As you are all aware, I have taken my role as patient advocate for medication safety very seriously since we found out the cause of Andrew’s death. It has ignited a passion in me that I didn’t even know was there. I have said before that I never knew that I had the ability to speak in front of hundreds of people, let alone, share the trauma and the tragedy that has happened in our family. This journey is always surprising me.
Today I am excited to share with you that in September 2019, I will be working, on a part time basis, as a consultant to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada (ISMP). They have hired me as a Patient and Family advisor – a first (but hopefully not last) type of position for the organization. Patient voice is invaluable when making systemic decisions and effecting change; I have seen this first hand with the error reporting programs that I have been helping with in the past two and half years.
I am very excited for this new venture in the fall. I will be teaching part time as well, so will definitely have a full workload! I am grateful to ISMP for this opportunity and will work hard to continue to increase patient safety through medication safety.