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Because your voice matters.

Urinary Tract Infection Prevention Working Group

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Open to Fraser – Vancouver Coastal, Patient partners in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley

Last updated

Urinary tract infections (UTIs) negatively alter patient care outcomes and increases length of stay. Work with us to decrease UTIs for all patients admitted across Providence Health Care!

Open to: Patient partners in the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care, Surgical Department

Aim

The goal of this initiative is to reduce urinary tract infection (UTI) rates. Patient partners will participate in evaluating current systems, developing strategies for improvements, creating education materials and will also be active partners in decision making about prevention strategies.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement (www.iap2.org). The promise to you is that the health care partner will involve patients in planning and design phases to ensure ideas or concerns are considered and reflected in alternatives and recommendations.

Eligibility

  • Some familiarity or personal experience with UTIs, including experience with a UTI or other preventable complication resulting from a surgery would be an asset.
  • Comfortable sharing their patient experiences.
  • Experience working with groups.
  • Patients should have previously attended a PVN orientation session and signed the Volunteer Agreement. If you have not attended an orientation but are interested, please contact the Engagement Leader directly to see if accommodations may be possible.

Logistics

  • Vacancies: 2
  • The committee meets every month at St. Paul’s Hospital. Details TBD.
  • Between meetings patients will be asked to provide feedback or work on documents exchanged via email.
  • Participation on the committee will be for seven months to one year.

Reimbursement

Expenses related to travel (i.e. transit, parking up to $18/day, approved mileage) to attend the session will be reimbursed by Providence Health Care.

Background

This opportunity came as UTI rate at Providence sites increased. The UTI prevention group members come from different professional background and include: surgeons, an anesthesiologist, a clinical nurse specialist, nurse educators, OR nurses, and a nurse continence advisor.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Karen Estrin
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Lower Mainland & Sunshine Coast
604.668.8245
kestrin@bcpsqc.ca

From Our Community

Derek Koch

Spiritual Health Practitioner and Patient- and Family-Centred Care Lead — Kelowna General Hospital

Derek Koch

The bottom line is because we’re caring for patients. People who know best are those who are receiving the care so it makes logical sense that we would consult with them about their experiences. By connecting with PVN we have been able to educate our teams about the value of patient partners and how important their perspective is in our services.