Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing supports teaching partners

At DCSN we are looking at every possible way we can help support our educational partners during this crisis. 

20 Beds going to help Ambulatory Centre to take overnight patients 

Women’s College Hospital (external link)  (WCH) is very thankful that the Ryerson University Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing (DCSN) is lending them 20 hospital beds. These beds will be used by Women’s College Hospital immediately and through to the end of the summer, making additional hospital space available for overnight care throughout the spring and summer. 

“This is significant for us because we are normally set up as an ambulatory hospital, we aren’t an overnight facility, so these beds will help us to take pressure off of our acute care facilities in Toronto,” said Jennifer Price, Chief Nursing and Professional Practice Executive at Women’s College Hospital. “We wouldn’t be able to expand our services in this way without our good friends at Ryerson as any commercially available beds have a long waiting list, and these are available now. When we found out how long it would take to get them I reached out to Dr. Nancy Walton [Director and Associate Professor at the DCSN]. She and her team were very receptive and supportive of our needs.”  

“We are glad to be able to help out at this very difficult time, even in a small way. As nurses, we need to be thinking about how we can best work together and make whatever contributions we can to our partners and colleagues. Our clinical partners are critical to our students’ success across all our programs and are there for us throughout the year. We need to be there for them when they need us now.” states Walton.

WCH would like to thank DCSN for their partnership and assistance providing 20 beds to help the hospital increase its capacity to care for patients during this public health emergency.

Making a difference with partners

The DCSN has also been active in trying to help it’s teaching partners and the Toronto hospital network with their unique needs during the current crisis. “Donations of PPE have also gone to St Michael's Hospital (external link)  and to the Scarborough Health network-Rogue-Valley (external link) , As a school, we have worked to inventory and collect supplies for donating on behalf of the DCSN.” said Walton. Working both in-person and remotely, a full inventory was carried out by Susana Neves-Silva, manager of labs and placements, and her team to ensure that all needed supplies were accounted for and donated. 

“Working with our teaching partners and our students, I know just how hard our partners work to help us get our students ready for the real world of nursing. Everyone came together on this. We had personal protective equipment (PPE) that we use for teaching purposes, but since our labs are closed, this was an immediate way we could make a difference,” said Neves-Silva.

Ryerson University places a priority on community relationships. This story, in particular, received a high level of interaction and positive sentiment. Together, we will continue to find our way through this situation with our community partners. We know that many people may be wondering how to give back at this time, and, are also very supportive of those who have.     

For those who have PPE, or other relevant, materials and are wondering how they can help the Ontario Government has set up this site to help collect and distribute materials:

https://www.ontario.ca/page/how-your-organization-can-help-fight-coronavirus (external link)