Pictured above: Dr. Sinziana Avramescu, Anesthesiologist, Humber River Hospital
Dr. Sinziana Avramescu is an Anesthesiologist at Humber River Hospital (HRH), but her professional and personal roles extend far beyond that. She is also an educator, scholar, researcher, leader, mentor, health advocate, and a mom of two. All of which she pours her passion, dedication, and care into daily.
Dr. Sinzi joined HRH in 2018, and she has made a significant impact on her patients, colleagues, and the community ever since. Dr. Sinzi was one of HRH's many physicians and staff who quickly mobilized in the pandemic to ensure the hospital, which served one of the hardest hit catchment areas for COVID-19, was actively applying pandemic best practices and thinking innovatively about solutions to capacity, staffing, and training challenges.
HRH, like many other hospitals, was facing ICU capacity issues during the height of the third wave of the pandemic as COVID-19 cases surged, leaving many nurses overburdened by the coinciding strains and demands. Dr. Sinzi quickly stepped in to respond to these challenges by creating, organizing, and leading training for a program called "Physicians as ICU Care Providers (PICP)". In collaboration with physicians, nurses, and HRH's administrative team, the program was designed to equip and support physicians to assume the responsibilities of ICU nurses on a volunteer basis. Dr. Sinzi and the team had developed and implemented a training program for physicians, separate access to the electronic medical record system, and an online system for signing up for ICU shifts all in a matter of days.
The first cohort of physicians had volunteered for the program just one week into program design and planning. Physicians were first given reading materials to review before a half-day course on electronic medical record charting, how to access medications to administer, and other technical information required to function as an ICU nurse. Physicians then participated in a simulation lab that reviewed procedures, such as running an infusion pump, checking blood sugars, running feeding infusion pumps, managing intravenous lines, changing dressings, among many others. The final stage of training assigned physicians to 'buddy shifts' with ICU nurses to learn, see, and directly experience the role, including nuances, processes, and approaches to patient care that physicians have not traditionally been involved in.
Nearly 50 physicians at HRH signed up for the program, in addition to other qualified medical team members who were so compelled to help in this way that they volunteered too. Dr. Sinzi's work through this program ultimately allowed HRH to expand ICU capacity, alleviate some of the additional pressures on ICU nurses, and continue providing patient- and family-centred care to their most critical and ill patients.
The program helped the physicians who participated, including Dr. Sinzi herself, gain a deeper understanding of the tasks ICU nurses undertake and how it differs from their own roles. After the program, those involved said they had a greater appreciation for nurses and a desire to work more collaboratively with them. The PICP program has deepened empathy, respect, and trust between all health care workers in the ICU, enhancing a culture of cooperation and mutual appreciation for the work of all individuals within the hospital.
Dr. Sinzi's involvement and leadership with this program were recognized with a 2022 CPSO Council Award from the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, and the program's success is reflected in two additional Ontario hospitals looking at implementing this same program in their ICUs.
This is merely one example of Dr. Sinzi's passion to find new ways to serve her patients and to come alongside her colleagues and other health professionals to support them in their work. Earlier in the pandemic, she also created an Anesthesia COVID-19 Task Force with her colleagues to create evidence-based HRH Guidelines for the Anesthesia Practice, and dedicated time to organizing simulation sessions for training staff on personal protective equipment (PPE) use specifically in a pandemic. Dr. Sinzi also continued to perform on-call functions even in the periods when elective surgeries were cancelled and volunteered to run the Protected Code Blue team who serve as first responders to all the medical emergencies in the hospital.
On International Women's Day this past March, Dr. Sinzi was acknowledged for her outstanding contributions to the medical community throughout her career. More specifically, her initiative, leadership, and passion displayed throughout the pandemic has had an extremely positive effect on HRH and its community – an impact sure to outlast the pandemic.