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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 from the Lower Mainland and Fraser Valley

Last updated

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

Open to: Patient partners from 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 rates. Patient partmers 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 work with you to ensure that your ideas and concerns are reflected in recommendations and provide feedback on how your input affected the decision.

Eligibility

  • Some familiarity or personal experience with UTIs, including experience with an 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

Karla Warkotsch

Patient Experience Consultant – Interior Health

Karla Warkotsch

The question I like to ask health care employees is ‘Who is this for?’ and ‘Do we have the right people at the table?’ As a health care employee, I see how easy it is to fall into doing for, rather than doing with patients. The voices of the patient, family and caregiver are essential to ensure the patient is central to the direction and focus of the work being done.