Singing nurse is the King of dialysis unit
David Scratch, who is also an Elvis tribute artist, believes in the power of song to cheer up patients
Music is good medicine, and for registered nurse David Scratch, it’s always on his mind.
He “sees and feels” the power of song as much when singing with staff and patients at Collingwood General and Marine Hospital as he does on stage before an audience of Elvis fans.
Inspired by the musical legacy of Elvis Presley and his own gospel singing roots, he is equally passionate about both his 32-year career as David Scratch, RN — and as Elvis tribute artist, Davey Kratz.
“I believe in promoting things like singing and music as therapy,” says Scratch, who assists dialysis treatment patients.
Singing gospel songs since he was young, Scratch combined his musical talent with his nursing skills when he came to the Collingwood hospital in 2010, the year his singing career took off.
“I believe in promoting things like singing and music as therapy.” DAVID SCRATCH NURSE AND ELVIS TRIBUTE ARTIST
Nurse practitioner Deborah Brown may stand out to the many seniors and their families she’s helped over the years, but to Brown, who has been instrumental in changing the way one Toronto hospital treats older adults, it was an encounter with an elderly patient with end-stage cardiac disease that had a tremendous influence on her.
“She helped me understand what person-centred care was truly all about,” Brown says. “She was bright and well-informed about her prognosis. I remember being struck with her determination to manage her own symptoms with support and guidance from me.”
Brown, a 2017 Nightingale Award Honourable Mention, continues: “She knew what she needed and didn’t need from health-care professionals. Knowing her left me with a profound respect for her courage and determination to be treated as an intelligent and involved person, despite her age and frailty.”
Brown, who hails from the Maritimes, is assigned to the Senior Friendly strategy at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. It is her work with older patients that has won her the distinction and led her colleague to refer to her as “a Nightingale in our midst.”
Dr. Deborah Liu, a consultant geriatrician at Sunnybrook, who nominated Brown for the Toronto Star Nightingale Award, says, “She’s been an important leader for the organizational Senior Friendly strategy since its earliest days. Deborah’s passion has always been for seniors.”
In 2009, Brown led a small, dedicated group that advocated for a focus on senior-friendly care at Sunnybrook. As a result, senior care is undergoing a complete transformation at the hospital.
Liu explains, “Over the last year, Deborah herself has provided classroom and in-the-moment education to over 500 staff to enhance their ability to prevent, detect and treat delirium, an acute confusional state and an urgent medical condition that can cause significant distress to the patients experiencing it and families witnessing it.”
Brown has also been a mentor and a role model to many nurses, an educator who is dynamic and eloquent, but also approachable and gentle, Liu says. “She’s a clinician who coaches and enables others to deliver the best care. She helps staff see the person they’re caring for and understand the needs of the older person.
“Every day, she demonstrates compassion and caring. She’s never too busy or rushed to help or do what needs to be done. She’s always willing to go the extra mile to help someone, whether it’s the people she’s caring for, people she works with or people she runs into in the hallway.”
Brown’s desire to enter nursing came at an early age from her own doctor’s office. “There was a nurse in the office who made everything ‘all right.’ She was the epitome of efficiency and competence and always greeted us with the biggest of smiles in her gleaming white uniform and cap. She took care of you, and we trusted her.” Now Brown is the one taking care of people and making it “all right,” especially for older adults.
Divorced and living in Toronto’s Beaches neighbourhood, Brown beams when speaking of her son, who, she says, is “by far my greatest achievement.” He is studying to be an engineer.
Brown leads an active life and exercises regularly, because her work can be stressful. “I enjoy motorcycling, sailing, dancing, reading and spending time with my friends.”
After obtaining her registered nursing degree at the Miss A.J. MacMas- ter School of Nursing in Moncton, N. B., she worked at Victoria General Hospital in Halifax (now part of the Queen Elizabeth II Heath Sciences Centre), the Victorian Order of Nurses (VON) in Halifax and later transferred to the Toronto branch of the VON.
She also worked at Riverdale Hospital and has worked at Sunnybrook for 23 years, initially as a clinical nurse specialist and later as a nurse practitioner.
Brown has continued her education, obtaining her bachelor of science in nursing from Ryerson University and her graduate degree in health sciences from McMaster University. She also attended University of Toronto for acute care nurse practitioner training.
Brown says she feels humbled to receive the 2017 Nightingale Award Honourable Mention.
“There are a lot of people who deserve to be nominated and who make things happen. I’m certainly not the only person working on this. We have a team of people who are extremely dedicated and work very hard to make things happen. It should be almost a team award.”
For patients and their families, Brown has been a godsend. Liu says, “The patients and family are so grateful someone has taken the time to get to know them or their loved one, to understand them, talk with them and explain things so they have a better understanding of the situation and what they can do to help with recovery.”
Liu remembers Brown’s personal touch in helping a confused and restless patient.
“The patient longed for her hot cup of tea. Deborah went to the coffee shop and came back with a hot Earl Grey tea. The next day, the woman was confused again, but when Deborah returned to her room, she remembered the cup of tea and could be engaged in a meaningful conversation and expressed her gratitude that someone cared enough to bring her a tea.”
Another patient described her hallucinations to Brown and how troubling they were.
Liu says, “The patient was afraid they would occur again during the coming night. The patient explained she didn’t want to be alone and felt much better when someone held her hand, as Deborah was doing at that moment. Deborah told the patient she would share this information with the nurses for the night shift as part of the care plan. The patient says, ‘I’m so relieved someone’s listening to me.’ ”
Brown feels her empathy for her patients is a natural process. “It’s the way I was raised and the values I was raised with. Most of my career, I’ve cared for or had contact with elderly patients. It’s profoundly moving when you get to know people with an illness or difficulties they’re having. The richness that comes out is phenomenal. I always felt I learned more from my patients than I was able to help them out with.”
She continues to credit her patients with teaching her. “Despite their illness, and age, they know what they want. We have to be there to understand it.”
“She’s never too busy or rushed to help or do what needs to be done. She’s always willing to go the extra mile to help someone” DR. DEBORAH LIU CONSULTANT GERIATRICIAN