Honourable Mention: Anna Jalosinski, Alberta Health Services

Anna is one of the respected charge nurses of the in-patient psychiatric unit of Royal Alexandra Hospital and is also the clinical educator. With more than two decades of providing world-class quality nursing care, Anna has honed her skills, knowledge and critical thinking. With her natural confidence and expertise, it has been seamless with Anna leading the group. In my own experience, Anna is well organized and has that clinical eye in leadership. She is the go-to-person during the trouble shooting of challenging situations like handling complaints and conflicts. Moreover, she also advocates the safety of the staff and patients in the workplace by ensuring that the needs and concerns of the patients and staff are met.  She is able to get along with a diverse and multi-cultural group of nursing staff in a way that encourages staff and patients to work as a team. She provides solutions to the issues she can fix and involves others when required.  She is also a volunteer in their community daycare and helps out by providing basic education for kids and assists in cleaning the toys and organizing.

Anna fosters a collaborative approach to care  and is one of the pioneers of  collaboration at Royal Alexandra Hospital, especially in addictions and mental Health. As a charge nurse, Anna attends the rapid rounds where most of the heath care team are present to discuss the treatment plan of the patients. The team is composed of the main attending physician, pharmacist, social worker, nurse, physical therapist, and occupational therapist.  This treatment plan is further discussed with the patient during their rounds.  Anna advocates for the need of having family conference as part of the treatment plan for the patient. She ensures that patients and their families are able to express their needs and  address any concerns as preparation for their discharge home and going back to the community. Anna initiates care huddles before, during and after each shift. With these, any patient concerns and needs are addressed.

Anna is one of the Connect Care champions and as Super users when Connect Care was implemented. She attends workshops, training and seminars that improve the care provided to the addiction and mental health patient population.  She reads nursing journals and articles that highlight patient’s safety.  Moreover, Anna ensures the staff from Addictions and Mental Health to have an annual education program for. In addition,  Anna has completed the Leaders in Rehab program through the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital. While completing this course, Anna had to complete a leadership project in which we had to implement a positive change within our work environment. Anna’s project was focused on increasing communication during times of transfer, between sending and receiving sites and bed management. Her project is the reason bed management now connects the two sites and the sending nurse provides a verbal report to the receiving nurse – bridging a gap in care.

With her role as a charge nurse, Anna emphasizes the importance of LPNs in Addictions and Mental Health. She initiates care huddles to identify the needs and concerns of the patients. LPNs report any changes in patient health status basing on their assessment and clinical judgment to the team. And whenever there are any challenges and issues, Anna asks for suggestions from her colleagues. She is open minded and listens to recommendations and suggestions of her team members.

Anna encourages every member of the health care team to perform at their optimal scope of practice. She reiterates that when we provide care it should be the best, effective, and quality care for the mental health  patients. She highlights the importance of continuing to have the rapid rounds and family conference with the patients, and doing care huddles with the nursing staff so that the needs and concerns of the patients are met. In addition, when she noticed that any staff have struggled in a certain task or procedure, she takes the time to talk to them. She  provides orientation for new staff, booking buddy shifts for new hires and ensures they feel supported and ready to work independently. Providing any educational supports for new skills and any changes in policies and procedures.

In summary, Anna is perfect fit for a Nursing Hero Award. A born leader, down-to-earth nurse, highly qualified, professional and competent individual who is a recipient of recommendations from patients, families, and management.