Medical cannabis is a journey, and for many patients, it\u2019s one filled with unknowns and pitfalls, and our nurses are expert navigators. Our nurses listen. They get asked the tough, scary and embarrassing questions. They educate. They guide. They advocate. We wouldn\u2019t be anywhere without them.<\/span><\/p>\n This year\u2019s National Nursing Week\u2019s theme is \u201c<\/span>We Answer The Call\u201d, which speaks to the deep calling and commitment that our nurses have for their role in patient care. But during COVID many of these calls are literal – from patients from across Quebec, who are looking to access a treatment from someone who understands, cares and holds the highest level of expertise. Our nurses have shown incredible tenacity and spirit as they shifted from our clinics and into their homes as we began telemedicine last March, and soon back to the clinic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Our nurses at Sant\u00e9 Cannabis are a dedicated and diverse group of individuals that are driven by our purpose to positively impact the health of our community. Their compassion and dedication to see improvements in their patient\u2019s lives is demonstrated by the positive feedback that is received from our patients and through the increasing demand of our services.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Sant\u00e9 Cannabis would like to thank our nurses for their exceptional work and continued dedication to our purpose, not only for this week but every day.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I work at Sant\u00e9 Cannabis to have a unique experience as a nurse in a private practice. I feel valued at work and am challenged every day; with a team that is stimulating and we feel very close to each other. The most significant and rewarding part of my job is accompanying patients in the relief of their symptoms and improving their quality of life.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We adapt treatment plans to be specific to each patient, and provide them with comprehensive education about medical cannabis as well as support for their treatment. We teach about the different molecules (THC\/CBD), indications, side effects, precautions\/contraindications as well as titration and administration of the product, allowing patients to be guided in their journey.<\/span><\/p>\n I enjoy the progress I\u2019ve made at Sant\u00e9 Cannabis over the years, from nurse, to team lead to coordinator. I found flexibility and a balanced lifestyle working in private practice rather than the hospital.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d also like to introduce Gigi, a little 4lb toy poodle, who arrived at my house during Covid. Telecommuting, I now have a new co-worker who fills my days with even more happiness. She makes a few surprise appearances in some meetings and gives us a good laugh!<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I\u2019m passionate about helping people, chronic pain and medical cannabis. I come from a background in orthopaedic surgery where I had experience treating people with all kinds of pain conditions, which helped be more understanding, patient and compassionate. I dealt with many frustrated patients who were not getting what they needed out of the healthcare system and I began to understand that traditional medicine isn\u2019t always the answer for everyone.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n Since joining Sante Cannabis I\u2019ve been fortunate to have many meaningful and amazing experiences, but being able to contribute to many of our patients having a more active life, increasing their overall health-related quality of life has revitalized my enthusiasm for nursing.<\/span><\/p>\n Since COVID, I\u2019ve been keeping busy with all sorts of exciting new hobbies, from making yogurt in with the instant pot, and diving into the world of art via blogs, smarthistory youtube channel, and art apps and developing my interest drawing animation.<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n It\u2019s meaningful to me to make an impact in our patients\u2019 wellbeing. I believe that cannabis is a complementary medicine that helps a lot of people suffering from different medical issues. The legalization of cannabis in October of 2018 was really a milestone for us, giving medical cannabis much more credibility and interest. At that point the clinic also got involved in more meaningful research, which allowed us to hire many more employees. It\u2019s been incredible to see this transition and growth.<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve always enjoyed making impactful bonds with clients and prior to graduating from nursing I worked in telecommunications in sales for 10 years where I got to make many connections with clients. I continue to make those bonds, with both the clients and the team I work with daily. My team is a great pleasure, and I appreciate the flexibility in our schedules and working from home during the pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019d like to introduce Sophie, my 2 and a half year old French Bulldog. She is great because she is playful, energetic and silly. In addition to everything that makes her great, she unfortunately suffers from anxiety. She is totally dreading my return to the office and staying alone all day – I\u2019ll miss her too, but will be happy to see our clients again in person.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I work at Sant\u00e9 Cannabis to help people. For many, we are the last resort and we often hear from our patients that we have given them back a quality of life that they no longer thought possible. I really enjoy the respect and support within the entire medical team, and think our patients do as well.