Feature Article September 18, 2002
LAND O' LAKES NewsWeb HomeContact Us
Mary Woodman leaves Sharbot Lake Medical Centreby David Brison Nurse Practitioner Mary Woodman has taken a years leave of absence from her duties at the Sharbot Lake Medical Centre. She has joined the Nursing Secretariat of the Ontario Ministry of Health where she will responsible for managing new nurse practitioner initiatives in the province.
One initiative that Mary will help manage is a nurse practitioner demonstration project in southern Ontario. Twenty nurse practitioners will be placed in 12 under-serviced communities in Ontario. In five of these communities, which stretch from Windsor to Marmora in southern Ontario, there is no physician. Nurse practitioners in these communities will be paired with doctors in nearby communities. In the remaining seven communities, where there is a shortage of doctors, nurse practitioners will be paired with an available doctor.
Mary was asked to join the nursing secretariat of the Ontario Ministry of Health by the head of that branch, Mary Beth Valentine. Mary Beth heard a presentation given by Dr. Peter Bell and Mary to the Ontario Hospital Association (OHA) on March 5, 2002, in which they talked about the collaboration between nurse practitioners and doctors. Peter and Mary described how the role of nurse practitioner had evolved at the Sharbot Lake Medical Centre. The key, as outlined in their presentation, is collaboration based on the expertise of the nurse practitioner and the doctor.
This Doctor/Nurse Practitioner collaboration will be the key to the success of nurse practitioners in under-serviced communities. One reason Mary was asked to join the nursing secretariat was that she has experience in the successful development of that collaboration and has written and talked about it in a number of presentations.
Mary has been at the Sharbot Lake Medical Centre since October 1998 with only a brief interruption. At that time she started a years residency at the clinic under Dr. Bells supervision. She graduated from the advanced Nurse Practitioners program in October of 1999 and rejoined the Sharbot Lake clinic in February of 2000 as part of the pilot study of primary care reform in Ontario.
In addition to her clinical work at the Centre, Mary has pursued an interest in policy development. She is enrolled, and halfway through, a masters degree program at Queens in public administration with a specialization in health policy. She also is a member of the Nurse Practitioner Advisory Committee to the Ontario Family Health Networks. This committee is making recommendations to the Ministry of Health on funding for nurse practitioners. They expect an announcement soon from the Ministry on the funding for nurse practitioners
I passionately believe that nurse practitioners can improve health care. Id like to be in a position to influence decisions related to how they are employed and funded, says Mary.
Marys leaving will be a big loss to everyone, says Dr. Peter Bell. We already have a replacement -Lynn Jechel - lined up. She has been here for a year on a residency. However, any break is hard for patients, and it will be a difficult period for a while, he continued.
Mary says that she will miss her patients and the whole staff at the clinic. It will be very difficult not to be able to follow women through prenatal work to see them with their new babies.
Mary will have to decide in a year, when her leave of absence ends, whether to return to clinical work or stay in policy development. The pull in both directions is strong and that decision will undoubtedly be a difficult one.
