with BCIT nursing students) were instrumental in the planning and implementation of this event in Richmond Community with Richmond Public Health Nurses. The goal of all displays, games and fun was to promote, support and protect breastfeeding. June and Kyle managed a resource table where they provided health information to build capacity of families.

By participating in this event students learnt about the socio cultural determinants of breastfeeding, the public barriers that exist for breastfeeding families. Students also had the opportunity to practice knowledge gained from their Relational Practice thread courses by establishing rapport and communicating with families from many different culture.

In photo: UBC Nursing students- Marina (Juana) Cornejo Chavez, Jenessa Dilley, and Lorelei Arteaga.

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UGM expresses appreciation to N336 students for foot soaks

Dennis Kim Outreach Worker, Hastings Chaplaincy & Outreach, writes:

“I think that it went great for everyone involved especially our community guests who come to UGM. Thank you for being full of smiles, open to rolling with things, and helping people out one individual at a time based on their concerns and needs. I personally look forward to having your group come out again! Thanks again!”

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Linking Course content to Clinical Practice: UBC Nursing Students in partnership with Union Gospel Mission

By Ranjit Kaur Dhari (1), Joanne Ricci (2) & Alysha McFadden (3)
(1) Lecturer, N336 Course Leader
(2) Senior Instructor, N427 Course Leader
(3) Clinical Associate, Evergreen Community Health Center.

UBC nursing students spend part of a day twice in a 6 week rotation at the Union Gospel Mission (UGM) where they provide foot assessments and build rapport with residents in the downtown Eastside. The students also get a tour of the UGM and learn about the unique programs the UGM provides as well as the history of the downtown Eastside. This experience highlights to students the importance of understanding how history impacts the social determinants of health for individuals, families, and populations who live in the downtown Eastside, while also allowing clients themselves to tell their own unique stories.

Prior to them being in this clinical setting student are prepared with classroom lecture with content on outreach nursing and in particular working in the DTES. They are shown the film “Bevel Up” filmed in Vancouver Downtown eastside where it follows nurses working with vulnerable populations on the streets. Their knowledge from Relational practice thread courses is further reinforced with discussions on collaborative relationships with clients, communication with challenging clients and setting boundaries and keeping oneself safe.

All nursing practice is grounded theory, hence learning about Outreach from the Minnesota Wheel of intervention as a model for practice in Public Health in our baccalaureate program is used in this unique setting. Follow-up from the foot soak in often brought back into the classroom in the way of discussion as various other interventions of the wheel are used to analyze the often complex clients that the students work with at the UGM foot soak clinic.

For many students, who are not from the Vancouver area or have not ever experienced this kind of marginalized population with many determinants of health affecting this population group- the experience is powerful to say the least. These students have the opportunity to debrief not only after the foot soaks session with the clinical nursing instructor but the following week in the classroom and via their personal journal if they wish which is required at various times throughout the 6 week rotation.

The experience and partnership have proven to be a win -win situation for all. The students are learning about living with adversity and engaging in many ways with this populations lived experience as the clients are receiving an ear to listen, health promotion counseling on a variety of topics such as nutrition, medication compliance and are receiving a warming foot soak, massage and a clean dry pair of socks.

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