What really sets us apart as an employer is our support for nurses and allied health professionals. In addition to an extensive orientation and mentorships program for new employees, we have a weekly nursing education series, monthly Heart Centre Nursing Rounds, and an annual cardiovascular education day. We support 25-30 nurses each year to attend the Canadian Cardiovascular Congress, where many of our nurses present papers and posters at the CCCN meeting. We also offer financial support to nurses to obtain CNA specialty certification in CV nursing.

Clinical support includes Clinical Nurse Leaders in each unit, as well as Nurse Educators (4) and Clinical Nurse Specialists (4), and, most recently, Nurse Practitioners.  To assist in professional development, we have developed Nursing Competency statements for each of the areas within the Heart Centre, and each nurse receives a booklet of these to track his/her own learning and growth. We also offer fully funded critical care training.

Each area is lead by an Operations Leader, all of whom have nursing backgrounds. Each unit has a Care Team, and St. Paul’s Hospital also has a Nursing Council with reps from each clinical area.

Our impressive patient outcomes, high patient satisfaction, and low staff turnover are the result of our true commitment to creating and sustaining a “quality practice environment.”