Villa Charities 2018 Annual Report VC19_AnnualReport_Interiors_Apr29_FNL2 | Page 50

“ By participating in this program, the excellent care we already provide at VCT is only going to get better.” villa colombo toronto profi le – Nikki Mann, Director, Resident Services and Project Lead for the BPSO program at VCT Villa Colombo Homes for the Aged Inc. (Villa Colombo Toronto or VCT) has been selected to participate in an exclusive and prestigious international program to enhance the care it provides to seniors. The “Best Practice Spotlight Organizations” (BPSO) program, developed and operated by the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO), has become an international gold standard for quality and efficiency in health care. The process of obtaining the BPSO designation is extremely rigorous: only a handful of long-term care homes worldwide are selected for the evaluation process, and in Ontario fewer than 20 have attained the full designation. Successful candidates must demonstrate that they adhere to best practice guidelines and, to retain their designation in future years, stay current with the guidelines as they evolve. “By participating in this program, the excellent care we already provide at VCT is only going to get better,” says Nikki Mann, Director, Resident Services and Project Lead for the BPSO program at VCT. “Already we are seeing improvements in our processes and more consistency in the delivery of quality care.” 50 VILLA CHARITIES ANNUAL REPORT VCT successfully completed the first year of a three-year evaluation process in 2018, and is well along the path toward full designation. The program includes training, resources, mentorship and consultation from RNAO experts. VCT, in turn, is required to become a mentor and host workshops for other LTC facilities seeking to improve senior care. Mentoring has already been provided to a nursing student from Spain, and VCT will host as many as 10 foreign students in 2019. As part of the designation process, VCT was required to select best practice areas where it could most improve resident care. There were four best practice areas chosen: 1. Assessment and management of pain 2. Preventing and addressing abuse and neglect in the elderly 3. Alternatives to restraints 4. End of life – last days and hours “The BPSO program represents the best of the best in nursing practices,” Mann says. “Success in obtaining designation will place VCT at the elite level of long-term care facilities and we will gain wide recognition as a true centre of excellence for high quality care.” 51