Improving the lives of patients with Dementia
Understanding the Meaning Behind Dementia Related Responsive Behaviour in a Hospital Setting
Kelly MacGregor, BSO RN at QCH
QCH is excited to announce that Kelly MacGregor, a Behaviour Support Ontario (BSO) RN at QCH, has been awarded a $15,000 funding grant from the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO) Advanced Clinical Practice Fellowship. Obtaining this grant is a significant achievement for QCH as Kelly MacGregor’s proposal competed with many high-quality submissions from hospitals and health organizations across Ontario.
This innovative project will take place on the Alternative Level of Care (ALC) unit at QCH, working closely with the frontline multidisciplinary team, including nurses, physicians, PCA’s and allied health professionals as well as seeking input from patients and families. Kelly is looking forward to beginning this project on September 13th, 2021 and will focus her work full time on this fellowship for the next 12 weeks.
The objectives for this project are to identify the current prevalence of responsive behaviour and staff injury related to responsive behaviour on the ALC unit. Assess and evaluate multidisciplinary staff safety concerns working on the unit. Identify current level of specialized training of staff on unit and opportunity to facilitate future education. The goal is to support safe care, decrease incidents of responsive behaviour, decrease staff injuries, improve job satisfaction, and comfort level caring for people with dementia and responsive behaviours in an acute care setting."
Kelly has been working as a Registered Nurse at QCH for 19 years. She has always been very passionate about caring for people with dementia. Kelly has continuously over the years expanded her education in specialized geriatrics and dementia care. Including a certification from the Canadian Nurses Association Certification (CNA) in Gerontological nursing. and has completed the McMaster University/RGP Geriatric Certificate.
Last year, QCH RN Christine Cook was awarded this grant for her project, which focused on transitioning patients with dementia. Both projects focus on improving the care of patients with dementia within our healthcare system. Melissa Laroche, Advanced Practice Nurse in Geriatrics at QCH, serves as a mentor to both MacGregor and Cook.
Congratulations Kelly, we are looking forward to seeing the results of this project at QCH and how it will have a positive impact on the frontline staff and patients with dementia and responsive behaviours in an acute care setting.