To celebrate Emergency Nurses Week (October 9 to 15), physicians and leaders rolled up their sleeves to flip pancakes and keep their colleagues and teams well supplied with treats. They’re small tokens of thanks for the big difference our emergency and urgent care nurses make every day, but if frontline reports are any indication, the efforts were well appreciated.

VGH Emergency Department

Dr. Chad Kim Sing, medical director of emergency services, rolled up his sleeves to prepare breakfast for ED staff.

Each year the VGH Emergency Department celebrates ER Nurses week — it’s a pretty big deal around here! We extend the celebration to all the staff in the ED as it’s the teamwork and contributions from everyone that is critical to providing excellent patient care.

We are grateful to those who contribute during the week to ensure

Lori Korchinski, patient services manager, says the celebration extended to all ED staff because quality care depends on teamwork.

the celebration is grand. This year, Stroke Services, Trauma Services, Michelle de Moor, the VGH & UBC Hospital Foundation and our amazing emergency physicians all donated for staff meals through the week.

Some may ask, Why is ER Nurses week such a big deal? Well, it takes a special kind of person to work in the ED. Patients come to the ED often in crisis and having the worst day of their lives. Our ED staff are experts in empathy and compassion amidst a chaotic and unpredictable environment. They’re dynamic, flexible and resilient. You really have to be because you never know what can come through the door — you have to be prepared for anything and do whatever it takes.

Lori Korchinski, PSM

UBCH Urgent Care

This year’s theme for Emergency Nurses Week was “Community. Connect. Care. Compassion”. It seems fitting given everything that has been happening over the past year, including the fentanyl overdose crisis. Patients of all backgrounds and health care needs connect with emergency and urgent care staff through the year.

Treats and refreshments were on hand at the UBCH Urgent Care Centre.

It’s a challenge to recognize all the great work our whole team does day in and day out — how can anything truly compare to the compassion and quality care delivered every day? But that doesn’t stop us from trying. At the Urgent Care Centre, we decided to replace the tea pot with some treats, giving everyone in the department something they can use every day.

Very few professions can honestly say that everything they do and say makes an impact on someone; that impact can last a moment or a lifetime and each time it is really powerful. Our team’s work makes a difference in people’s lives and it doesn’t go unnoticed by patients and families. That is perhaps the greatest recognition and reward one can have for all that is required of each person in a single shift.

Janice Rotinsky, PSM