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BPGs in Action

About

Project Scope & Goals
The Team
Impact of the BPGs

Contents

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Project Scope & Goals

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This website was developed by a team of researchers and students at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing.

Our goal with the site was to make the Best Practice Guidelines more accessible and easier to understand by providing supplementary resource for nurses. On this site, you’ll find a list of all the BPGs organized into categories, practice recommendation summaries, case studies and point-of-care resources for helping nurses make evidence-based decisions during care moments.

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The Team

Elaine Santa Mina

Principal Investigator

Associate Professor | Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Elaine Santa Mina, RN PhD, is an associate professor in the Post Diploma Degree Program at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University. Dr. Santa Mina has expertise in teaching internationally-educated nurses who seek baccalaureate education to practice as RNs in Canada. Her research programs include IEN education; the development and implementation of evidence based practice guidelines in practice and education; and mental health, specifically assessment and intervention for adults at risk for self-harm and suicidal behaviours. Dr. Santa Mina is co-principal investigator on the Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship Canada grant collaboration: IEHP Success: Enhancing the System through Research and Collaborative Partnerships. Elaine led the development of the IEHP Connect website with an incredible team of colleagues.

Donald Rose

Co-Principal Investigator

Associate Professor | Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Donald Rose, RN PhD, is an associate professor at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University. He has held several leadership positions in clinical practice, administration and education. His research foci include: caring science, IENs, nursing ethics, and forensic/mental health nursing. Dr. Rose is co-investigator on the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada grant collaboration: IEHP Success: Enhancing the System through Research and Collaborative Partnerships. Don supported the development of the IEHP Connect website with his experience working with IENs and mental health nursing.

Sherry Espin

Co-Principal Investigator

Associate Professor | Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Sherry Espin is an associate professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University. She teaches in the Master of Nursing and Post Diploma Degree programmes. Sherry’s research is positioned within two broad and overlapping domains: patient safety and interprofessional education and collaboration. In patient safety, specifically, she has sought to theorize how healthcare professionals and patients interact with one another in the context of perceived errors of care, reporting of errors and disclosure of errors. Sherry has also explored processes and outcomes related to interprofessional education and collaboration. For example, she has worked on a research program examining interprofessional communication on healthcare teams. This research has informed the development of patient safety initiatives like the surgical safety checklist.

Sue Bookey-Bassett

Co-Investigator

Assistant Professor | Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Sue Bookey-Bassett obtained her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Toronto and a Master of Education from Brock University. Bookey-Bassett completed her PhD in nursing at McMaster University’s Aging Community and Health Research Unit in 2018. Her doctoral work involved the development and feasibility testing of an interprofessional education intervention to support collaborative practice in the home care sector. She also completed a certificate program on educating health professionals in interprofessional care (EHPIC) through the University of Toronto Centre for Interprofessional Education in 2013.

Heiwete Girma

Research Project Coordinator

Master of Nursing (student) | Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Heiwete Girma has been a registered nurse since 2006. With a focus on acute care nursing, she obtained her critical care certification shortly after completing her BScN and began her career in the emergency department followed by several years in the peri-anesthesia unit. Her work has allowed her to observe many facets of the Canadian healthcare system including nursing education and bridging the education to practice gap. Throughout her experience in the Master of Nursing Program at Ryerson University, she has had the opportunity to explore the impact of virtual resources as tools to support education and improve the safe delivery of health care on a global level.

Husna Akramy

Research Assistant

Bachelor of nursing | Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Husna Akramy completed her bachelor of nursing at Ryerson University and began her nursing career on a general medicine unit. As a research assistant, she’s worked on projects that bridge the gap between research and practice. For the BPGs in Action website, Husna helped the team develop resources that make the best practice guidelines more accessible for nursing students. She also assisted with the development of the IEHP Connect website – a narrative-based resource designed for internationally-education healthcare professionals.

Linda Cruz

Research Administrative Support

As an administrative professional with over 20 years’ experience, Linda has worked in a variety of clinical settings supporting healthcare teams by streamlining administrative systems. From project conception to completion, Linda focuses on facilitating communication and coordinating between team members to ensure that collaboration is organized, targeted and productive.

