Commentary

Thoughts on Collaboration

Thoughts on Collaboration by SDNPC New Clinic Director

Does anyone like to watch medical programs on television like me? Even though I “speak” medicine on a daily basis, I still get excited to see what is happening in hospitals or medical practices on shows like Grey’s Anatomy for some odd reason. I know, I know, it is just a show but I like how the groups work together on cases to come up with the best resolution for patients and watch the fast paced action you see once in a while (I think that is me missing the ER rush sometimes but you won’t see me giving up primary health care). While we are very fortunate here in the SDNPC office to have an inter-collaborative team that works very well together in focussing on the needs of our patients, it is rare for outside specialists to come together to hold case conferences. This past summer I had that chance to do that and I just want to say what an amazing experience it was. Rather than sending consult notes back and forth, we were able to all meet together (patient, NP, collaborative physician and specialist) and spend a few hours focussing on priority needs and coming up with a plan of care that put the patient’s bests interests at the forefront. The feedback I received following the conference was fantastic and I’m happy to say that another specialist has expressed interest in joining us for the next case conference. I am hopeful that with the changes we are experiencing in health care that this will continue to happen and I for one will be taking every chance I can to promote this.

Jennifer Clement, Clinic Director

what our community says...

“a medical professional told me to check out the nurse practitioners’ clinic. I did, filled in a brief application form, handed it in and waited for a response. Soon thereafter I was informed that I had an appointment with one of the nurse practitioners. That turned out to be a one-hour interview concerning my medical history. This was soon followed by an appointment with a doctor at the same office, then a physical examination by the nurse practitioner.

It felt nice to be receiving all this professional and caring medical attention right here in Sudbury. And the head nurse in Ontario, during a recent visit to the city, agreed with me when she called this clinic “a shining example of an alternate way to provide high quality care to people who need it.”