EMERGENCY Strategic Clinical NetworkTM · Dr. Sevcik Announcement U of A Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Appointment of Dr. William “Bill” Sevcik as Chair of Emergency Medicine.

Issue 2 June 2017 Emergency

EMERGENCY

Strategic Clinical NetworkTM

Editorial Staff

Heather Hair

Senior Editor

Andrew Fisher

Contributing Editor

Karen Landriault

Editorial Assistant

What’s happening:

Research Advisory Board (RAB) p. 2

Education Corner p. 3

Links: Articles & Conferences p. 4

UofA Faculty Appointment p. 4

Features In This Issue:

CKCM Corner p. 2

Supraglottic Airway Insertion p. 3

Commitment to Comfort p. 4

DID YOU KNOW?:

You can access estimated wait times to see a physician in the ED at the following

website: www.albertahealthservices.ca/waittimes

Emergency Strategic Clinical NetworkTM

(ESCN)

The ESCN is a group of health care

professionals and patient and family

advisors working together across the

province to improve emergency

services in Alberta.

We are working to improve the

patient and family journey through

emergency care from the time they

seek care until the time the patient is

discharged or admitted.

We continue to look for new ways to

make the best use of our resources,

improve access to emergency care

and make sure all Albertans receive

high quality care.

Our VISION

To build an inclusive network that supports the advancement of evidence informed emergency care for all Albertans.

Our MISSION To support quality patient and family centred emergency care driven by education, innovation and practice changing research through collaboration.

Visit www.ahs.ca/escn to learn more about the Emergency Strategic Clinical NetworkTM

Emergency SCN Issue 2 June 2017 Emergency

New Evidence-Based Guidance Published

for Emergency Healthcare Professionals Liesa Evans, Communications Advisor, AHS, Provincial CIS Program

Clinical knowledge topics (CKTs) are comprehensive

provincial recommendations based on best practice and

available evidence. They may include decision

algorithms, order sets, assessment/scoring tools, etc.

that can assist clinicians in decision making at the point

of care. They are provincially developed and adjudicated

by physicians and clinicians across Alberta.

New emergency clinical knowledge topics published April

2017 give Alberta healthcare professionals access to the

latest evidence-based clinical standards.

Emergency Clinical Knowledge Topics:

Asthma, Adult

Acute Gastroenteritis, Adult

Appendicitis, Adult

Hip Fracture, Adult

Low Back Pain, Adult

Minor Head Injury, Adult

Headaches (Primary), Adult

There are now 15 complete adult CKTs available via the

Clinical Knowledge Viewer on Insite and 14 pediatric

topics in development. All will be built into our

health technologies as possible to provide access to front

-line workers. This work is being done to prepare for the

future AHS Provincial Clinical Information System.

The Clinical Knowledge and Content Management

(CKCM) Service facilitates the development of this work

in collaboration with clinical operations, Strategic Clinical

Networks (SCNs), provincial clinical services and content

experts across the province.

For further

information

Contact CKCM at: [email protected]

or visit the CKCM Insite page

Accreditation Canada

Recognizing the Value of

SCNs

Accreditation Canada has

recognized and commended

the positive role and the

importance of SCN’s within

Alberta Health Services.

“As a rural manager I feel

supported and confident that

we deliver excellent

emergency services and I

have great confidence that

we will continue to do so.”

Lisa Sparks, Care Manager,

Lac la Biche Healthcare Centre

Visit www.ahs.ca/escn to learn more about the Emergency Strategic Clinical NetworkTM

Formation of the ESCN

Research Advisory Board Patrick McLane, ESCN Assistant Scientific Director

The Emergency Strategic Clinical

Network (ESCN) Scientific Office is

pleased to announce the formation of

the ESCN Research Advisory Board

(RAB). The RAB is made up of the

chair, co-chair and six researchers

with expertise in the priority areas

within the mandate of the ESCN.

The RAB provides advice to the

ESCN Scientific Office with regard

to:

Establishing and implementing

research priorities as

recommended in the Cooke

Report;

Developing future ESCN Scientific

Office Strategic Research Plans;

Knowledge translation;

Expanding and enhancing a

collaborative provincial network of

emergency medicine researchers;

Assessing quality and relative

importance of research activities

requesting ESCN support;

In addition they will also:

Participate in review of ESCN

Scientific Office annual reports,

knowledge translation activities,

and achievement of AHS/SCN

performance measures.

Help provide two-way

communication between the

ESCN and the wider research

community

Emergency SCN Issue 2 June 2017 Emergency

www.ash.ca/escn

@Emergency_SCN

[email protected]

Supraglottic Airway Insertion by Registered

Nurses in Rural ED Setting Monique Fernquist, Provincial Educator/Coordinator, ESCN

A pilot project is currently underway with eight pilot sites

across Alberta, training rural RNs to be competent in

performing insertion of laryngeal mask airways or King LTs. The intent is to ensure a

trained professional is available to meet patient’s needs in certain life threatening

situations (as per established criteria).