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019ve had many important experiences, but one that stands out for me is a pediatric case, where we were able to work towards the family\u2019s health goals. One day I received a call from the father of the child who explained with tears in his eyes the difference he had experienced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I feel I am uniquely qualified to work at Sante Cannabis, as I experienced a work injury that has given me permanent limitations. I live with constant pain, insomnia and anxiety, and so can relate to many of our patients on a personal level. I\u2019ve appreciated the ability to work from home over COVID, and to be able to meet with our patients on telemedicine, as for many of them travelling can be a barrier. I hope that post-COVID the government will continue to fund telemedicine visits, as has been a positive for our patients, many of whom have told me about reduced anxiety with their visits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n <\/p>\n I am so happy to be celebrating our nursing team this week! Nurses and auxiliary nurses at Sant\u00e9 Cannabis play such a vital role in our operations and their actions stretch across all departments, they are really our essential workers! For me, particularly this past year with the pandemic, they have really embodied totally and absolutely what it is to be a nurse.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I cannot express the immense appreciation I have for our nursing team; and for nursing coordinators who take on so much and have marked themselves as true leaders. They showed professionalism and adaptability when we needed to switch to virtual consultations. It was not an easy task, and they were a true support for our physician colleagues as well as for our patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n We put in them our trust and rely on their empathy, compassion and skills as advocates and communicators for our patients and for medical cannabis as a treatment. I couldn\u2019t be prouder of the team we have put together. Happy Nursing Week 2021!<\/span><\/p>\n We wanted to take time to emphasize our respect and appreciation for the individual and team contribution that our nurses make to Sant\u00e9 Cannabis and to the thousands of patients who have benefited from the care, compassion and informed education that they provide. Our nurse team is the backbone of Sant\u00e9 Cannabis, from each individual patient consultation to the critical role that they play in the medical community to support the thousands of referring doctors and nurses across Quebec who trust our team. I can say emphatically that I am in awe of your work on a daily basis.<\/span><\/p>\n Please know that from myself and our entire team, we have this appreciation in all weeks, not just this one. Wishing you a great week!<\/span><\/p>\n I know that it goes without saying that I appreciate our nursing team immensely, on this week and every week, every day and sometimes every minute for all of the support and expertise that they provide to me and the other doctors to provide excellent care to our patients. I feel so privileged to work in their company and with such passion together towards our important purpose.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I hope each nurse feels proud of their contribution and their medical cannabis leadership for all nurses and auxiliary nurses across Quebec.<\/span><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/p>\n <\/p>\n NURSES AND AUXILIARY NURSES APPRECIATION WEEK 2021 Most of us have experienced the healthcare system, in times of darkness, stress, confusion, and often, in those…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":18,"featured_media":5003,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[127,203,202],"tags":[185,93,104,207,205,206,204],"class_list":["post-5002","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health","category-healthcare-professionals","category-our-team","tag-cannabis-education","tag-medical-cannabis","tag-medical-cannabis-treatments","tag-national-nurse-week","tag-nurses","tag-nursing","tag-patient-care"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/18"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5002"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5055,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5002\/revisions\/5055"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5003"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5002"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5002"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5002"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Meet some of our nursing team<\/span><\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/2-Naomie_Parrot_EN.jpg\")
<\/p>\nNaomie Parrot, Nurse Coordinator<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/3-Derek_English_EN.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDerek English, Research Nurse<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/4-Tania_Pellegrino_EN.jpg\")
<\/p>\nTania Pellegrino, Educator\/Team Lead<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/5-Isabelle_Fournier_EN.jpg\")
<\/p>\nIsabelle Fournier, Nursing Assistant\/Educator<\/span><\/h3>\n
![\"\"](\"\/\/www.santecannabis.ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/6-Thankyou_EN.jpg\")
<\/p>\nWords of appreciation\u00a0<\/span><\/h2>\n
Vi Dam, RN, Director of Clinical Education<\/span><\/h3>\n
Erin Prosk, President<\/span><\/h3>\n
Michael Dworkind, MD, Medical Director<\/span><\/h3>\n
Thank you to all our nurses from all of us.\u00a0<\/b><\/em><\/h2>\n
![\"Creative](\"https:\/\/i.creativecommons.org\/l\/by-nc-nd\/4.0\/88x31.png\")
<\/a>
\nThis work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"