Our Interdisciplinary Medical Team
The patient is at the heart of everything!
La Maison de la Sérénité relies on a high-quality, interdisciplinary team to ensure the proper provision of care and services. This team's cohesion is essential to encourage patients and their loved ones to express and meet their needs while respecting their intimacy and independence. Patients and their loved ones are at the heart of our actions, and their well-being is our priority.
Interdisciplinary team meetings occur each week to improve the quality of care and solve possible problems.
Registered nurses: 12
Licensed practitical nurses: 9
P.A.B.’s: 8
Nursing care coordinator: 1
Assistant of the Nursing Care Coordinator: 1
Physicians: 6
Social worker: 1
Medical Team
The physicians provide the patient with the best possible relief from pain and other physical symptoms. Together, they determine the treatments and medication best suited to each patient's condition. They ensure a daily presence and 24-hour emergency medical services, thus supporting the continuity of care. A pharmacist is available to validate and update each patient's pharmacological profile. The physicians and healthcare team consult with the pharmacist on various aspects and effects of medication.
Nursing Team
The nurses and practical nurses of La Maison provide personalized care suited to the condition of each patient, in addition to relieving symptoms and discomfort. They are supported in their duties by nursing assistants and volunteer caregivers devoted to the comfort of patients and the well-being of their loved ones. The nursing care team provides continued and compassionate care 24 hours a day.
Psychosocial Assistance
The social worker provides patients and their loved ones with the support required to adapt to this critical stage in their life. Services to the bereaved are provided by the Lumi-Vie organization.
La Maison's social worker, Stéphanie La Rocque S.W., M.S.S., offers psychosocial support to La Maison's patients and their families. The upcoming end-of-life and bereavement are common intervention themes, but they are far from being the only issues encountered by the social worker at La Maison. Here are some examples: family disputes, violence within the family, intercultural intervention, necessary social isolation of patients, etc.
These situations require a more sustained presence of our social worker, Stéphanie, throughout the patient's stay and more frequent and longer interventions with family members. Preparatory bereavement support for families involved interventions with young children and teenagers whose loved one was dying at La Maison.
Here are a few words from her.
"I have been part of La Maison's care team for ten eleven years. In collaboration with the interdisciplinary team, my responsibilities mainly concern accompanying the patient in the anxiety surrounding death, supporting grief for loved ones, and providing social support for the patient and their family. I am often asked to take on different roles depending on the situation: counselor, facilitator, mediator, collaborator, consultant, educator, organizer, or negotiator. In my opinion, psychosocial support at the end of life means following the person step by step, allowing them to access what is most meaningful to them, with the absolute confidence that their way of dying will be the best since it is their own. Therefore, to accompany means to be present for the person, by their side, with the utmost respect for their progress and pace. Psychosocial support requires the acceptance of the individual in their integrity, in what is unique and personal to them at this singular stage in their life. For me, it is essential to show respect, openness, and non-judgment towards the person at the end of life and their loved ones. Each patient arrives at La Maison with their personal history, and each family arrives with their way of living and communicating. Therefore, every situation must be analyzed systemically. The patient is always at the center of my interventions, and their global well-being is my priority."
- Mrs. Stéphanie La Rocque S.W., M.S.S.
Support Staff
Kitchen Team
The chef of the food service elaborates menus and prepares, with his team, meals and snacks for patients, relatives, visitors, staff and volunteers.
Dining Room Schedule
Breakfast: from 7:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m.
Lunch: from 11:45 a.m. to 1:15 p.m.
Dinner: from 5:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m.
Hygiene and Sanitation Team
The maintenance staff ensures the premises' cleanliness in accordance with the standards of infection prevention and control, hygiene, and sanitation, while respecting the peacefulness of the environment.
Administrative Team
The staff works with the different teams at La Maison to ensure the smooth running of daily activities and philanthropic activities (management, accounting, philanthropy, and coordination of volunteers).
Healthcare Volunteers
After receiving proper training, volunteers are integrated into the healthcare team. Their role is to assist the beneficiary attendants or the nursing staff in providing care and to ensure a comforting presence for the patients and their loved ones.
Volunteers in Other Areas
Volunteers are at the heart of La Maison's mission, and their contribution to the different sectors of activity is essential to the realization of the objectives pursued, whether it be in functions related to the administration, the secretarial department, the welcoming desk, the kitchen or the maintenance of the grounds and the building.
La Maison de la Sérénité relies on more than 50 employees to efficiently manage its daily operations. Here is the testimony of a volunteer that became an employee at La Maison, Ms. Lisette Richard, P.A.B. Have a good read!
"I did my licensed practical nursing course in 1988. I have worked for an agency in private homes, hospitals, and nursing homes. I was a natural caregiver for my father, that was very sick. The nurses caring for him at home offered to admit him at La Maison de la Sérénité. I felt well surrounded, supported, and listened to when I arrived. I told the medical team that the end of life and dying people scared me. I asked the caregivers to help me on this last journey with my father.
On day 1, I was in a panic and worried, but I felt a lot of support and love. My father offered me, as a gift, to accompany him until his last breath, and with the gentleness of the care team; it was a beautiful moment. Services at La Maison de la Sérénité are free of charge, and La Maison relies on donors, partners, and families to help raise the necessary funds for self-financing. I am not rich, so I wanted to give back a little of what I had received according to my means. I then decided to do some volunteer work at La Maison!
It was a real revelation! My fears towards the end of life were eased. I was receiving love in abundance. During the pandemic, I experienced real teamwork because everyone cared for everyone else; there was a beautiful support system. Eventually, I applied for a P.A.B. position, and here I am!
We occasionally welcome patients whose mother tongue is not French or English, and it is sometimes difficult to communicate with them because of their health conditions. I wanted so much to be able to help them and understand their needs. With the help of my cousin Murielle Beaulieu (exceptional education technician), we have created pictograms to communicate with them and help them. These pictograms refer to mood, pain intensity, and basic needs (e.g., water, food, pillow, etc.). This tool is a precious help for our care team, especially with our allophone clientele. It allows us to communicate more effectively with our patients, better respond to their needs, and relieve them. This much-appreciated tool is available in eight languages (French, English, Italian, Spanish, Arabic, Armenian, Russian, and Greek)! The pictograms allow us to better communicate with our clientele regardless of their origin! I also brought other pictograms that were designed for patients suffering from aphasia!
Seeing the personalized care for each patient is what impresses me every day because they are unique, and so are their needs. The staff is involved with their heart and soul; some play music to cheer them up and bring happiness, and others do activities to stimulate the patients or sit down with patients and families to listen. It is a privilege for me to be welcomed in these last moments.
Palliative care homes are essential to permit dignified final days and to accompany the family through this difficult time. I get a lot of comments saying that La Maison de la Sérénité is like a five-star hotel. Also, the quality of the services is fantastic, including the delicious meals! Families and patients notice that we show great respect and special attention to the patient and the family.
This job gives me so much happiness and joy. Becoming an employee at La Maison has given my life a new meaning because I feel helpful, and it brings me comfort. I want to thank the staff, volunteers, partners, patients, and families for all these beautiful gifts of life."
- Mrs. Lisette Richard, P.A.B. at La Maison de la Sérénité