Fran Stanutz Presented the 2017 Lois Fairley Nursing Award
Nurses make outstanding contributions to the health of Windsor-Essex residents every single day. To recognize their efforts, the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)’s Windsor-Essex chapter is proud to present the 2017 Lois Fairley Nursing Award to one exceptional nurse – and the award is presented to… Fran Stanutz.
I would like to share with you a little more about our award recipient based on some of the highlights of her nomination and accomplishments.
Françoise Stanutz graduated from Hotel Dieu School of Nursing in 1968.
Françoise’s first job was at IODE Hospital in Intensive Care, where she worked for one year and obtained her visa and to work at Lakeside Hospital in Detroit in the area of general nursing.
Françoise then worked at Detroit Osteopathic Hospital as head nurse on an oncology floor. This is where Françoise really learned about oncology and palliative care. Those were the days where they mixed chemotherapy in the clean utility room. She continued to work there for 5 years. Françoise has practiced at Detroit Medical Center in the area of Radiation Oncology. Françoise notes this was a very rewarding position. The nursing staff was able to see patients throughout their therapy sometimes up to 5-6 weeks. A special memory Francoise recalls is when one of their patients had completed her radiation for about three months when she arrived in her department with doughnuts with pink icing as she had breast cancer and to celebrate a negative bone scan in addition to thanking them. Françoise worked in this department for a few years then was transferred to bone marrow transplant floor; Which was very intensive nursing. She worked on this unit for quite awhile.
Françoise’s husband was then transferred to Barrie and she stayed behind for three months until they sold their house. This was an emotional time as Françoise was sad as we were living in the house that my in laws had lived in. My Mother in law saw her crying one day and she asked what was wrong and she told her that she felt bad they were selling her house. She told Françoise a house is a house you can always make another house your home. Her mother in law offered such good advice and Françoise realized she was right The last day that Françoise worked on the bone marrow unit she did a 12 hour night shift. They did primary nursing and she was taking care of one of her patients they were talking and he knew she was sad about leaving. He looked at her and said “I wish I could be in your shoes right now”. That was a reality check just to show Françoise life goes on and enjoy every day. She worked in Michigan for 18 years before setting off to Barrie.
So off she went to Barrie not knowing anyone or having a job. Françoise wanted to work at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto but Toronto was farther then she thought so she finally found a job working for a private nursing agency which eventually became Bayshore Home Health. Françoise worked there for 20 years as a nursing manager.
Françoise also consulted and went to other branches to act as Area Director or help problem solve. Being bilingual she had an opportunity to spend 2 months in Ottawa and other branches. In 2006 she received an award from Bayshore the “Individual Leadership Award for Clinical Excellence “It was a very proud moment for Françoise.
While Françoise was away on one of her trips the office decided that she should write the Canadian Nurses Association certification exam for Hospice Palliative Care. She was anxious about doing that since she had not written an exam in a long time. Well she did and she passed!
How she arrived back in Windsor, you may be wondering. The Hospice Residential Home was built and Bayshore received the contract for staffing the home with nurses and personal support workers.
Françoise’s role as manager meant she was responsible to manage the staff in the home and even fill in when they were short staffed. She worked many 12 hour shifts there and always felt like there was an angel on her shoulder when caring for patients and their families. Françoise acknowledges how this was a very rewarding experience; being able to make a difference in someone’s life. Two years after the residence had opened Françoise was offered a job at Hospice as Nurse Educator. After serious consideration she accepted the job. She notes “It was and is so fulfilling going to patient’s homes to do a nursing visit or accompany a palliative physician. She even had the opportunity to take care of two co workers who worked at the residence who allowed her into their journey. That a privilege that was she will never forget.
After a few years an opportunity arose for Françoise to apply for the position as Palliative Care Coordinator. In this role one of her responsibilities is to review and prioritize referrals. She was also responsible for scheduling the palliative Physicians and Nurse Educators to do home visits. She always wants to see the new referrals as soon as possible. If one of the nurse educators was not able to work Françoise would go out with the physician to ensure that the patient and families were seen in a timely manner. In this role she realized how valuable the volunteers are; so she requested volunteers to be trained Monday through Friday from 200 PM to 500PM to help with faxing and verifying that the pharmacies have received prescriptions required. The volunteers Hospice has in this role are fantastic they love to come to the clinical area and help. For doing this she received Staff Recognition Award “working Effectively With Volunteers”. That was such a surprise but having the volunteers in her department has made a significant positive impact.
Hospice of Windsor and Essex County had Reflective Practice meetings and from that the group developed power points on Conflict Resolution and Therapeutic Boundaries in Palliative Care. Hospice Palliative Care Ontario was calling for oral papers and the Therapeutic Boundary topic was accepted. Françoise presented it at the conference and this lead to additional opportunities to present the topic to other Hospices and it has been added to their volunteer training.
Last February Françoise had back surgery which was successful. RNAO sent a request for nurses to share their hospital experience and with much editing it was published in the RNAO magazine.
Françoise also participates on the education committee at Hospice and one of our initiatives this year was to put a program together to train Nurses and Personal Support workers in Long Term Care Facilities on Palliative Care. A team from Hospice has presented this several times my topic was pain and symptom management as well as Therapeutic Boundaries and Conflict resolution.
Françoise have also been involved with the Face to Face campaign at Hospice in collecting money for our transportation program. She knows how important this is to our patients and families. They currently have 3 vans we use for transportation.
Hospice has many learners; a resident every month, a Fellow (who has completed their residency) twice a year for 2 months and a nursing student twice a year. Françoise’s entire team is involved with mentoring and coaching. After our students have completed their rotation they are pleasantly surprised at how much they have learned about Palliative Care and that it is nothing to be afraid of.
The extraordinary things are that Françoise jumps in and does what’s best for patients and their families and does it fast!
The award – named after the late local nurse, mentor, and advocate for the profession – honours a Windsor-Essex nurse who has demonstrated a commitment to serving the community through excellence in patient care.
“We are proud to recognize Françoise Stanutz as our 2017 Lois Fairley Community Service Award. She exemplifies the true meaning and spirit of Lois Fairley which includes leadership, advocacy, professionalism and compassion in the Nursing profession. We are delighted to partner with the Fairley Family for the past 10 years to recognize and thank one nurse in our community who has gone “above and beyond” by giving back to the profession, our community and their patients” says Crystal Hepburn, president of RNAO’s Windsor-Essex chapter. “It also allows us to honour the legacy of Lois Fairley, who had an immeasurable impact on so many lives in Windsor-Essex.”
The Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario is the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners and nursing students in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses’ contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve. For more information about RNAO, visit their website.
