Emily

“We are truly so pleased to have the FreeArms!”

Tell us your story!

I have been a nurse since 2011 and always knew I wanted to work with infants and children. I was looking for an organization where there were enough skills and challenges to keep me learning all the time, but also where I would have the opportunity to spend time with patients and families and build relationships with them. Grand River provides that balance of acute and community care. I started my career as a nurse in Childbirth and really enjoyed my time there. However, I developed a keen interest in the NICU, as it’s truly a special place with a strong community of both families and health care professionals who all share the common goal of promoting the best for these small warriors! Within the past few years, I felt a pull to help on a bigger scale if I could. I wanted to try to think proactively and innovatively about the way we provide care and improving the experience of those that seek our care. Most recently, I completed my Master’s in Science Nursing degree and transitioned into the role of Clinical Manager for the NICU and Pediatrics departments here where I work daily to support the front line team and remove barriers for them to be able to do their jobs to the world-class level we strive for. I am incredibly fortunate to work alongside truly amazing people who are passionate about what they do and go above and beyond every day. The people here, staff, patients, and families, are the reason for everything I do .

We see daily all of the crazy ways that hospitals have to rig venting/gravity syringes. What are a few of the craziest ways that you have seen hospitals have to hold a venting/gravity syringe?

Lots and lots of tape! I have seen all sorts of creatively crafted tape set-ups to try to get the syringes to stay in place. For infants in isolettes, I’ve seen elastic bands tied with one end around the syringe and the other end around a popsicle stick taped to the roof of the isolette to let the syringe vent after a baby’s feed was complete or for infants on non-invasive respiratory therapy.

How does the FreeArm help families at Grand River Hospital?

We are always extremely careful with all feeds but if the feed contains any breast milk, we are especially conscientious of how hard caregivers work to pump and provide breast milk for their babies and infants. With the FreeArms, we know the feeds are held securely and there is a far less likelihood of accidentally spilling precious milk!

How does the FreeArm help HCPs at Grand River Hospital?

On our pediatric unit, the nursing staff would stand at the bedside and physically hold the syringe while the feed was running to make sure it stayed in place. However, that often meant nurses stood beside the patient, holding the syringe for the entire feed, for each patient who had feeds through a feeding tube, which took a lot of time when they had multiple patients. The FreeArm improves their work flow which is hugely important, especially in the midst of this unprecedented pediatric surge where we are seeing more pediatric patients requiring hospital care.

What else would you like to share?

We are truly so pleased to have the FreeArms in both our NICU and Inpatient Pediatric unit here at GRH. It was all thanks to an amazing NICU nurse here who highlighted the benefits of the FreeArm for staff and families alike and together, with the help of a few of her colleagues, they fundraised for the equipment for our NICU. Our Peds team liked them so much we ordered them for Peds as well!