Page 13 - 2022-23 UHN Nursing Annual Report

13

New Neurovascular Response
Nurse Role Created for
Time-Sensitive Hyperacute
Stroke Response

With stroke, time is crucial for the brain and
nurses at Toronto Western Hospital (TWH) have
developed the new Neurovascular Response
Nurse (NVRN) role to amplify time-sensitive
hyperacute stroke response.

A team led by Emma Bingham RN, TWH Neurovascular and Neuro Level 2;
Stroke Nurse Practitioner Janice Williams; and Arlene Vasconcelos, Nurse
Manager, TWH Neurovascular Unit received an Advanced Clinical Practice
Fellowship from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario for a proposal
entitled “Time is Brain: Improving Patient Outcomes through Development
of a Code Stroke Response Nurse”.

The team developed and integrated the new Neurovascular Response Nurse
role.This is a significant milestone achievement for nursing at Toronto Western
because it provides increased access to time-sensitive care and improved patient
outcomes for stroke – all in collaboration with the Emergency Department (ED).

The NVRN is a Level 2-trained nurse who acts as a leader and mentor on the
unit, supporting the practice and development of the Neurovascular Unit nurses.
Additionally, the NVRN will now attend to code strokes at Toronto Western,
both In-Hospital and in the ED. “The NVRN will support the post-thrombolytic
monitoring of patients with acute ischemic stroke, and facilitate timely admission
to a Level 2 bed,” says Emma.

The project went live on Aug. 22, 2023. “We are now in the stabilization and
evaluation phase,” says Emma. “We are expecting to see an improvement
in hospital flow and ED offloading, a reduction in time from ED arrival to
thrombolytic administration – a provincial benchmark – and long-term,
through dissemination, an improvement in stroke care across the province.”

Pictured L to R: Arlene Vasconcelos,
Janice Williams and Emma Bingham.