The Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre is one of the largest and most progressive long-term care homes in Ontario. The Perley Rideau campus includes 450 long-term care beds, a 12-bed Guest House providing respite care and a Seniors Village with 139 independent-living apartments for seniors. We recognize the value of nursing knowledge and leadership in providing excellence in resident care and we are committed to nursing-led quality improvement initiatives and building capacity within our nursing team. The Perley Rideau is very proud of our recent achievement of becoming a Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO). This designation requires ongoing commitment to translating evidenced based recommendations, developed by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario, into practice. Staff from the point-of-care are engaged in this process and are leaders in developing and promoting these practice changes throughout the home. This nursing based knowledge is not only embraced by nurses, but integrated across the home in a multidisciplinary approach to care. This work has lead to a decreased number of falls, improved wound care, and greater management of pain and behavioral and psychological symptoms of dementia. The Perley Rideau team is also passionate about sharing our innovative evidenced based ideas to other healthcare teams across the province, country and even over international borders.
In addition to utilizing nursing led research, we also invest in nursing leadership and professional development. To build capacity within the inter-professional team we currently have specialized nurse leadership roles within the home: nursing director, managers and supervisors, psychogeriatric nurses, a wound care nurse, a RAI coordinator, Infection Prevention and Control, a BPSO liaison, admission nurses and a Collaborative Practice Leader. These nurses have empowered the team to provide better, evidenced based care to our residents by identifying and filling knowledge gaps as well as providing specialized approaches to care.
Specifically, we would like to highlight the passionate and impactful work that Samantha Boulerice RN, our wound care nurse, has led within the facility. A natural leader, Samantha has inspired the nursing team to more effectively prevent and care for pressure injuries. She created an in-house pressure injury education program, developed a Champion network committed to sustaining practice changes, and built an internal referral program for wound care support within the home. Currently, she is working towards obtaining her certification from the Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Canada.
