Congratulations for providing exceptional palliative care!

FNHA Community Health Nurses Lacey Woloshyn and Jessica Hardwicke are part of a group of health professionals in Northern B.C. that will receive the Frances Montgomery Compassionate Communities Caregiver Award.

The winning team is composed of our FNHA nurses, homecare nurses in Port Simpson, physicians on the palliative care team in Prince George, nurse practitioner Shirley Nixon, as well as the family of the community member that passed away.

"We were all surprised and grateful to win the award. The recognition means so much," said Lacey Woloshyn.

The Frances Montgomery Award honours individuals who demonstrate an empathetic approach to healthcare. This award recognizes community caregivers that provide support for people who are in their final stages of life. The award also celebrates individuals who go above and beyond in supporting people who are experiencing bereavement. Life and Death Matters, a palliative care education program for support workers, create and sponsor this award.

As nurses based in the community, Lacey and Jessica often work so closely with families – providing daily palliative care visits – that they are invited to join the funeral services of their patients.

Recently, when a community member passed away, the nurses along with the whole the team went above and beyond to support the family and community member by providing homecare support for the family until further support arrived. It was for this reason that the team was selected for the Compassionate Caregiver Award.

As award winners, the group will receive $500 to further develop their palliative care skills. They will decide together how to best use these funds to improve palliative care services for their patients in northern BC.

Sandra Stanley, Northern Health Palliative Nurse Consultant, mentored and worked with Lacey and Jessica in palliative care services and she nominated them for this award.