Background: Insertion of a supraglottic airway is a restricted activity that RNs

are authorized to perform with appropriate education and on-going maintenance of

competence (confirmed with CARNA prior to project initiation). Educational resources

have been developed in consultation with several key stakeholders including

representation from HPSP (nursing/respiratory), EMS, Respiratory SCN, Anesthesia,

Clinical Nurse Educators (CNEs), Physicians and Nurse Managers. Governance

documents were developed with the policy department and reviewed by legal.

Project Implementation: Training is comprised of on-line and hands-on skill train-

ing (8 CNEs and 75 RNs have successfully completed the certification process). A

comprehensive evaluation process has been developed including post-insertion, 6

month and 1 year evaluations.

Future steps: Feedback from the 6 month and 1 year

evaluations will be reviewed to determine the feasibility of

expansion to other rural sites, beyond the 8 pilot sites. The

project is still in the early stages, but we are already

hearing good news stories about positive outcomes as a

result of the training that has occurred.

A special thank you goes out to the pilot sites involved for their commitment to the

project: Athabasca, Cold Lake, Westview, Fort Saskatchewan, Banff, Claresholm,

Sundre, and Bassano.

Nursing Education Corner Monique Fernquist, Provincial Educator/Coordinator, ESCN

Since January 2014 over 2120 staff from urban, regional and rural ED/UCCs have

successfully completed the orientation program. The ESCN would like to acknowledge

Arlette Kubersky, LPN, St. Joseph’s General Hospital, Vegreville, for completing

over 80 hours of on-line lessons from the Emergency Nursing Provincial Education

Program (ENPEP).

NEW! The Education page is now on the ESCN and HPSP

websites with info and links to great training resources for staff!

Coming soon?

Provincial educational initiatives on the agenda:

Intraosseous Learning Module

Web-fillable templates for registering staff for the ENPEP Program

Legalities in Nursing learning module highlighting key messages on topics such as

reporting child and elder abuse, information disclosure to police.

Visit www.ahs.ca/escn to learn more about the Emergency Strategic Clinical NetworkTM

Guess Who? This person works in

Calgary and during the

summer months you’ll find

her at any one of the

Highland Games in the

province.

Send your submission to

the ESCN email at

[email protected]

Congratulations!

Marnie Connell, Seniors

Health SCN who was the

first to get in her guess for

our last “Guess Who” as

David Meurer former

Manager with the ESCN.

Emergency SCN Issue 2 June 2017 Emergency

Commitment to Comfort© is

Spreading to 40+ Alberta EDs!

When children visit an emergency

department, one of their greatest fears is

whether they will experience pain. Not only

does pain cause short term suffering, but it

can cause long term harm as well, such as

altered pain processing, post-traumatic stress,

and future healthcare avoidance. Commitment

to Comfort© initiative started in Calgary ED’s

using a quality improvement collaborative

(QIC) and is now being offered across

Alberta. Invitations to all provincial emergency

departments and urgent care centers were

sent in March 2017. Over 40 sites will

participate, with representation from all zones!

The commitment states that “we will do our best to

promote comfort by helping to lessen pain and distress”.

It is a partnership among staff, families, and patients to

recognize, assess, and treat pain together. The project

provides participating sites with resources to anticipate,

mitigate, and treat pain, either caused by a condition or a

procedure.

The participating sites are currently performing chart

audits to understand what is happening at their own site

and planning strategies to introduce the materials and

resources. Sites are receiving comfort kits in early June

with posters, brochures, references, and fun distraction

items!

We believe that by working together we can achieve a

high standard for pain treatment for children visiting any

ED in Alberta. More information is available at

www/commitmenttocomfort.com

To view the sites that are participating

click here

Quick Links to Articles of

Interest & Conferences

ESCN Summer Studentship Award

Winners for 2017

2017 Canadian Stroke Congress

Spring/Summer GI Bleed Bulletin

Visit www.ahs.ca/escn to learn more about the Emergency Strategic Clinical NetworkTM

Commencing July 1, 2017

Dr. Sevick will start his five-year

term as Chair of Emergency

Medicine.

He is a graduate from University of

Alberta’s MD program. He is a

clinical professor in the department

of pediatrics and emergency

medicine, and also serves as the

Facility Chief for the U of A

Hospital’s Emergency Department.

A special thanks and commendation

was sent to Dr. Brian Holroyd

out-going chair.

To read more

please click on

the following

link:

Dr. Sevcik

Announcement

U of A Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry Appointment of

Dr. William “Bill” Sevcik as Chair of Emergency Medicine