Community Safety and Well-Being Environmental Scan
The Community Safety and Well-Being Environmental Scan project aims to conduct a thorough analysis of the existing Community Safety and Well-Being Plan (CSWBP) action tables. These tables focus on critical areas such as housing and homelessness, poverty and income, mental health, substance use and addictions, and crime prevention. The primary goal is to map out current local initiatives, mandates, and key players within these focus areas. By identifying gaps, overlaps, and opportunities for enhanced collaboration, the project seeks to inform strategic planning and improve existing CSWBP initiatives. This project will provide students with the opportunity to apply their classroom knowledge to real-world social planning, gaining valuable experience in applied research and systems-level community work.
Enhancing Clinical Nursing Orientation at OSMH
Orillia Soldiers Memorial Hospital (OSMH) seeks to revamp its clinical nursing orientation program to better align with current nursing curriculum, best practice guidelines, and CNO standards. The goal is to create a tech-forward, engaging orientation experience that strengthens the onboarding process for new and returning nursing staff. This project aims to develop teaching tools that foster a supportive learning environment, encouraging professional growth and improving staff retention. By evaluating and refreshing existing materials, the project will ensure that the orientation process is inclusive, adaptive, and respects adult learning principles. The initiative will involve scoping and benchmarking with other hospitals to gather data and update the orientation curriculum, ultimately contributing to a more cohesive and forward-thinking nursing workforce.
Ambulatory Clinic IV Therapy, Chair Time Optimization
Purpose: 1. Understand potential for current RVH infusion medicine patients to receive treatment in community 2. Understand if there are revenue generating opportunities in infusion medicine used at other Ontario hospitals 3. Understand if there are opportunities to optimize chair time in the infusion medicine clinic 4. Develop projections for staffing and chair time required to service the infusion medicine requests of RVH credentialed providers - The outpatient medicine treatment clinic and infusion medicine clinic continue to evolve to accommodate the requests of RVH credentialed providers and the needs of patients for outpatient medical support. - Waitlist for routine iron infusions reached 15+ weeks in December 2024 (most providers order routine iron within 6-8 weeks) - The incidence of iron deficient anemia continues to rise. Over the past year, the Maternal Child Program has supported this need by providing 1:1 RN coverage in the outpatient clinic for prenatal infusions. Initially, 6-8 OBS iron infusion were requested each month. In November 2024, 40 patients were accommodated, followed by 49 visits in December 2024, including some “same-day requests. - WHO states that 30% of women between the ages of 15-49yrs and 37% of pregnant women suffer from iron deficiency anemia . Then there is more detail about 52% of women in developing countries require iron infusions. Therefore, with 2045 births last year we should be providing iron infusions for 750 women, potentially. - Understanding the IVIG burden at RVH, and long-term strategies for managing highest volume of IVIG requisitions in Ontario
Best Practice Review of Nurse-Led Patient Indicators
This project will review and assess the current state of several important Patient Quality Indicators which Nurses have significant impact and control over, including falls, Wound/Skin Care, Delerium, and Mobility. The student will complete a review of any current relevant policies and supporting documentation related to Best Practice for these indicators, including resources from the CNO and RNAO, with each student taking the lead on one or two of these topics. The ultimate purpose of the project will be to have the students understand the important role nursing plays in these indicators, the impact they have on patient safety and outcomes, and the improvement of these metrics within Royal Victoria Regional Health Centre. *to note a similar request has been entered by Stevenson Memorial Hospital and if partnership continues this project could be done collaboratively across both hospitals*
Review of OSMH Birthing Unit Discharge Package Contents and Educational Material for Support Persons
The purpose of this project is to reinvigorate the discharge package for postpartum families by revising outdated educational material and creation of new content. In obstetrics, families are sent home with many educational materials pertaining to the care of their baby and themselves after discharge from the hospital. Some of these items are outdated, requiring revision to ensure they meet current best practices and guidelines from governing bodies such as the Canadian Paediatric Society. In addition to revision of current content, the project will also include amalgamating a list of credible resources and community supports that parents can access to support their parenting journey. Furthermore, the project will include creation of a new educational pamphlet for the support person (if applicable). Currently, no education is specifically provided to the support person about how they can best care for a postpartum birthing person. This material will consist of expected outcomes and changes for the birthing person, signs and symptoms to watch for with regards to maternal mental health and the importance of healthy relationships on infant development. Patient and family engagement will be a crucial component of this project to understand their learning needs and perceived gaps in our discharge process. Students will engage with patients and families after discharge to learn about where our discharge process can be improved and will implement these changes to ensure that families are going home feeling prepared for this transition.
From Fear to Function: Therapeutic Falls in Inpatient Rehabilitation
This capstone project explores the concept of therapeutic falls within inpatient rehabilitation, particularly among stroke and rehab populations. The initiative aims to shift the narrative around falls from punitive to purposeful by providing education to clinical staff on the distinction between anticipated physiological and therapeutic falls. Key components include improving documentation practices to reflect clinical intent, emphasizing the "why" behind the fall rather than just the reactive response, and establishing standardized communication strategies for patients and families. The project will also introduce visual tools such as staff and patient facing posters to reinforce key messages. Metrics will be tracked pre- and post-intervention to evaluate accuracy in categorization and alignment with quality and risk reporting. The overarching goal is to support patient independence while ensuring safety, transparency, and shared understanding across care teams.
