Janet Evans RN
The Ottawa Hospital

I am nominating Janet Evans because she has a passion for nursing, and she genuinely likes dealing with people. She is qualified and experienced and the strongest nurse I know. She is my ‘go to’ person for any of my healthcare questions, and if she doesn’t know the answer she works to find the answer.

Below, please find 3 examples of why I think Janet is a Nursing Hero.

Example 1 – Pandemic Nursing Response, The Ottawa Hospital, Brewer Covid Assessment Centre, in Ottawa (2020 to present). Here are 2 examples of Janet’s exceptional abilities.

Parents with children that come for a covid assessment, go through a process that can take some time with multiple repeated information requests. The kids get restless. Recently, Janet introduced the ‘power of pink’. This is where the bravery superpower cooks in your tummy and comes out your hands. It’s very powerful and the kids have to use it to help mommy and daddy be brave for their test, because they are scared. Usually, the kids calm down, and go to the waiting area with their parents and even take their test without incident. Janet even had one child come back and say ‘the power of pink really works and I didn’t even cry when I had my test done’.

On another occasion, there was a gentleman who presented with three symptoms on the list for covid testing. This gentleman provided all the required information and was very pleasant. However, he would not sit down during assessment nor would he take off his coat. In an effort to make the gentleman comfortable in a stressful environment, Janet disinfected his chair and the entire assessment area. She helped him feel more at ease by simply talking with him and learning a little about him. This helped him feel more comfortable. He sat down and removed his coat so a set of vital signs could be taken. It was then, Janet saw a purple hand, which would account for the symptoms he was having. Through conversation, Janet learned that he had separated his two dogs during a fight, and in the process one of his fingers had been nicked by a dog tooth. The doctor was called and referral to acute care was made, and the gentleman’s hand was saved.

Example 2 – Long Term Care Management, Bourget Nursing Home (2019-2020).

Janet’s journey to Long Term Care Management has taken the scenic route, and provided her with the opportunity to fine tune her management skills for optimal benefit for her residents and staff. Janet recently completed a contract in long-term care covering a maternity leave position.

There was a gentleman who had a strong personality with embedded and unswayable ideas. This fellows’ primary language was French, and Janet nurses in English. Soon, his health issues caught up with him and he was in pain. Janet advocated for a pain management program for him, and through a lot of pointing and with interpreter support, multiple pain control interventions were implemented. However, this fellow remained very uncomfortable. In collaboration with staff specialized in behaviour support, the medical staff, and the home’s frontline staff (RPNs and PSWs), Janet transferred him to acute care for pain assessment and management.

When this fellow returned back to long-term care, Janet arranged bilingual wound care education and training for all staff. Janet provided an extra pair of hands for repositioning and turning, promoting resident comfort and helping staff. Janet even assisted with meals, as this gentleman was on prescribed bed rest. This fellow was very appreciative, and often smiled. His health improved to the point where he played Santa in the nursing home’s Christmas party. To celebrate his return to health, Janet connected with a community organization and facilitated donated Christmas gifts for the entire long term care home.

Example 3 – Independent research for organizational change – program and process improvements (2012 to present). Here is an overview of Janet’s work.

With experience working in nursing organizational change, Janet completed her program evaluation and management certificate. This began initial development of an organizational change process that she presented at the regional long- term care conference. As Janet was awarded management contracts in long-term care, her research continued. She linked organizational change process to leadership theory, education, and frontline practice. Janet used her experience to build her research, and fine tune her techniques for an evidence based approach to required programming in long term care. For example:

Janet talks to people. She finds out everyone’s perspective on issues affecting resident care. She, then uses this information to drill down to the root cause of the issue. Then, knowing the cause of the issue, Janet develops plans to overcome the issue, basing all plans in theory, and planning all actions in collaboration with people. Once the actions are implemented on a small scale, the actions are spread throughout the organization. Its effects are almost immediate, as Janet incorporate both positive and negative feedback into the program. This is what makes her organizational change program unique, it’s built in evaluation system that essentially is the recipe for success. Janet then incorporates quality indicators and annual evaluation markers for sustained improvement.

Nominated by Christine Beach