Kalina Charnock
Registered Nurse, PICU – 1.5 years at CHEO
What attracted you to work at CHEO?
I previously worked in neonatal intensive care in Toronto, and knew I wanted to continue working with children. When I moved to Ottawa from Toronto, I knew CHEO would be a great place to work as I had done nursing placements here during university that I loved.
What do you do at CHEO?
I am a registered nurse in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
What’s your favourite part about your job?
I love being there for patients and families during what can be a really scary time for them. Supporting not only the patients but their families is very rewarding and doing it with such a great team makes my job so easy.
Do you have a memorable moment to share/what has been a highlight to date?
I don't think I have one specific memorable moment, but my absolute favorite thing about the PICU is the team. Everyone I work with is so incredible. The expertise, kindness and dedication of the team is second to none. Anytime you need support or a coworker to lean on, there is always someone there for you.
Why do you recommend CHEO as a great place to work?
I work with lots of amazing, intelligent and kind people. Again, the teamwork here is so amazing. Working with babies and children is very rewarding. Seeing children who have spent months and months in the ICU finally get to go home is such an amazing and fulfilling feeling.
Patricia Murphy
Registered Nurse, Eating Disorders - 35 years at CHEO
What attracted you to work at CHEO?
CHEO has always had a good reputation and of course being able to work with school age and adolescent children and their families.
What do you do at CHEO?
Presently, I work in the inpatient Eating Disorders program as a part-time Registered Nurse.
What’s your favourite part about your job?
My favorite part about working at CHEO is twofold. Firstly, I love working with adolescents and connecting them with their family members. Secondly, I love working with our staff. I feel supported at all times during any given shift and I have made so many lasting friendships.
Do you have a memorable moment to share/what has been a highlight to date?
I cannot pinpoint a single highlight in my career as there have been so many memories between medical and mental health nursing. I have nursed many mental health patients on the medical floor throughout the years, but what stands out for me is that CHEO represents the entire family unit with utmost regard. We work as a team and we work with many different resources to always provide the patient with the best possible care. Years ago I was able to accompany one of our patients to Toronto and also to Montreal on a school trip as he needed assistance since he was dependent on a ventilator. It was an honor to be able to help him participate in his class trips and it was because of CHEO that he was able to go.
Why do you recommend CHEO as a great place to work?
CHEO nursing stands on its own. Everyone I have spoken to over the years has always said you are so lucky to have a job at CHEO. On many occasions when you meet people in the public who find out you are a nurse at CHEO, they want to tell you about all the great care their children received and how wonderfully supported the entire family felt throughout their experience.
Judy Alexander
Registered Nurse, Mental Health - 35 years at CHEO
What attracted you to work at CHEO?
After working with adults in Mental Health, I felt a desire to reach out to clients at a younger age as a way to make a difference earlier on in their lives.
What do you do at CHEO?
I have worked at CHEO on 6E/6N Adolescent Mental Health for 35 years.
What’s your favourite part about your job?
It is career satisfying to develop therapeutic relationships with adolescents that are tailored to their unique situations in life. It’s very rewarding to get to help them work through their struggles by exploring a plan of care together and then supporting them to carry it out.
Do you have a memorable moment to share/what has been a highlight to date?
The highlights of my career have been around seeing my patients put into action the goals, plans and coping strategies that we have encouraged them to work on. Getting to see them empowered to work towards discharge, where they are ready to go back into the community and manage their own needs, is also rewarding.
Why do you recommend CHEO as a great place to work?
CHEO is a great place to work because there is a level of respect and appreciation for the work that we do.
Taking on new and exciting challenges
With the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in March, CHEO suddenly needed many staff to redeploy from their usual jobs into new roles so that we could continue providing the care that matters to families. Noémie Ntahonkiriye, a patient service clerk (PSC), was one of hundreds of staff who volunteered to take up whatever challenge was required.
“Figuring out all the new things each of us had to do could get a bit chaotic,” says Noémie. “But when you see a smiling child it’s always nice and makes it all worth it.”
As a patient service clerk, Noémie was already a Jill-of-all-trades, but redeploying from her usual clerk role gave new meaning to the word “variety”. Whether scheduling virtual clinic appointments, answering families’ questions, escorting patients and family caregivers from the main entrance to where they need to go, or being onsite at the Brewer Assessment Centre to register children and youth for COVID-19 testing, there was always something new and challenging to keep Noémie on her toes.
