Spotlight: Wendy A. Chicoine, Associate Vice President of Clinical Operations and Clinical Education, Providence Community Health Centers

  • 08 Oct 2021

This month, CTC-RI interviewed Wendy A. Chicoine, MSN, RN, PHNA, Associate Vice President of Clinical Operations and Clinical Education at Providence Community Health Centers. Wendy was recently honored by RI Monthly as the state's 2021 Community/Public Health Nurse of the Year for their "Excellence in Nursing" awards. We asked Wendy about her important work, but you can read her RI Monthly award interview here.

 

As primary care continues to transform, how has your work transformed in recent years to better support RI patients?

Healthcare transformation is needed if we are to meet the Triple/Quadruple Aim. At Providence Community Health Centers, we have worked to utilize each member of the care team to the fullest extent of their education. One example is the use of standing orders, which supports a team-based care approach. This moves us one step closer to improving patient health outcomes. 

As a nurse, what has been your greatest challenge working through this pandemic?

I feel one of the biggest challenges, especially in the very beginning, was keeping up with the frequent changes. I know many of my colleagues in healthcare can relate to this. Although the pandemic has created many challenges, it has also highlighted one of our greatest strengths: adaptability. In many ways, the pandemic has brought out the best in healthcare workers everywhere.

What best practices have you discovered and implemented throughout collaboration with other care team members, nurses, or practices?

A few years ago, we implemented monthly team meetings. During these meetings, our care teams have time to review their dashboard and identify a team-based quality improvement project. It is a mutually agreed-upon project that works to improve a quality measure or workflow. This allows the care teams to participate in the PDSA process with the goal of identifying a best practice that could be used organizationally.