Readers: This month, we highlight pediatric nursing in Canada with a piece by guest contributor Monping Chiang.
Monping Ping Chiang is a pediatric nurse practitioner working at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, Canada. She's been working in the Division of General and Thoracic Surgery for the past 8 years and specializing in the Foregut population. Her main surgical populations are working with kids and families with Tracheo Esophageal Fistula and Esophageal Atresia and Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia. She is involved with education for nursing and medical trainees. She has a clinical appointment with the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto. She is the Chair for the Canadian Pediatric Surgical Nurses Interest Group (CaPSNIG).
CaPSNIG was founded in 2005 as a network for Pediatric Surgical Nurses in Canada. There is no cost to join and no cost to attend the annual meeting, which is held in conjunction with the CAPS surgeon's meeting. For information on CaPSNIG and upcoming meetings, see the CAPS Web site. CAPS and CaPSNIG meetings are held each year in September. The ninth annual CaPSNIG meeting was held September 25, 2013, on Prince Edward Island. The 2014 CaPSNIG meeting is planned for September 18 in Montreal.
In Canada, nurse practitioners have prescriptive authority and can see patients independently in clinic.
Monping explains her practice as follows: At the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto, we have a unique team of nurse practitioners in the Division of General and Thoracic Surgery. The roles of our surgical nurse practitioners are based on neonatal, foregut, midgut, and hindgut patient populations. As these infants graduate out of the neonatal setting, they are then transferred to our surgical unit and from the care of the neonatal surgical nurse practitioner to the foregut, midgut, or hindgut nurse practitioners care.
The foregut nurse practitioner focuses on congenital diaphragmatic hernia and tracheosophageal fistula/esophageal atresia patients. The midgut nurse practitioner focuses on gastroschisis/omphalocele and small bowel atresia/stenosis patients. Our hindgut nurse practitioner works with the anorectal malformations and Hirschsprung's disease population. We coordinate care and provide continuity for these patients and families from infancy until 18 years of age.
We have developed expertise in managing and supporting these patient's pre- and postoperatively. For families with complex congenital diagnosis, we think its important to have a consistent contact person with medical and surgical background in caring for these children and providing for their ongoing needs.
Canadian Pediatric Surgical Nurses have been active participants in APSNA for a decade, as podium and poster presenters. Despite differences in payer models between nationalized health care and a private payer system, the principles of best surgical care for children are universal!
INTERESTED IN GLOBAL HEALTH?
Join the APSNA International Special Interest Group
Travel or work abroad in pediatric surgery? To share your unique global Pediatric Surgical Nursing experience or for more information, contact chair Jenny Kreiss at :mailto:[email protected]