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Because your voice matters.

Interviewee, Enhancing BC Institute of Technology (BCIT) Student Nurses’ Communication and Interview Skills

Posted • Last updated

Closed

Commitment: Short-term

Connection method: Virtual

Open to Provincial Region

Last updated

Volunteer Opportunity
The BCIT Nursing Program supports the goal of good health and well-being for all persons. Help our future nurses put into action their health interview skills to better understand your health journey and perspectives by volunteering for a 30 minute interview. Let’s make a difference now and into the future!

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Lead Organization/Department
BCIT Nursing Program

Aim
To give newly enrolled student nurses an opportunity to develop their communication skills and develop an understanding of how the health care journey impacts what patients go through and ultimately their health outcomes.

The role of the patient partner is to engage in a short 15 – 30 minute interview with a group of student nurses to share their or a family members health care journey.

Level of Engagement
This opportunity is at the level of consult on the spectrum of engagement. The promise to you is that the health care partner will listen to and acknowledge your ideas and concerns, and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility
Open to patient partners across the province who:
• Have previous and/or current experience as a patient or family member/caregiver of a person who has accessed the health care system
• Ideally would be an older adult (over 55 years of age) with a chronic health condition (for example diabetes, high blood pressure, asthma, etc.); However younger older adults (between 45 – 55 years of age) who have a chronic health condition would also meet the eligibility criteria
• Are willing & comfortable to share their health journey and experience as a patient, family member or caregiver in a group of up to 4 students
• Have access to a phone (for a phone meeting) or computer (for a Zoom meeting)

If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and Patient Partner Commitments, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact Cassy Mitchell.

Logistics
• Number of vacancies:  up to 32
• Date and Time: Interviews to be scheduled between 22 February-March 5, 2022 at a time that is convenient for patient partners (interviews will last between 15-30 minutes)
• Location: Telephone or Zoom interviews
• Commitment: One time

Reimbursement
No out of pocket expenses are anticipated for this engagement opportunity. However, if you meet the eligibility criteria, but have concerns about your ability to participate, please contact Cassy Mitchell cmitchell@bcpsqc.ca to see if support options are available. We are always seeking to better understand and reduce barriers to participation.

Background
At BCIT, student nurses start their first term in a community rotation. During this rotation, student nurses meet older patients with chronic disease(s) and who live in the community. Given the pandemic restrictions, these first term students are not in clinical practice for their first semester of the program which means they do not engage with patients in-person. We believe that interviewing patient partners through PVN will provide these students with an opportunity to therefore practice their communication skills. It is important at the beginning of a student nurses education, that they develop an understanding of the patient’s health care journey and the impact it has on the patient’s health outcomes. Some examples of questions that the student nurses may ask include:

• Please tell me about your journey in the healthcare system
• No one health care professional can care for a patient/client on their own. Who was part of your team? Whom do you consider still part of your team right now?

BCIT Nursing students and instructors will be involved in this initiative and confidentiality will be maintained as per nursing regulations.

The BCIT Nursing program does not see any risks with this request as the students will engage in an interview focused on the patient partner’s health care journey. However, should a concern be raised by the patient partner, the BCIT student nurse will loop in the nursing instructor for guidance. The student nurses are in their first semester of the nursing program so if any health concerns are raised by the patient partner, the students will seek out the nursing instructor for guidance. The knowledge level is limited for these first semester student nurses, so they will not be providing any instructions to the patient partner. This patient partner interview is not to address any health issues, rather, simply a learning exercise for student nurses in the area of developing communication skills.

None of these sessions will be recorded and information will not be shared with any other peers/colleagues. Information may be shared with the instructor however for learning purposes only.

Health Care Partner Contact Information

Cassy Mitchell
Engagement Leader, Patient and Public Engagement | Provincial
250.279.o717
cmitchell@bcpsqc.ca

From Our Community

Shannon Griffin

Leader, Patient and Family Centred Care in Fraser Health

Shannon Griffin

Recently, a PVN Patient Advisor asked healthcare partners, “What are we learning from patients, families, and others thus far during this pandemic?”. This is an excellent question and one to ask ourselves daily.