By: Kirsten Millar
Nova Scotia Health’s team of Registered Nurses working as Surgical Clinical Nurse Reviewers are part of The National Surgical Quality Improvement Registry Program (NSQIP). Their team of 12 is spread across the province at different sites.
Nova Scotia Health joined NSQIP in 2017 with the goal of improving surgical care. The team of Nurse Reviewers work with Perioperative (Surgical) Services and collect data on surgical outcomes in a sample of patients. They gather information from patient medical charts and patient health care providers, and by speaking with the patients themselves.
“We all have a passion to improve the quality of care that patients at Nova Scotia Health are receiving. Before joining our current team, we all came from various clinical backgrounds. In those jobs we saw that there were opportunities for change on a broader scale which is what inspired us to pursue this role,” says Alexa Grant-Gorveatt, one of the team’s Nurse Reviewers.
“We have a very supportive, collaborative team. It is the support we give one another, as well as the positive and constructive feedback from patients that keeps us motivated,” says Grant-Gorveatt. “We can also see concrete changes in patient outcomes after we have implemented change, and this is very rewarding.”
The Nurse Reviewers hope to continue to improve the quality of care for surgical patients. “Our work is very future orientated as we look to create collaborative partnerships and innovative solutions to health care issues with a focus on nursing care,” says Grant-Gorveatt.
May 8-14 is National Nurses Week, and we are taking the opportunity to learn more about the many nurses who work for Nova Scotia Health and showcase the important roles that they play in a patient’s health-care journey. Thank you for all you do.
