Celebrate National Clinical Nurse Specialist Week!

From September 1 to 7, we honor the dedication of over twenty Advanced Practice Nurses (APNs) at the MUHC. Referred to as Clinical Nurse Specialists elsewhere in North America, these dedicated professionals care for our most vulnerable patients. These nurses ensure that our teams follow best practices and deliver top-quality care to patients who come to us with serious and often complex medical issues.  

APNs all hold advanced nursing degrees (master's degrees) and are at the forefront of quality improvement projects to enhance working conditions, processes, and patient care. Some of the incredible projects from the past year include:  

• APN Nicole Drummond created a teaching video on dressing changes for Left Ventricular Assistive Devices (LVADs). 
• APN Luisa Luciani Castiglia co-led a project with Dr. Shuk On Annie Leung on contraception education, counseling, and pregnancy testing for adult cancer patients. Luisa, alongside APN Joanne Power, also presented on standardizing contraception counseling and pregnancy testing practices at the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology. 
• APNs Gabriel Domocos, Carissa Wong, and Raphaelle Bastarache led the biannual tracheostomy workshop day to enhance nurses' skills when delivering care to this patient population. 
• APN Raphaelle Bastarache collaborated with Case Manager Tin Wai Tjoe (interim APN) on developing and piloting a patient acuity tool. 
• APN Laura Craigie co-authored a quality improvement project to determine the incidence of unused catheters in the emergency department.  

These projects highlight just a few of the exciting and impactful contributions that APNs are making across many departments within the MUHC. Let’s take a moment to recognize and celebrate their vital contributions during National Clinical Nurse Specialist Week!