Alain is the project site lead for the Ď㽶ĘÓƵ Health Centre. He has been instrumental in adding this institution to the partnership and in facilitating their engagement in the research study. Our Project Administrator Anna Adjemian spoke with him about his involvement in the project and why he feels passionate about implementing SBNH and SBNH Leadership at the MUHC.
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Anna Adjemian: Please give us a short background/summary of who you are and what you do professionally.
Alain Biron:ĚýI am the Associate Director of Nursing at the Ď㽶ĘÓƵ Health Centre. I am responsible for clinical practice within the hospital, and also for research, and staffing. I spent seven years as an Assistant to the Director of Quality, then five years as an Associate Director of Nursing. I’ve been associated with Ď㽶ĘÓƵ for a long time. I did my undergrad and my PhD at McGill, and my Master’s at l’UniversitĂ© de MontrĂ©al. I also did a fellowship after my PhD on quality improvement. I had the opportunity to study a few organizations across North America that performed well at using data to improve care.
I’ve worked in Montreal all my life. I started at the Jewish General Hospital as a nurse in neurosurgery and cardiac surgery, and worked there for three years. I decided to do my Masters, and I went to community nursing and worked in a CLSC for a number of years. My first job after I completed my Masters was as an infection control nurse. I did that for one year, then went back to the CLSC and worked an interim position in management. Then I went to teaching. Teaching has been a part of my professional life all along, at the undergraduate and graduate levels at McGill. In 2009 I completed my PhD, and then I came to work here at the MUHC.
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Why did you get involved with this project?
I came on board at the beginning, during the grant application. I’ve been working very closely with [Co-Investigator] Mélanie Lavoie-Tremblay for years and years, since 2010, I think. I had never worked with Laurie Gottlieb before.
I work from the question: how do you lead an institution in a Strengths-Based way? I want to influence. There are all kinds of leaders, but there’s a chance to influence the next generation, to express our vision of leadership. We model. We put words to how we want our leadership to look. This leadership style is people-oriented. You’re moved to care for people – the nurses, everybody on the team – for who they are as an individual, with respect, recognizing their uniqueness. If you don’t feel valued, your contributions aren’t valued, if we don’t work with you to develop as a professional, why would you stay here? A lot of people’s practice is aligned with the [SBNH] model, and we have to nurture this – and say yes, go, you’re doing a good job. You’re not wrong, you’re not strange. To legitimize – not just the approach, but a way of being.
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What does Strengths-Based Nursing and Healthcare mean to you?
It brings back the essence of nursing. It’s so important, because it gives an identity. In today’s healthcare you have to be clear about your role within the system, at all levels, whether you’re in clinical practice or in management. I’m convinced that SBNH brings us to the core component of who we are and the true impact that we have: the role of a nurse, and the Strengths-Based approach. You believe in people, when you’re in management, and as you get older your responsibility is to impact the next generation. I think there’s a perfect fit between SBNH and leadership, and that philosophy of preparing the next generation. And that links, that ripples through this project, because we’re going to have 24 of our upcoming leaders have the opportunity to develop the skillsets and learn about the philosophy of SBNH. It’s a core responsibility as a manager to make sure that the person who is going to be replacing you is well prepared.
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What does this project mean to you/what do you hope to see come out of your work on this project?
Lasting effects. People are going to learn things, gain tools, how to approach new situations… that component is the principal outcome that we are expecting of them: to develop the skills and competencies of leaders. But above this, it’s another step in bringing SBNH into our area, in changing the culture. There is a sense of putting the pieces together that lead you to a vision of where you want to bring the organization. The importance of people – the value of a human being, the clinician, the nurse – really all the values [of SBNH], applied systematically, would make a huge difference. If we were to apply [SBNH]Ěýto the letter, it would transform healthcare. I’m a very pragmatic person, I know it’s step by step that we will get there, but we need to be active. That’s why I want to be part of the project.
Applying it to today’s context, the first word that comes to mind is resilience. The full dimensional values of SBNH will be so important in the recovery phase. We need to be going back to the essence of the person. It’s not “post-COVID” now, but the sense of urgency is not the same, and hopefully it will stay more or less this way. Now how do we cope with this, move into that recovery period? We go back to the fundamentals. How are we going to be supporting our nurses? What are going to be our priorities for the clinical practice? How can SBNH inform this? It helps us deal with the moment, but also plan for the future.
I would like to say thank you to each person for being part of this project. Everybody is so dedicated. Laurie could have retired, but she’s still at it! The drive she has to do good is incredible.