When BCCPC team member Sue Bartnik introduces herself, you get a unique snapshot of her whole self: what she’s learned, what she’s unlearned, and a sense of the gentle healer and teacher that she’s become in her professional life. She begins,
“I’m a white settler of Polish ancestry. I’m a sister, an aunt, a mom and a partner. I came into nursing as a result of my dad being diagnosed with brain cancer and passing away. I wanted to learn more about how to support people through that time, based on my own experience of feeling quite helpless.”
In her career, one of Sue’s benchmark professional experiences came from joining the First Nations Health Authority. In this culturally based work – which combined advance care planning, palliative support and Indigenous traditional and cultural knowledge, practice and ceremony – Sue collaborated with Elders and cultural support workers.
“It was a time of learning and unlearning, especially regarding the First Nations’ worldviews and perspectives on journeying to the Spirit World. It was a chance to share in both Western and traditional knowledge.”
Getting here
While cancer care nursing in Ontario, Sue’s desire to learn more about alternative therapies, especially energy healing — along with the mountains, cedars and ocean — brought her to BC. Once on the West Coast, she began to lay down roots, first at the BC Cancer Agency providing nursing care in inpatient, Ambulatory Care and Radiation Therapy settings; then in end-of-life care with the team at Fraser Health, working as a project coordinator, Hospice Patient Care Coordinator, Team Manager of the Provincial After Hours Palliative Nursing Telephone service and Medical Assistance in Dying coordinator.
Joining BCCPC
Sue joined the Centre in the Spring, and we are already benefiting from her skills, experience and worldview.
So far, Sue has been instrumental in updating some of our Symptom Management Guidelines (the new Pain Guideline is launched this Fall), she flexed her educator muscles by co-facilitating the Flexing Your Core program (and building more interdisciplinary/collaborative presentations into the course offerings), and she is co-leading a new project bringing together interest holders from across the province on how we can improve the experience for those who experience deaths at home and their families (more info will be shared in CentrePoint as the project gets running).
A keystone project under Sue’s leadership is bringing together clinical and operational leaders to create recommendations for inpatient palliative care units (PCUs).
Working with existing PCUs in BC and taking a scan of best practices for PCUs offering similar care from select sites across Canada, the project is seeking to understand what’s needed to provide palliative care, taking into account the challenges and nuances faced in BC communities.,
The aim is to create recommendations that are helpful to health authorities and communities who wish to establish a PCU, and that will provide a framework allowing them to focus on the highest priorities.
According to Sue, this is where relationship building is vital: “I’m learning and unlearning again! It’s crucial to really listen and not assume anything.”
“Through our consultations and environmental scan, we are learning what providing complex palliative care looks like in various locations and drawing from the expertise of the teams providing that care. We are seeing that in addition to the medical interventions provided, the role of the multi-disciplinary team and volunteers provide key supports, and the space design itself is medicine for the people receiving care and their families. Ultimately, we are looking at how we can be more holistic in delivering this care.”
Secrets to success
When asked about her definition of success, Sue goes beyond the ambitions she has for the projects she’s involved in to make a positive change for people in BC. She also speaks to contributing to building the Centre’s role as a trusted partner and collaborator – especially with the province’s health authorities.
“The Centre is involved in so many varied and interesting projects, it’s humbling to be part of building its programs and participating in collaborating towards providing excellence in palliative care. In many ways, I feel like I still new and I’m finding my place.”
“It’s intellectually focused, compassionate and demanding work; and I’m encouraged to find projects that speak to my passions, so who knows what will come next!”
Through consultations, we are drawing on expertise, and learning what providing care looks like, how a multi-disciplinary team enhances care, and the importance of the space design itself. Ultimately, we are looking at how to be more holistic in delivering this care.
