Welcoming Learners to Grand River Hospital

On January 30^th 2023, the Professional Practice team in collaboration with the Grand River Hospital (GRH) Foundation hosted a virtual, learner-preceptor, welcome event. Over 45 Learners and 20 Preceptors attended the event. The event welcomes our new and returning learners and recognizes preceptors for their mentorship and coaching. Staff from across the organization participated by welcoming, providing information and answering questions.

Learners and preceptors heard from:

• Ron Gagnon, CEO & President
• Paul McIntyre Royston, CEO and President of the Foundation
• Victoria Crowder-Bansen Director, Professional Practice,
• Katie Harder, Professional Practice OT Lead
• Sherri Lamothe, Education Practice Lead, IP Mental Health
• Kelly Kuehl and Karen Petznick, Foundation Volunteer Coordinators
• Julie Webster-Rogers, Transformation Specialist, Talent Acquisition, and Lina Corda, Nurse Recruitment Specialist, Human Resources
• Kim Trinh , Clinical Extern Coordinator
• Kristina Vieth and Lindsay Femiak, Professional Practice Advisors

Being in healthcare is not always easy, as a reminder to ourselves and as a way to connect back to our reasoning for working at GRH, participants were asked to think about their ‘whys’ and their connection to it. Participants were asked to reflect on why they choose to complete placements at GRH and why they choose this particular career path. For those who were comfortable, these whys were shared with the group:

“I chose to be a preceptor, because I was also once a student eager for new learning experiences. I find that having a student working along side me, keeps me sharp with my social work skills, promotes reflection, and that both the student and myself are learning from each other. I find it very rewarding to be able to collaborate with students with reviewing varying interventions, assessment tools, and best practices. I also consider it to be a great way to support GRH in recruiting new hires, as students have had the ultimate interview and vetting process and it simplifies the onboarding process as they transition from student to employee.” – L. Trace, MSW

“I chose to learn at GRH for my last semester because I have felt more supported here as a learner than at any other hospital, and I want to work at GRH when I graduate. Everyone has been so kind and open to helping me learn, and this means so much to me as a student. I really love it here!” – H. Giroux, Nursing Student

Learner-Preceptor pairs given the opportunity to participate in a pinning ceremony. Pinning is a way to identify members of the learning community. This makes preceptors and learners at GRH easily identifiable as a safe place for Learners to connect, ask questions and feel supported. The pinning ceremony demonstrates how we live our value of Welcome One to Welcome All and signifies that you are very much a part of our GRH community and family.

To encourage learners and preceptors to participate in the pinning ceremony, learners were asked to pin their preceptor with their school pin and preceptors pinned learners with a GRH Lotus pin.

Professional Practice is grateful for everyone who assisted in making this event possible. Learners are the future of healthcare and our preceptors are the individuals who help make this future possible. We are so appreciative to all of you that continue to volunteer your time to teach our Learners and future colleagues. Please take a moment to thank and recognize these GRH team members and if you see a GRH Learner, give them a warm welcome!