Seeing the person first: St. Joe’s nurse brings palliative care principles to the ICU
The following story was published on Saturday, May 4 in the Hamilton Spectator as part of their Annual Nursing Week Supplement.
As a Registered Nurse with many years of experience in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at St. Joseph’s Healthcare Hamilton, Neala Hoad has always been committed to providing the best patient care possible. She understands that exemplary care occurs when evidence-informed practice intersects with a deep understanding of the patient’s individual values, beliefs, and goals for care. Hoad has been a leader in championing patient and family-centred initiatives that have improved care by engaging with patients as individuals first, rather than their illness or diagnosis. So when an opportunity presented for her to expand her knowledge base to another aspect of her practice, humanizing palliative and end of life care within the acute care setting, she seized it.
Hoad was awarded an RNAO Advanced Clinical Practice Fellowship, which provides an opportunity for nurses to partner with recognized nursing experts for an intensive learning experience to develop their expertise in a chosen area. With the strong support of her manager and clinical team, she worked with her mentor, Kathleen Willison, a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Palliative Care at St. Joe’s, to expand her ability to care for patients at end of life.
Neala Hoad, RN, Intensive Care Unit (left) with her fellowship mentor, Kathleen Willison, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Palliative Care
“When I embarked on this fellowship experience, I set out to discover and understand as much as I could about palliative care and how I could apply principles and practice to the critical care environment where I have worked for the majority of my nursing career. What I didn’t anticipate was how much I would learn about myself and my approach to patient care,” says Hoad.
Through the fellowship, Hoad was embedded within the Palliative Care Team. What was central to the relationships between patients and the interprofessional team members was the patient’s confidence and trust that they would be there to listen and respond to their needs with compassion and expertise.
“The investment of time to get to know patients and their families as people meant that the care team could meet them where they are, not at a particular point on the trajectory of the illness. This was a lightbulb moment for me”, says Hoad. “I realized that knowing the patient as a person, and establishing trust within the nurse-patient relationship, is essential to accompany them and their families through the process of making difficult end of life decisions.”
Hoad plans to now share the knowledge and resources developed through this fellowship with her critical care nursing colleagues.