Heather Stewart gets her hand squeezed a lot in her job at Mount Sinai.

In fact, that’s what makes her aware of how much help she is giving patients as she takes them into the operating room.

“People are vulnerable and scared when they’re in a hospital. It’s really important that they know they have an advocate and that the only things that will happen in the operating room are things they have already consented to,” she says.

“When a patient squeezes my hand just a little tighter before going into the operating room, I know just how much comfort I’m giving.”

One of the youngest Operating Room Nurses at Mount Sinai, Heather’s job is basically one of patient advocate. She meets people before they go into surgery, makes sure they have a clear understanding of what the operation involves and tells them she will be there with them during the whole operation, not working on them, but for them.

Heather says that after training with several hospitals in the Toronto area, Mount Sinai was the only place she wanted to work. “There is something about the people at Mount Sinai that I haven’t found anywhere else,” she says. “We’re not a bunch of individuals each working separately toward our own goals. We’re a community; the whole team is working toward a goal and getting through the day together by supporting each other.”

Heather cites Mount Sinai’s Good Catch Program as an example of that teamwork in action. “If I see something potentially dangerous in my area, rather than ignoring it and having an accident happen, I simply go to the Intranet and report the problem on our Good Catch Program. No one gets blamed; no one gets hurt; we just find the problem and fix it.”