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Because your voice matters.

Member, Maternity Breastfeeding Committee St. Paul’s Hospital

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

Last updated

Come work with us as we strive to support our parents and their families with their breastfeeding goals!

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

Lead Organization or Department

Providence Health Care (PHC) - St Paul's Hospital Maternity

Aim

We are a multidisciplinary care team at St Paul's Hospital (SPH) Maternity, who are responsible for developing and providing breastfeeding education and resources to patients and care providers on the unit. We are looking for patient partners to help us  better understand the patient experience as we review and develop our tools and materials used by staff to engage the  parents and their families we care for in a way that is meaningful to them.

Level of Engagement

This opportunity is at the level of involve on the spectrum of engagement. 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

  • Experience/exposure to infant feeding in the past 5 years
  • Prefer for volunteers to have had experience at St Paul's Hospital Maternity Unit
  • Should feel comfortable sharing their story and experience
  • Must be able to engage in discussion and provide constructive feedback/input
If you have a strong interest in this work but have not yet completed a PVN orientation and Volunteer Agreement, are unsure if your experience is a good fit or feel another format of engagement would work better with your availability, please contact Karen Estrin directly.

Logistics

  • Vacancies: 2
  • Patient partners will commit to monthly one hour meetings for a one year term.
  • There is some flexibility in the length of the term based on individual need and availability.
  • Meetings dates are usually determined on a quarterly schedule by Doodle Poll. Meetings are held during business hours
  • There is flexibility in how Patient Partners can communicate and participate. (We communicate in-person, via email, and have teleconferencing availability.)

Reimbursement

Expenses related to travel (i.e. transit, parking up to $18/day, approved mileage) to attend meetings will be reimbursed by PHC.

Background

The Maternity Center Breastfeeding Committee is responsible for leading breastfeeding standards and education related to innovation, best practice, safety and the family-centered care experience. This committee serves Maternity staff and patients receiving service in various patient care areas in St. Paul’s Hospital. Committee responsibilities include developing, monitoring and evaluating performance indicators related to breastfeeding initiation, patient safety, education and the patient care experience; studying, investigating and evaluating clinical practice and implementing evidence informed changes to breastfeeding practice; and ensuring that processes are in place to identify, report, investigate and implement recommendations and learn from patient surveys and staff feedback. The committee is made up of nurses (Maternity and NICU), midwives, paediatricians and patient partners.

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.