The Bonnyville hospital is committed to caring.
The Bonnyville Health Centre has been recognized by Alberta Health Services with the President’s Excellence Award for Outstanding Achievement and Quality Improvement. The accolade was presented to them for the implementation of the Commitment to Comfort Project.
“It started in Calgary’s emergency department. What the commitment states, is we will do our best to promote comfort by helping to lessen pain and distress,” explained Alexia Sharun, registered nurse at the Bonnyville hospital and project volunteer. “The program provides participating sites with resources to anticipate, medicate, and treat pain.”
The Commitment to Comfort Project was brought to Bonnyville by Dr. Stefan Palkowski.
According to Sharun, it was already fully-funded, all they needed was someone to run it.
Through the program, staff, parents, and patients work together to make a child’s visit to the emergency department easier.
“One of the biggest fears for children is they will experience pain when they’re coming to the emergency department. It causes short-term suffering, but long-term harm as well, such as altered pain processing, post-traumatic stress, and future healthcare avoidance. We try to limit that,” Sharun detailed.
Hospital staff use techniques and medication to support a child during a procedure.
Sharun said, “We have a comfort kit, which includes tools used by the healthcare provider to assist in distracting and comforting the children who are undergoing painful procedures.”
This could include receiving an IV or having blood work done, among other treatments.
The kit helps parents distract and comfort their child during what could be a traumatic experience.
It helps them learn techniques such as using distracting toys, comforting positions, numbing cream, and helpful things to say when preparing for a procedure.
“I think it’s great. Our community has a lot of young families, and we do see a lot of pediatric patients in our emergency department. I think this is a good way of bringing the community together and having everyone working as a team to address these issues,” Sharun expressed.
The Commitment to Comfort Project was introduced by Alberta Health Services in 2016, however it wasn’t introduced in Bonnyville until this year.
Every site in Alberta that uses this program received recognition from AHS for their commitment to comfort.
The award recognizes individuals and teams who have made an evidence-based quality improvements in the health system that have improved health outcomes for patients and their families.
For Sharun, it was proof that implementing the program was the right move.
“It was great that we are making some improvements in our community in the healthcare sector.”
