March 4, 2020
Third-year nursing student Claire Duong, right, recently shadowed Nurse Practitioner Margaret Prociuk who showed her what her day is like at the multiple sclerosis clinic at the Kaye Edmonton Clinic. Duong was able to observe how Prociuk interacts with her patients and how members of the clinic’s multi-disciplinary team work together. It was all part of Job Shadow Week, held Feb. 17-20 this year, which welcomed students from across the province to spend a day with AHS nurses, paramedics, social workers and more.
Story and photo by Vanessa Gomez
EDMONTON — Reading week is often a time students take to relax and unwind from the stresses of university. Some students, however, recently took the opportunity to try on the shoes of their potential future profession with Alberta Health Services (AHS) during Job Shadow Week.
While the annual Job Shadow Week is an initiative of the University of Alberta — this year’s event ran Feb. 17-20 — AHS participates as a host for those students interested in healthcare.
In fact, students from across the province are welcome to apply to Alberta Health Services (AHS) for a job-shadow experience throughout the year, for the opportunity to observe an AHS employee within their role and scope of practice.
It’s viewed as an important step in the AHS Student Engagement process to encourage students — who are able to shadow nurses, paramedics, social workers and more — to consider a career with AHS.
Claire Duong, a third-year nursing student at the University of Alberta, enjoyed the opportunity to spend a day shadowing Margaret Prociuk, a nurse practitioner in the multiple sclerosis clinic at the Kaye Edmonton Clinic.
“It was good to see what Margaret does and how her day goes,” says Duong. “I got to see how she interacts with her patients and the trustful relationships she builds with them.”
Prociuk’s advanced scope of practice — with a master’s in nursing — allows her to assess, diagnose, treat and prescribe. Her days consist of managing her own patient panel, seeing patients who have relapsed and coordinating education opportunities as nursing and medicine advances in the field of multiple sclerosis.
“We bring the medical model to patient care with a nursing perspective,” says Prociuk. “This role helps deal with the complexities seen in some patients, such as homecare and managing rehab. It’s a good blend of science and nursing care.”
Duong’s day with Prociuk also included shadowing a physician with a new diagnosis, learning the new disease process of multiple sclerosis and meeting with patients.
“As a student, you learn the skills you have to learn, but we aren’t exposed to the different dimensions or types of nursing,” adds Duong. “Having these opportunities to job shadow broadens your horizons.”
Prociuk adds: “When I graduated from nursing school in 1986, there was no opportunity to job shadow — you went to work on the unit right away.
“But it’s so important to show the different dimensions of healthcare — and that there are so many different roles required to build that multidisciplinary team. Everyone has a role somewhere.”
Prociuk hopes to continue mentoring — and get more staff involved to highlight the work of her team — to inspire more students who are working towards a career in healthcare.
