SEEING an idea to fruition can be gratifying. Doubly so, if it’s poised to be a game changer.
Dionne Ovid is experiencing this first-hand.
Five years ago, Ovid, a nurse at the Sangre Grande Hospital, came up with a concept to reduce mishaps and clutter in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU), where she has been assigned since 2014.
Today, she believes her invention, the Do Block, which was installed in the ICU last year, is set to revolutionise the local medical field.
An upbeat Ovid told WMN it is already making a difference in the lives of staff and patients in the unit.
“The feedback has been phenomenal thus far,” she said.
“We are getting a new hospital later this year and I know that the staff at the ICU would like to have it installed in the new hospital.”
Ovid said officials at Port of Spain General Hospital are also interested in getting the Do Block for the ICU.
The Do Block is essentially an organiser that houses items commonly associated with critical care facilities – Ambu (artificial manual breathing units) bags, suction yankauers (oral suctioning tool used in medical procedures), nebuliser cups, resuscitation bags and the cables surrounding the bedsides of patients.
[caption id="attachment_1021768" align="alignnone" width="768"] Nurse Dionne Ovid says the need for organisation in the ICU is a major part of how she came up with the Do Block concept. -[/caption]
It contains a clamp and cable organisers that are assembled on a board to de-clutter all of the consumable and non-consumable items in the environment.
Smooth, with an easy to clean surface, the Do-Block is durable, waterproof, fire resistant, recyclable, expandable and resistant to chemical corrosion.
Ovid said, “Working in the ICU means a lot of lines and monitoring for the patient. But we also have a lot of equipment at the bedside.
“All of these lines are tripping hazards for staff and we have to house them at the bedside because we deal with critical patients, and that means you are always in emergency mode.”
She said an ICU, by its very nature, is usually a cluttered environment.
“So the need for organisation is a major part of how I came up with this concept to streamline the space.”
A former student of Mayaro Secondary School, Ovid began her career in nursing 13 years ago. But it was not her first love.
“My mother was a little bit persistent and saw something in me that I couldn’t see apparently. She encouraged me to become a nurse.”
[caption id="attachment_1021766" align="alignnone" width="1024"] The Do Block is an organiser that houses items commonly associated with critical care facilities. -[/caption]
But, Ovid said, she was extremely hesitant.
“I really didn’t want to.”
But after some persuasion, she eventually embraced the idea and was accepted into a nursing programme.
The Coal Mine, Sangre Grande resident said she never looked back.
“Nursing has been a 360 for me in terms of everything that I do. It has been very rewarding for me, to say the least. I am really enjoying the profession.”
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