“Variety is one of the things I like most about my PSC role,” she says. “My job always stays interesting and I’m learning a lot.”
It is an unprecedented time right now and anything but business as usual. Noémie has taken it all in her stride. When the pandemic broke, she answered an in-house survey highlighting her skills and was selected for two new pandemic response roles — supporting children and youth at the Brewer Assessment Centre and escorting patients and families at CHEO to make sure they stay comfortable and safe — jobs she had not previously trained for.
In addition to these two new redeployment roles, Noémie continued as a clerk wherever she was needed but added additional duties like supporting families when she rearranged their care from in-person to virtual appointments. Noémie’s flexibility in adapting to new environments, a key skill of any PSC, helped her thrive in all these new challenges.
No two days are the same for Noémie — whether she is providing support to different clinics throughout the week or working in CHEO’s scheduling centre booking appointments for families, each day brings fresh tasks to tackle. Typical of CHEO staff, Noémie wants to help wherever it is required.
“I’m not a doctor or a nurse, but helping families by giving directions on where they need to go, explaining how our referral system works, or booking an appointment that matters to them is really rewarding work,” she says. “Every day at CHEO makes me feel like I am making a difference. It is a really rewarding job.”
Pediatrics is the place to be
Brianne Outram has been a nurse for 12 years - eight of those years have been spent at CHEO. While currently caring for children and youth in CHEO’s pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), Brianne has also spent time in pediatric medicine.
“I love going to work every single day,” says Brianne.
Brianne started her career in the vascular surgery department of an adult hospital and then came to CHEO where she worked in pediatric medicine and the PICU.
Brianne always knew CHEO was the place where she should be. “I always wanted to do pediatric nursing.”
What makes CHEO special? According to Brianne, it’s many things. The size of the organization and the overall team spirit and camaraderie of the staff play a large factor in making CHEO a place of work she enjoys. In comparing the adult versus pediatric setting, Brianne says, “I worked for two years at a place where many of the doctors didn’t know who I was. But at CHEO, you know everybody, or you get to know them. You are so respected,” she adds. “You are not just a number.”
At CHEO, Brianne has found more than just a job. “Working in a hospital isn’t always easy,” she explains. “It’s amazing to see the multidisciplinary approach and our family-centred care. You see people staying with their kids and how important that is to them – they value that. You see the family dynamic and parents who support their kids and how much fun the kids are having.”
And as for her team, it’s clear Brianne both values them and feels valued in return. “I feel that the support I get from my co-workers and management is just unbelievable,” says Brianne. “It makes a huge difference.”
To any new recruit joining the team, Brianne offers the following words of wisdom, “You are not going to regret your decision.”
Dreams do come true
“I wanted to work at CHEO since I was a little girl,” exclaims Elizabeth Jones, or Lizzy, as family, friends and even CHEO kids call her.
“The first time I can remember coming to CHEO was for an ear infection when I was very young and I just liked being here because it didn’t feel like a hospital to me. I told my mom I was going to work here someday.” Lizzy’s childhood dream did come true. Today she works as a health-care aide caring for children and youth on CHEO’s pediatric medicine units.
Lizzy started out as a casual health-care aide and later transitioned to a full-time position. When she joined, she loved the flexibility of working casual and the ability to create her own schedule.
Just getting to spend time with kids is what brings Lizzy the most joy in her role. “I get to do all the fun stuff,” says Lizzy. “Like cuddling babies, helping with feedings, taking patients to their appointments, and assisting with bathing.” That’s not to say that there aren’t also tough moments, like holding kids while they have to get a needle or have a catheter inserted. But Lizzy understands the importance of this, “If it has to be done to help, then it has to be done to help.” That’s why she feels it’s so important to be calm and stay positive as a health-care aide.
Always with the kids and families in mind, she often wears funny themed headbands as a way to make people smile. “This is a hospital at the end of the day, but you still want to try to make families and patients feel like they’re not at a hospital.” For Lizzy it’s about making them feel as comfortable as possible for whatever time they’re here.
The camaraderie is also a big part of what Lizzy loves at CHEO. “Everyone is super welcoming and helpful,” she says. “During my first week when I was trying to figure out this hospital, I stopped in the hallway and someone who didn’t even work in my department walked me to where I needed to be.”
