Fulfillment and Appreciation from Nursing Professionals

Sandra Charron has been active in the healthcare industry for many years. She spent seven years as a postpartum nurse, and is currently working as a Health Links nurse in Manitoba.

She recently began work as an iAccompany family representative as a way to gain more experience and get more out of the profession which has given her so much over the years. 

Through her experience, she was able to meet and accompany Larry, an iAccompany client that used our service to attend his doctor’s appointment with Sandra at his side. 

“It was a chance to spend a lot more time with a patient. Nursing is a very fast paced profession now – it is very task oriented and there isn’t a lot of time to really be with someone,” said Sandra.  “We are nurses, it’s a compassionate profession and that is the experience I was looking for when I signed up with iAccompany.”

As a family representative, iAccompany offers a flexible schedule, where you can pick the days and hours you are available to attend appointments. During the appointment, you have the time to spend one-on-one with the client, which is rare in the current healthcare climate.

“It is a really nice opportunity to just sit and be, and appreciate the experience,” said Sandra. “In nursing right now we’ve gotten away from the whole human aspect of it, and this service really brings that back”.

The responsibilities of the family representative really differentiates iAccompany from other services. They don’t only bring your loved one to and from their appointment, but sit in with the doctor and take notes on what is being discussed.

“I really enjoyed that reporting aspect of the job. I had my opportunity to be with the client and to spend time interacting with them but then this gave me my opportunity to be a nurse. In that environment I got to take notes and really got to do my job – and that aspect just made me feel complete.”

We know the potential for miscommunication is higher when your loved one doesn’t understand what the doctor is saying and can’t or won’t relay that information to you reliably.  We know the frustration that comes from sitting alone in the waiting room being unable to assist or comprehend the discussion that is underway.  That is why we created iAccompany to be your eyes and ears during the meeting between the doctor and your loved one.

When you book an appointment for your loved one at www.iaccompany.ca, you can pose the questions you would like the nurse to ask the doctor on your behalf.  Your concerns will then be brought up during the appointment, and answers will be recorded to augment the detailed report you will receive, post-appointment, via a secure link.

When asked about the reporting process, Sandra explained how it was very easy and straightforward to submit following the appointment. 

“Sitting down and typing out my notes really allowed me to further think about what occurred in the doctor’s office with the client. It really allowed me to put into practice nursing that I hadn’t really had before, I just really enjoyed viewing my profession on a more autonomous level.”

Our service offers nurses something unique – an opportunity to interact more personally with the people you are helping. This is a nice change of pace for many healthcare workers who have been overwhelmed over the last several months. 

“Nursing has become get in, do your job, and get out. This is something where I knew I would be with the person to the venue, in the office, and then back to the person’s residence. During that time you have someone to talk to, to discuss current events or other things, which is comforting – for me and the patient.”

We provide the best for our clients because ours is a service and not an obligation. All of our professionals are there to help, and have your family’s best interest at heart. 

“If you can’t take your loved one to their appointment yourself, you know you have a professional that is taking care of them, a professional who wants to be doing this,” said Sandra. “iAccompany is motivated to provide people with aging parents with a service that puts their family in capable and professional hands. If I was in that situation myself, this is definitely an avenue I would consider.”

We know attending appointments is not always possible if you have a career, family of your own, or geographical barriers. Our promise is to treat your loved one as our loved one, because we have been in your shoes and decided to create this engaging solution.  As Sandra notes, “I’m just glad that iAccompany is out there to offer this service for people, but also for nurses who feel like they need a little extra in their profession.”