This presentation will describe how nurses in two regions in Ontario are improving stroke prevention by connecting by telehealth to enhance professional practice and integrate best practice stroke care across regions through dialogue, continuing education and shared protocols. The Stroke Prevention Nurses Working Group was established in January 2005 as part of the Southeastern Ontario Telestroke Pilot Project to provide an opportunity for communication, networking and education amongst the nurses working in Southeastern and Eastern Ontario stroke prevention clinics (SPCs). SPC nurses from seven centres met regularly during the pilot by continuous presence videoconference instead of teleconference or face-to-face. In a continuous presence videoconference all participants are visible on the video monitor at the same time.
Pilot results showed that the videoconferencing format reduced the professional isolation of nurses working in small communities and allowed them to share their challenges and issues. The process contributed to consistency and equity of access for patients, and enabled nurses to share and connect to continuing education opportunities regionally and provincially via telehealth. Hands-on telehealth skills were gained for future clinical applications. Post-pilot interviews revealed that the SPC nurses continue to meet and that telehealth has helped them to advance and strengthen the role of the Stroke Prevention Nurse beyond the walls of the clinic.
Biography
Cindy Bolton holds a Bachelor of Nursing Science and a Master of Business Administration from Queen’s University. She has clinical nursing experience in acute, public health, and home health care settings, has worked as a Research Associate in the Queen’s Health Policy Unit, and has lectured in both the Commerce and MBA programs in the School of Business. In 1997, as a member of the Care Delivery Network she led the Southeastern Ontario Coordinated Stroke Strategy in its pilot phase (1998-2001) in partnership with the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario. She has worked as a consultant on health care and stroke related projects in Ontario and Quebec. She was Program Manager of the Nursing Research Unit at Kingston General Hospital from January 2003-October 2004 and the Tele-stroke Project Leader with the Southeastern Ontario Stroke Strategy from 2004-2006. She recently served as the Team Leader for the HSFO-RNAO Nursing Management of Hypertension Best Practice Guideline panel. In 2006 she was appointed to the National Stroke Nursing Council as a representative for Ontario and the Co-Chair. She is currently the Project Manager for Clinical Documentation at Kingston General Hospital.
Sandra Melchiorre is an Advanced Practice Nurse who joined the Stroke Strategy of Southeastern Ontario in September, 2005. She completed her Bachelor of Nursing at Ryerson University in 2000 and her Masters in Nursing in the Acute Care Nurse Practitioner Program at the University of Toronto in 2003. Sandra has been working in Neuroscience Nursing for 17 years and she has worked with children and adult stroke survivors across the continuum of care. She is a member of the Canadian Association of Neuroscience Nursing and she has been certified in Neuroscience Nursing since 1992. Sandra is also a member of the Ontario Association of Rehabilitation Nursing and she is the Co-Director of Communications and Public Relations for the Ontario Association of Rehab Nurses.
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