Stroke in the Young
Stroke can happen at any age . .. but what does that mean for someone who is going to school, working full-time, raising a family, and may be a caregiver for elderly parents? So many questions come to mind. Why did it happen to me? How do I make sure it doesn't happen again? Will I ever get my life back? How can I look after my family? A stroke can change one’s life in a moment, those who experience a stroke as a young adult face these distinct challenges as they recover. Stroke in young adults is increasing. Regardless of what age is used as the cutoff age for "young", stroke in young adults is rising at a rate faster than older adults: 19% of hospital admissions for stroke & TIA were for patients between 20-59 years of age (HSF 2017) 20% of all strokes occur under the age of 60 years Read more here … https://cesnstroke.ca/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/June-is-Stroke-Awareness-Month_Young-Stroke-Survivors_Regional.pdf Students will lead a project related to Young Stroke. This project will provide students with an opportunity to comprehensively review young stroke issues, needs and available resources. The goals of the project are: to better understand the needs of young stroke, the education resources and community programs/services available to support recovery to provide health care providers with education and resources to enable them to better support young persons with stroke
Family and Resident Satisfaction Survey in Hospice Care
This project aims to design, distribute, and analyze a Family and Resident Satisfaction Survey to evaluate perceptions of quality of end-of-life care and overall satisfaction within the hospice setting. The purpose is to gather meaningful feedback that can guide improvements in service delivery, enhance hospice experiences for both residents and their families, and support accreditation or compliance efforts. The project will include survey development, data collection, analysis, and presentation of findings and recommendations.
The implementation of the Delirium Health Quality Standard within Mental Health Care.
Delirium is one of the leading causes of preventable hospital harm in Ontario, impacting patient and provider safety, hospital access and flow, and increasing alternative level of care days. It is strongly associated with higher mortality rates, prolonged hospital stays, and additional costs of $11,000 per hospitalization (Ontario Health, 2024). The Ontario provincial government has made the implementation of the Delirium Health Quality Standard a priority, with a multiyear quality initiative aimed at reducing hospital-acquired delirium. Currently, Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care has limited data on delirium, as there is no formal screening for this condition. This project seeks to integrate delirium standards into the organization’s workflow. The primary objective is to improve patient safety, reduce unnecessary hospital stays, and lower the costs associated with delirium. By applying evidence-based interventions and enhancing the early identification of delirium, the project will contribute to the overall health and well-being of patients while reducing the burden on healthcare systems.
Ethical Framework Use and Ethics Team Establishment
Hospital has an ethical framework however this is not well utilized. This project is intended to create a guide to how to use the CGMH Ethical Framework. The student will review frameworks from other organizations to identify tools and strategies that will support use of our framework. CGMH is also interested in creating an ethics team. The student will review the composition of Ethics Teams at other organizations to develop a plan. Within the project the student will work with the VP Patient Services & CNE and have the ability to shadow a senior leader to understand the role of the CNE.
Speak Up on Patient Safety for Patients/Families
Engaging patients, and their families/caregivers, to speak up about their care and safety is an important aspect to improving patient safety. Using Canadian resources (ex. Health Excellence Canada, Patients for Patient Safety Canada, etc.) develop patient/family education on patient safety and how to speak up about concerns, as well as provide an implementation plan.
Safety Huddles to Support a Just Culture
To foster a just culture in an organization, develop a framework and implementation plan for nurse-led safety huddles on inpatient units. Students would be expected to work towards the above outcomes and deliverables, as well as meeting with Patient Safety Consultants at RVH to assist in mentorship/guiding the work. This can be done remotely. They may also be invited to Quality of Care Reviews to understand the outcome of patient safety reviews when safety items are brought forward/occur.
Patient Safety Education Platform
Review RVH’s patient safety plan and framework, Patient Safety SharePoint Page, and available resources. Leveraging adult learning principles, develop an education platform for front line team members to get engaged in Patient Safety behaviours, highlighting the ‘Good Catch’ program and showcasing the positive outcomes to patients by recognizing patient safety concerns before they reach the patient.
Patient Experience Rounding
Patient experience rounding can assist in addressing patient concerns with their experience and provide the opportunity for service recovery. Using best practices, RVH’s Patient Experience Framework and leveraging RVH’s partnership with The Beryl Institute, develop standardized rounding questions and an implementation plan for bedside patient experience rounding that aligns with the Vitally You strategic plan.
Improving Patient Experience on Discharge
The Ontario Patient Experience Survey asks if patients received enough information on discharge, measuring if patients feel they were successfully set up for their transition out of the hospital. Currently RVH is scoring 64%, which is below it’s performance target of 70%. Review the provided data, and target one inpatient unit that requires the most improvement. Research evidence-based practices to improve discharge for patients and develop an implementation plan for rolling this out on the selected inpatient unit.
Improving Patient Experience in Diverse Groups
Review RVH’s patient experience data, specifically looking at patient demographics (ethnic/cultural background), and the correlating scores. Identify areas of improvement based on the data and develop a quality improvement initiative to support the patient experience among this population.
Development of an Ethics Education Plan for Frontline Staff
Review RVH’s current Ethics framework, SharePoint Page, and available resources. Applying adult learning principles, develop an education plan and implementation schedule for frontline staff on Ethics at RVH. Students would be expected to work towards the above outcomes and deliverables, reviewing ethics resources, adult learning principles and how to create an education plan an implementation schedule. This can be done remotely.
Fresh Air, Better Care: Safe Implementation of Odor Control Devices in Acute Care
Hospital environments are highly sensitive to sensory factors, with odors having a notable impact on patient and staff experience. This project will explore how odor control strategies, compliant with Infection Prevention and Control (IPAC) guidelines, can be effectively introduced into inpatient units at RVH. The student will work closely with hospital teams to research odor control technologies, engage in stakeholder discussions, and develop planning and educational materials. The project includes a literature review, equipment scan, and consultation with Environmental Services, IPAC, and Procurement. The student will assist in gathering vendor data, drafting initial guidelines, and producing educational content for staff. While not involved in procurement or decision-making, the student will contribute to laying the groundwork for future implementation.