“You make a difference” contest winners and finalists

We love this contest because highlighting your everyday acts of patient and family centred care unites us in our common purpose for the work we do at VCH. Through VCH News, we featured some of your great stories and also those small acts that often go unseen. By submitting your stories and examples, you inspire and acknowledge your colleagues and bring awareness to an important side of the work we do.

Thank you for going above and beyond in simple and complex ways to make a difference for our patients and families.

Contest winners

The three contest winners of the Quality Forum registration prizes from Vancouver, Richmond and Coastal have been notified and will be featured in VCH News in 2018. The Richmond Hospital 3 North Medicine team was featured in the VCH News last month as the winner of the Coffee Break prize. With their 59 entries, they had the most  for the most submissions.

Contest finalists

Congratulations to our finalists. Our judge had a challenging task in determining our winners. Here are a few of our finalist submissions:

Doc the puppy, Canine Detection

I am learning how to be a working dog like my brother Angus. I am just a puppy, so for my training, I go to the units and interact with people and the world around me. One day, I went to the ICU and made quite an impact on everyone. The next day, a caring nurse asked me to come back to visit a man whose last wish was to see a puppy. I went with my mom and spent time with this man and his family. I think I gave him some comfort and happiness in the final hours of his life.

VGH ICU Team and Doc the puppy, Canine Detection

The goal of the ICU Wishing Well Project is to bring peace to the final days of a patient’s life and to ease the dying process. As soon as we learned that Mr. J’s last wish was to spend time with a puppy, we (the doctor, bedside nurse, CNE, PSM, and other well-wishers) discussed at the bedside how we could possibly get a puppy to the unit.

It just so happened that Doc had come to visit the ICU the day before. We contacted Doc’s mom and hoped that Doc would still be in the hospital and free to come. Thankfully he was and his mom has graciously agreed to bring him in.

Upon arrival, Doc was put on Mr. J’s bed. He sniffed around and sat with Mr. J. Mr. J was weak but was still conscious enough to learn that a puppy was with him. He petted Doc and appeared calm and pleased. Doc licked Mr. J’s hands and face before he left, and Mr. J passed away about an hour after. In that 15 minute visit, we knew that Doc made a difference not only in Mr. J’s final hour but in all our lives.

Nomination by Jillian Schulmeister for Tyler Bell (Richmond Porter)

I am nominating Tyler Bell for going above and beyond by identifying and communicating that the Neonatal ICU incubators were at risk for contamination based on their storage location. Not only was he the person who identified the problem but he also contributed to solving the issue. Tyler is a great example of how we can all have an impact on our patients. He has made an impact on our hospitals youngest patients.

Nomination by Charlene Porter for VGH Microbiology

I would like to nominate the technologists in the Medical Microbiology department for the work that they did during last year’s influenza season.  Last influenza season was particularly bad, requiring the laboratory to increase testing from once a day up to four times a day, starting at 6:00 a.m. sometimes up until midnight.  Influenza testing is a molecular assay that not all technologists are trained on.  The few microbiology technologists that are trained for this specialized test altered their personal lives to meet the needs of the hospital, by working longer hours and outside of their regularly scheduled shifts.  They worked tirelessly to give improved patient care and allow for better bed management within the hospital.