Alison Carter

Background

About Alison Carter

I began my nursing journey by completing a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) at Trent University. This gave me the opportunity to gain immersive and invaluable experience in community nursing and various inpatient units such as Orthopedics, Special Care Nursery, and Complex Continuing Care. After graduating with honours, Nightingale Nursing Registry gave me the opportunity to start my career full-time. With Nightingale I provided wound care, palliative care, and diabetic care to all ages. After becoming more comfortable with fundamental nursing skills I decided to experience the challenges of critical care. I completed my Critical Care Certificate with Durham College which provided the opportunity to practice in Peterborough Regional Health Centre’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU). Caring for critically ill patients was a welcomed challenge and allowed me to improve my adaptability and organization skills. I also enriched my communication skills through informing patients and their family members of complex diagnoses, disease processes, and treatment strategies. After a year and a half of this position, I became interested in caring for specialized patient populations in the ICU. This motivated me to begin working at Toronto Western Hospital in the Medical/Surgical and Neurosurgical ICU. Being part of a teaching hospital allowed me to flourish as an RN by gaining more experience in collaboration as well as refining my nursing process and patient education tactics. Next, I moved to Ottawa to work at The Ottawa Hospital. First, I worked in PACU where I specialized in perioperative care and improved my patient teaching abilities by explaining procedures, medications, and recovery expectations. Then, I worked as an Advanced Practice Nurse for the Acute Pain Service where I practice all five pillars of the APN role: consultation, education, leadership, clinical practice, and research. I am currently a quality improvement coordinator for the perioperative service line at TOH. I also started my own business as an education consultant where I teach healthcare workers in community organizations. Each experience has allowed me to become more confident and capable in both nursing, education, and project management.