Heather Latter
Patti-Jo LeDrew, a registered nurse with the Fort Frances Family Health Team, has received the 2014 Outstanding Health Professional Award from the Canadian Diabetes Association.
“I think it’s a wonderful, wonderful accolade,” she enthused.
“The Canadian Diabetes Association is a huge organization that promotes prevention and health promotion for diabetes, and to be recognized as an outstanding provider is a wonderful honour.”
The award is in recognition of LeDrew’s tireless work in Fort Frances to promote diabetes awareness through the Chronic Disease Program, as well as the success she has helped achieve in reducing wound-related hospital admissions and amputations in the area.
LeDrew is the Chronic Disease Management Nurse, who began her role with the Family Health Team seven years ago.
“I came with some wound care knowledge and disease background with nursing,” she explained.
“We started a wound care program and it really was the net that held our chronic disease program together.”
LeDrew said they offer a holistic approach there—not only dealing with diabetes, but also other chronic diseases.
“At the time, my focus was reaching out to the network and getting a partnership with the services that are already existing so we aren’t duplicating service,” she noted.
Instead, they worked to enhance the services so that those with diabetes and the chronic disease population don’t fall through the cracks.
“Especially at a time of doctor shortages, we want to make sure our patients have access to a qualified health-care professional,” LeDrew stressed.
She said they partnered with the Fort Frances Tribal Area Health Services and Riverside Health Care Facilities, Inc.
LeDrew specifically mentioned working with Joanne Ogden, formerly of Tribal Area Health Services, and Dee O’Sullivan-Drombolis at Riverside.
“I got a lot of nursing knowledge from [Joanne],” LeDrew said, noting she and O’Sullivan-Drombolis also made a very good team.
“We just brought a lot of wound care knowledge and assessment skills to the community so that these wounds were recognized more,” she explained.
“Within our programming at the clinic, we started doing lower leg assessments for our diabetic population.
“We started recognizing there [were] wounds and the people that required referrals to Winnipeg for vascular—referrals that may not have been caught quickly—were caught,” she added.
“So we were able to save a lot of amputations.
“And we did that across the board, not just the Family Health Team but it became very integrated with the Tribal Health Authority and with Riverside,” LeDrew said.
“So we all worked on the same field together.”
LeDrew noted they are very busy at the Family Health Team, seeing up to 300 wound care patients a month.
“So, obviously, we are saving a lot of people who would be frequenting emergency,” she remarked.
“And we’re able to make sure these patients receive the proper assessment of the wound and what needs to be addressed on the wound, whether it’s infection or proper dressings, that sort of thing.”
They also look at other chronic disease management, whether it’s their blood sugars, smoking cessation, or hypertensions issues.
“So we’re dealing with a holistic picture,” she stressed.
In addition, with the diabetes portion of LeDrew’s work, they have tried to work closely with the Valley Diabetes Education Centre, in particular Cindy Gauthier and Trisha Wood.
“We have worked in a wonderful partnership with them to meet to needs of the diabetic population just by doing more integrated health care and collaboration between agencies,” she noted.
As such, LeDrew doesn’t is reticent to accept her award from the Canadian Diabetes Association alone.
“I feel like it is a real team approach,” she explained. “We have wonderful RPNs working within our Family Health Team, as well as two nurse practitioners.
“We’ve made a really good team and that is what has been the success for our patients.”
LeDrew was nominated by Amanda Meeks and Marlyss Thiessen, her peers at the Family Health Team.
“With the health professionals, we all really inherently try to make sure the needs of our patients are met, and to be recognized for our work at the kind of level by that prestigious organization, it’s really a wonderful feather in our cap,” LeDrew said.
“And I wish that for more of our nursing community because they do provide so much,” she added, citing the accolade came at a fitting time as she is transiting over to a RN position at Rainycrest.
“I’m really going to miss the Family Health Team,” LeDrew said. “I’ve loved my role here.”
Having started at Rainycrest, LeDrew looks forward to bringing her wound care skills back there.
“I just love being a nurse—any aspect of it, and I just really believe in the holistic approach to nursing that every aspect of the patient is recognized on an individual basis,” she remarked.
LeDrew was not able to attend the formal ceremony in Thunder Bay last Monday, but she has been speaking with the Canadian Diabetes Association and it is hoping to send someone to present the award to her here next week.
In a letter to LeDrew, the organization thanked her for helping people with diabetes live healthier lives through proper management of their condition.
“Without you, we would not be able to lead the fight against diabetes and we thank you for being a true diabetes champion,” wrote regional chair Stacey Livitski.
“The award is nice, but the actual reward is working with my patients and watching them excel in their health needs and self-management of their disease,” LeDrew said.
