Hyacinth Elliott specializes in Gerontological Nursing and Rehabilitation Nursing and works on the Geriatric Rehabilitation Inpatient unit. (Photo: UHN)
National Nursing Week 2015 runs May 11-17. To mark the occasion, UHN News is running a series of stories in which nurses talk about their career. Today, Hyacinth Elliott, who works at Toronto Rehab, discusses her career.
I work in direct patient care on the Geriatric Rehabilitation Inpatient unit. My practice specialties are Gerontological Nursing and Rehabilitation Nursing and I hold dual specialty certifications from the Canadian Nurses Association. This allows me the very unique and most valued opportunity of specialty nursing practice within a high functioning inter-professional health care team. We work collaboratively to help older adults accomplish their rehab goals, optimize their functional capacity, and have the most satisfactory outcome following challenges of illness, injury, or age related health issues.
From an early age I felt very passionate about pursuing a nursing career because I wanted to contribute to promoting the health and well-being of humanity and preventing suffering.
My interest in working with Older Adults and my desire to contribute to achieving patient goals led to my nursing specialization in Rehabilitation and Gerontology.
I completed a Collaborative Academic Fellowship in 2013 on Healthy Hydration for Older Adults. This initiative focused on early assessment and ongoing monitoring of the hydration status of the geriatric patient who has many complexities and challenges.
National Nursing Week
May 11-17, 2015
I also completed two Late Career Initiatives in 2014 and 2015 that focused on assessment and management of patients immediately after a fall.
I recently had the great honour of being selected as the 2014-15 recipient of the Mary Ferguson-Pare Prize for Innovation in Nursing.
I feel most satisfied about supporting professional practice and also applying best practices in the care that I provide to my patients. This is my motivation to continue my pursuit for knowledge, and my commitment to continuing education. I am currently the Nursing Professional Practice Leader which allows me the opportunity to engage in many unit initiatives and be an active member on some corporate committees.
If I could offer one piece of advice to a new or currently practicing Nurse it would be to remain on the cutting edge of our profession. Ongoing learning keeps our scientific knowledge and skills current which can then be applied to best practices in our patient care.
