About Me.
Hello and welcome to my ePortfolio! The purpose of this portfolio is to serve as a professional space for me to share and store information, as well as document my journey through the Masters of Health Studies program. I am the Manager for Clinical & Quality at EHS LifeFlight, a critical care air ambulance service in Nova Scotia, Canada. I am a Registered Nurse who completed my degree at Dalhousie University. As a nurse in this province, I belong to the Nova Scotia College of Nurses (NSCN), which is the regulatory body that oversees all nursing practice. The NSCN receives authority through the Nursing Act decreed by the provincial government.
A vast part of my career has been as an emergency room nurse in a level 1 trauma center, both as a front line clinician and clinical leader. My experience in this dynamic environment afforded me the opportunity grow as a leader, and as a human. I also had the opportunity to collaborate with many other health care disciplines whose ultimate focus was high quality, holistic patient care. After ten years in nursing, I attained a critical care flight nurse position with EHS LifeFlight. For the next seven years, I split my time between the emergency department and LifeFlight before moving into a leadership position with the air medical program.
EHS LifeFlight is a division within Emergency Medical Care Incorporated (EMC), a subsidiary of Medavie Health Services. Emergency Health Services (EHS) is a government division that funds and manages the delivery of prehospital care in the province. The Commission on Accreditation of Medical Transport Systems (CAMTS) accredits EHS LifeFlight.
In my current role, I am responsible for the oversight of clinical care, quality and accreditation of the EHS LifeFlight program. This includes hiring qualified candidates, orientation, continuing education, and quality improvement. As a manager with EMC, I work closely with the other divisions within the organization, as well as the medical oversight physicians to ensure the provision of high quality, evidence based care. My portfolio also includes collaboration in organizational recruitment, policy development, and strategic planning. I pride myself on leading with integrity, accountability and adaptability, values that I feel are a fundamental piece of being a successful manager.
Another role I hold within EMC is that of Peer and Family Support Referral Agent. It is a volunteer position that provides mental health support and resources, as well as crisis intervention - individual and group.
Aside from my position as a health care professional, I am also a mom to a 17 year old aspiring athletic trainer, and a wife to an incredibly patient and supportive man. I strive to always find work life balance, certainly a challenge at times! In my downtime, you can find me working on diamond art, listening to true crime podcasts and spending time with my family.
References
Dalhousie University: Dalhousie University ‑ Nova Scotia, Canada
NSCN: Nova Scotia College of Nursing | NSCN
Nursing Act: Nursing Act (nslegislature.ca)
EHS LifeFlight: EHS LifeFlight
EMC: Emergency Medical Care Inc. (emci.ca)
EHS: Emergency Health Services | novascotia.ca
CAMTS: CAMTS
