Joel
Nurse Educator, St. Boniface Hospital
As a nurse educator at St. Boniface Hospital, Joel has adapted to these strange times by taking on the role of COVID-19 educator for his colleagues in the mental health program.
He is responsible for sharing the latest infection, prevention and control practices like hand hygiene, assessing risk when providing patient care and using personal protective equipment properly.
Approaching their day-to-day work with this knowledge allows staff in the mental health program to feel more comfortable providing advice and direction to their patients and, in turn, keeping them safe.
It has also been important to share research findings on how a pandemic like this one can impact the mental health of individuals, particularly those already living with a mental illness. It's important that we not forgot why we're here in the first place: to provide expert mental health care and treatment to those in greatest need of it.
That said, the strain on our health is not limited to the physical and it is not limited to our patients. We need to take care of one another - we are in this together after all.