For anyone considering embarking on a role in pediatrics, Lizzy has these words of advice, “remember all the good that the hospital does for these kids and that you are doing something great by putting your career towards something wonderful.”
Just like many staff, Lizzy volunteers her personal time to give even more to CHEO. She’s organized a musical fundraiser and also came to CHEO at Christmastime on her days off to sing to the kids in isolation who couldn’t participate in other holiday activities.
At the end of the day, it’s about more than a job for Lizzy. “Getting to be one of the people who make kids feel happy and comfortable and not sick is so rewarding for me.”
You learn something everyday
Learning and passing on knowledge is a passion for Michael Weedmark, a nurse educator for CHEO’s inpatient surgery and float teams.
A graduate of the University of Ottawa’s Faculty of Nursing and Algonquin College’s Anesthesia Assistant programs, he is currently completing his Master’s degree in education.
Michael started his nursing career at CHEO on the 4 North oncology unit eight years ago, but it was his yearning to grow his knowledge and gain different experience that drew Michael from pediatrics to the adult sector.
“I wanted to try adult critical care,” explains Michael. However, after working two years in the adult setting, he realized that working with the kids at CHEO is where he truly wanted to be. “It’s so much more rewarding to work at CHEO where you help kids.”
Since returning to CHEO, Michael has worked with a variety of units including the intensive care unit (ICU), surgery and the float team. Returning to pediatrics is a move he does not regret and says transitioning back to CHEO was easy for him. He credits the very supportive environment and process CHEO has in place for new and returning team members.
“When I came back, my nurse educator worked with me and we tailored an orientation that was more specific to me,” explains Michael. “I didn’t have to spend hours reviewing things I already knew. Coming from a critical care environment, it wasn’t the ICU knowledge that I needed, but the pediatric knowledge.” CHEO was able to cater an orientation specific to Michael’s experience, ensuring he was quickly in place at the bedside caring for children and youth.
During his onboarding, CHEO made Michael feel valued and acknowledged that he was a seasoned nurse. He credits his team of amazing co-workers whom he says “helped me grow as a nurse”.
Like so many at CHEO, Michael enjoys teamwork and the collegial feel of a pediatric setting. “At CHEO you know everybody, on every floor. Your unit becomes your family.”
Starting things off with a smile
Sophie Contant is often the first face families see when they visit a clinic. You’ll find her wearing a big smile, greeting families in any number of CHEO’s clinics.
From booking first-time appointments in CHEO’s scheduling department to making follow-up appointments in clinic, from updating patient information to just having a laugh with families – as a Patient Service Clerk (PSC), Sophie does it all. Because PSCs are the first people families see when arriving for their appointment, they can make a big impact on how a family’s appointment or even their day is going to go. PSCs help ease worries families may have and they answer families’ questions too. “I think that is one of the biggest parts of our job, making sure to get rid of all that nervousness,” says Sophie. “Us being so positive and providing a pleasant experience for them, that’s a good way to start their appointment.”
According to Sophie, if you like kids, CHEO is one of the best places to be. “I think the idea of helping kids and families is really rewarding for people who work at CHEO.” Maintaining communication with families is something Sophie sees as a particularly important part of being a PSC and something that all CHEO staff do really well. “Even just by calling families and telling them that we received their referral and we’re going to get an appointment scheduled soon, that’s a comfort for them.”
For Sophie, one of the highlights at CHEO has been working in the diversity clinic. She meets lots of gender diverse youth who are coming in for appointments. “They are always in such a great mood because they are finally feeling accepted for who they are,” says Sophie. “I find it really rewarding to help them make those appointments and to see them get to be themselves.”
Even though Sophie is a casual, part-time PSC, you’ll still find her onsite almost every day. She likes working casual part-time because it allows her to choose how much she wants to work and she gets to work all across CHEO, not just in one clinic. This allows her to gain new experience every day. While it may sound difficult to keep track of your schedule when working in so many different locations, Sophie credits CHEO’s staffing and scheduling office with making it easy for her to keep track and prepare. “I normally know well in advance where I’m going to work,” she says.
In addition to the families, Sophie says her incredible team is a big part of making her job at CHEO so enjoyable. “It doesn’t matter what your title is, everyone is treated very equally. You can be talking to a physician and they will talk to you like a person, not just a clerk,” says Sophie.