It was an offer I couldn’t refuse. Kelly Ross, a Nurse Practitioner who recently took our Medical Director/AOA course, asked me to help share information she learned with the nurses she oversees. A great idea. And gratifying to all.
It was a pleasure meeting with them, in fact. They were keen and asked a million questions. We talked about various complication scenarios, about public health regulations, about preventing infections in medical aesthetic practices. All good.
“All levels of nurses and healthcare providers could benefit from a session like this with THMA Consulting,” Kelly Ross said in an interview. “We can all benefit from sharing knowledge together.”
The eight attending nurses practice independently throughout Toronto. Of course, they are required by regulation to have a Medical Director (or Authorizer of Ordering Authority) to oversee their practice, help obtain consents and issue directives for the procedures. They enlisted Kelly as their Medical Director/AOA.
It’s a position Kelly Ross takes seriously – as they all should – but she also recognized her need to get a better understanding of the responsibilities and collaboration required in nurse-led practices.
“There really wasn’t any clear direction for Medical Directors and so it’s a challenge to pass on information to the nurses we oversee.”
We heard from physicians and nurse practitioners like Kelly Ross that there was nowhere to go to fill in that ‘knowledge gap’. So, that’s exactly why we set up our course in Medical Director/AOA Role and Responsibilities.
Kelly took the THMA Consulting supplementary course with instructor and fellow NP Jeanine Harrison, describing the training as “a lot of aha moments”.
She used the newfound knowledge to improve her own practice and passed the learning on to her nurses. But Kelly thought it would be even more advantageous to have her nurses hear from an experienced source, to support what she was already sharing while also providing the nurses with a good dose of oversight and information on medical aesthetics.
“Enlisting someone to speak to them like Tracey, who has put her heart and soul into this industry and educating nurses, was empowering and inspiring,” Kelly said.
“Some of them are quite new to injecting and some who have been doing this a long time might not be aware of some of the practice policies and procedures needed to be in accordance with our college of nurses. Simple things like advertising but also how to best manage complications on their own before they enlist my support.”
Kelly also wanted to ensure that her nurses have continuing education on products, procedures and any of the new issues and trends in medical aesthetics. The College of Nurses in Ontario expects self-regulated nurses to keep learning, to keep expanding our knowledge and skills.
The underlying importance of this education session – as in all medical aesthetics training – is patient safety. We follow the rules and regulations set out by the College in order to care of our patients, and make sure they are treated in a safe and comfortable environment.
“Ultimately, this evening with Tracey not only benefits the nurses it also benefits the patients,” Kelly said.
“We are giving our patients the best care, with the most up-to-date knowledge, making sure we can mange complications that might come up, informing them of all risks, the benefits and the alternative with all treatments and care.”