Taylor MacLean

Graphic Designer & Knowledge Mobilization Lead

RGD, MPC | Creative Lead, Centre for Communicating Knowledge, Ryerson University

Taylor MacLean is a registered graphic designer (RGD) and a knowledge mobilization specialist. She completed her master’s degree in Professional Communication at Ryerson University, and is currently the creative lead at the Centre for Communicating Knowledge (CCK). CCK is a knowledge mobilization unit at Ryerson University that works with the academic community to communicate research in ways that are accessible, relevant and engaging.

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The Impact of the BPGs

The Best Practice Guidelines are improving Ontario health care.

The Best Practice Guidelines use evidence-based research to develop structured approaches to patient-centred care. Ontario health care organizations that have implemented the BPGs, have seen improvements in patient health, increases in the quality of care provided, and reduced health care costs. Below are some examples of the impact that the BPGs have had on Ontario health care.

Falls Prevention

In 2015, the Perley and Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre implemented Comfort Care Rounding (CCR). CCR involves checking regularly on residents in a structured and strategic way. The CCR strategy is part of the Best Practice Guideline: Prevention of Falls and Falls Injuries in the Older Adult. During Comfort Care Rounding, the staff must:
  1. Introduce themselves
  2. Provide any care that’s required
  3. Assess for 4 Ps + 1T: Pain, Positioning, Placement of Personal items and Toileting
  4. Address additional comfort needs
  5. Ensure environmental safety
  6. Close the conversation with: “Is there anything else I can do for you? I have time.”
  7. Advise the resident when they expect to return
  8. Document the CCR

The Perley & Rideau Veterans’ Health Centre Decreased Falls by Implementing Comfort Care Rounding.

Decrease in patient falls After implementing comfort care rounding
0 %
Source: RNAO Evidence Booster on Impact of Best Practices on Fall Rates
Read the Falls Prevention BPG

Foot Ulcers

One of the recommendations outlined in the Best Practice Guideline: Assessment and Management of Foot Ulcers for People with Diabetes, is the use of offloading devices. Offloading devices relieve pressure on the foot, which reduces the likelihood of foot ulcers and amputation. Home Care organizations that have implemented this BPG and incorporated the use of offloading devices have seen faster healing, a reduction in the number of amputations needed and a significant reduction in healthcare costs related to diabetic foot ulcers.

Results for one Ontario Home Care organization after implementing the Foot Ulcer BPG.

Increase in diabetic wound healing (2013-2015)
0 %
Source: RNAO Evidence Booster on Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Reduction in wound surface area after 4 weeks
0 %
Source: RNAO Evidence Booster on Diabetic Foot Ulcers
Read the Foot Ulcer BPG

Pain Assessment

Pain is defined as an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage. The Best Practice Guideline: Assessment and Management of Pain, provides recommendations for nurses assessing and helping patients manage pain – such as:
  • Integrating the patient and family’s perspective in nursing pain assessments
  • Using an electronic medical record to record and review pain assessment and management concerns
  • Updating nursing documentation to include specific timing of when pain assessments should be conducted
RNAO measured the impact the implementing this BPG had on two different Ontario Hospitals – hospitals saw an overall reduction in the pain intensity that patients experienced, and an increase in people achieving their pain management goals.

The surgical units of 2 Ontario Hospitals saw improved pain management after implementing the BPG.

Hospital #1

INCREASE in people achieving their pain management goals (2018-2019)
0 %
Source: RNAO Evidence Booster on Pain Management

Hospital #2

DECREASE in people reporting their pain intensity as severe (2015-2019)
0 %
Source: RNAO Evidence Booster on Pain Management
Read the Pain Management BPG
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This website was developed by a team of researchers at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University. The purpose of the site is to provide supplementary resources for implementing RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines. Some information about the best practice guidelines has been collected directly from the RNAO BPG website. We have done our best to ensure accuracy, however some discrepancies may occur. For official, up-to-date information about the best practice guidelines, please refer to the RNAO website.