A Nurse Who’s Breaking New Ground!
In each issue of our newsletter we feature a CIUSSS staff member. This month, we’d like to introduce you to nurse Louise Vendette. Over the years, she has developed a particular connection with dolls … therapeutic baby dolls!
Ms. Vendette, you are a long-time nurse at Ste. Anne’s Hospital. Can you tell us about your academic and professional background?
“I earned my college diploma (DEC) in nursing at Collège Bois-de-Boulogne in 1993. Before that, from 1981 to 1983, I had taken the nursing assistant training program at École Pierre Dupuy in Montréal. In fact, it was in 1983 that I first worked in the healthcare network when I started my career as a beneficiary attendant working with veterans at Ste. Anne’s Hospital. For several years, I worked as a nursing assistant at a number of long-term residential care centres at the Hôpital du Sacré-Cœur-de-Montréal at the Hôpital Santa-Cabrini.
Since 1993, when I became a licensed nurse, I have been the assistant head day nurse and then head nurse on the night shift at Ste. Anne’s Hospital. In 2023, I will have been in the health and social services network for 40 years—30 years as a nurse and 10 years as a beneficiary attendant and nursing assistant.
I first retired in 2018 and then came back to Ste. Anne’s Hospital in May 2020 at the start of the pandemic, to work seven night shifts every 15 days.”
What drives you to always want to take care of others?
“That goes way back! When I was four years old, I was helping an older neighbour, who had a physical disability, to cross the street. I’ve always had a very humanitarian side. Helping others and trying to understand their situation has always been an innate part of who I am. And after all these years, that’s still what drives me.
I hope to work with the residents at Ste. Anne’s Hospital for another five years and complete 45 years of service in the healthcare network.”
What is a typical evening like on a residential unit in terms of your duties?
“To start, at Ste. Anne’s Hospital the care team on a residential unit with 33 residents consists of two nurses and three beneficiary attendants in the evenings. We work as a team to support our seniors and to best meet their individual needs. We take a resident-centred approach to meet their needs, provide their medication, their dinner, and to monitor their well-being. Several times per shift we visit all the rooms on the unit to ensure that our residents are comfortable.”
You have introduced a very special therapeutic activity at Ste. Anne’s Hospital. Can you tell us about it and where the idea came from?
“I’d like to start with a bit of background. In the early ’90s, I learned about doll therapy, which was used in Europe and the United States with certain seniors. A number of years later, in 2013, I decided to make such a doll for my mother, who was dealing with bouts of depression. When she was a child, she had collected dolls so I thought this might be something that could bring her a kind of comfort.
I saw what a difference this therapeutic approach made for my mother, and I shared that with Lorraine LaFrance, a nurse clinician who was then working at Ste. Anne’s Hospital. We did some clinical research on the topic as we looked at the possibility of implementing this non-pharmacological approach. We were satisfied with what we found and then developed a pilot project on one residential unit with carefully selected residents. This approach quickly garnered positive reviews.
I gradually started to train a number of staff members who work with the residents, including social workers, special education technicians, recreation technicians, and beneficiary attendants. Today there is a therapeutic doll on just about every residential unit at Ste. Anne’s Hospital.”
Who is this clinical approach intended for and how is it implemented?
“A therapeutic doll is a complementary care approach like zootherapy, music therapy, aromatherapy, play therapy or even mechanical therapy cats. It’s an approach intended for seniors with decreased autonomy, who are agitated, or who have a cognitive loss resulting from dementia or Alzheimer’s disease and who are living in CHSLDs.
When selecting participants, we look at their Folstein or Mini-Mental test results. This test is used to screen for and monitor dementia, and allows us to assess various faculties including attention span and arithmetic, temporal and spatial orientation, memory, and more. We also look for the level of affection candidates show for babies and children.
Doll therapy sessions can take place in a group or on an individual basis, but always with a staff member who has been trained. The sessions last 20 to 30 minutes, depending on the residential unit or Recreation Department staff available.”
How does this approach benefit the participants?
“Doll therapy is a calm and gentle activity that helps to reduce anxiety, reduce isolation, and lessen periods of insomnia. It also stimulates affective memory through touch, sight, and smell. It brings back the senior’s memories and feelings, which encourages verbal communication. The doll gives the seniors joy, comfort, and company. It is also a very useful tool for the care team and informal caregivers.”
Ms. Vendette also shared a little bit about her personal life.
Can you tell us a little about you and your family?
“I am the proud mother of two adult children. My daughter Sarah is 33 years old and my son Sacha is now 26. He recently shared some wonderful news with me: He and his partner are expecting a baby in April 2023. So I will be a grandmother for the first time, and I am absolutely delighted!”
Do you have a hidden talent?
“I know a great deal about Iran. I speak Persian, and I love to cook Iranian food.”