Parent Partner Coordinator, NICU

Company : IWK Health

Req ID: 186990 
Department/Program: NICU, Women's & Newborn Health 
Location: Halifax  
Type of Employment: Permanent Hourly PT (50% FTE)  x 1 position(s)
 Start Date: 12/01/2024
Union Status: Non-union, Management/Non Union Bargaining Unit
Compensation: $23.7832 - $29.729 /hour
Closing Date: September 24, 2024 (Applications are accepted until 23:59 Atlantic Time)

IWK Health is a respected academic health sciences centre located in Halifax, Nova Scotia, providing tertiary and primary care for two million children, youth, adults and families each year across the Atlantic region. We have a team of approximately 4000 employees, physicians, volunteers and learners at sites across Nova Scotia. People build careers with IWK Health with our focus on training and mentorship opportunities. We recognize each other’s talent and celebrate our successes. We collaborate in modern facilities or virtually from home, align our work to our values, and enjoy access to enhanced benefits and wellness programs. We are proud to support our patients, families and communities and are grateful for the generous donor support we receive.

Promoting an anti-racist environment, and calling out discrimination as we work and provide care, is important to us. We are located in Mi’kma’ki, the unceded and ancestral territory of the Mi’kmaq people. Working in Mi’kma’ki and providing care to those across Atlantic Canada is a shared privilege with the original inhabitants who have lived here for many thousands of years prior to colonization. There are 13 First Nation communities across Nova Scotia, and more than 50 historic African Nova Scotian communities who also have a long, deep, and complex history dating back over 400 years. We have the highest percentage of people with disabilities in the country. Nova Scotia has the highest proportions of transgender and non-binary people than any other province or territory in the country. We are active in our work to eliminate discrimination, but have more work to do to build that trust, acknowledge our biases and reduce the barriers our diverse communities face. We want IWK Health to be a safe and supportive space of equity and belonging in the care we provide and the employment we offer. We welcome all interested persons who self-identify as Indigenous, Black/African Nova Scotians, Persons of Colour, Immigrants/Newcomers, Persons with Disabilities, 2SLGBTQIA+ to apply to support our goal for our workforce to be representative of the patients, families, and communities that we care for at all job levels.

The Opportunity

Reporting to the Manager of the Neonatal Care Team, and working closely with the neonatal social workers, the Parent Partner Coordinator will act as a family representative to ensure multiple family voices are heard and are integrated into the tapestry of the NICU/PFU. The Parent Partner Coordinator, and the volunteers, work in collaboration with other health care team members to provide opportunities for parents/families to be active members of the health care team and to have the primary voice in their family’s care. The Parent Partner Coordinator will be an active member of the NICU Always Together Committee, co-host Snack n Chat, and will participate on the Neonatal Care Committee representing parents and families.
The Parent Partner Coordinator will co-lead the Neonatal Parent Partner Program. The Parent Partner Coordinator will be fully supported by the Neonatal Care Team Social Work team members. This position will include five prongs:
1) Engaging, recruiting and supporting Parent Partner Volunteers:
• Plan and implement regular orientation sessions for interested volunteers alongside the Parent Partner co-lead
• Assist volunteers in meeting the organizational requirements to become a volunteer
• Meet with oriented volunteers to help find a volunteer position that is manageable (time-wise) and meaning full for them
• Meet with volunteers before and after every volunteer shift to check-in. Involve co-lead when necessary.
• Track volunteer hours and send hours to Volunteer Resources every month
• Keep volunteer spreadsheet updated
• Regularly share volunteer opportunities with volunteers
8/30/24, 3:57 PM Job Description Print Preview
https://hcm17.sapsf.com/xi/ui/rcmcommon/pages/jobReqPrintPreview.xhtml?drawButtons=true&jobID=186990&isExternal=false&jobReqPreviewSecK… 1/3
2) Supporting families currently in NICU:
• Engage in regular bedside visits to offer peer support to families
• Co-host Snack n Chat with Parent Partner Program co-lead
• Plan and implement four ‘major’ holiday events throughout the year
• Plan and implement pop-up activities
• Support volunteers in their event initiatives
• Maintain social media platforms (ie: Twitter, YouTube channel, Instagram)
• Advise families of relevant resources
• Provide follow up support via email, phone
3) Supporting IWK neonatal team members in their journey of enhancing relations with families:
• Provide feedback on neonatal care team initiatives and resources from the parent and family perspective
• Participate with committees and working groups (including interview panels)
• Prepare committees for volunteer presence on committees
• Share family feedback on care experiences
4) Research:
• Liaise with neonatal research team to provide meaningful opportunities for volunteers
• Participate in research that helps promote always together NICU care
5) Connecting with wider neonatal community
• Liaise with national and international NICU organizations (such as Canadian Premature Babies’ Foundation and FI Care)
• Build relationships with/mentor/provide support to other NICUs across Maritimes, Canada and internationally

Hours of Work

20 hours a week; Primarily Monday to Friday; on occasion need to be available on evenings, nights &/or weekends for special events. 

Your Qualifications

This job may be a great fit for you if you:
- are a parent who has had a baby in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), born at less than 35 weeks’ gestation and/or term and in the NICU for longer than one month and whose graduate child is now older than one year (required, may consider applicants whose NICU graduate is less than one year old)
- have completed high school (required)
- value Family Integrated Care
- understand Trauma Informed Care (TIC) and/or have a willingness to attend education sessions to become more familiar with TIC
- have excellent judgement and discretion in handling confidential and/or sensitive information
- enjoy connecting with people
- choose to believe the best in people
- are okay with the ebb and flow and the felt sense of emotions that come with revisiting your NICU journey
- can appreciate the rawness of the NICU journey that others may share
- can listen to the experience of others with empathy and compassion
- have intentional work/life transition practices
- can relate to the ‘5g NICU experience’: grit, gratitude, grace, guilt and grief
- can articulate how your NICU journey has changed you
- are organized and can manage your time well
- have some computer skills including MS Office and Outlook
- are an excellent communicator both in spoken word and in writing
- are social media savvy (specifically with Twitter, Facebook and YouTube)
- like public speaking
- are comfortable with voicing opinions in front of a variety of people/positions (you are not silenced by power dynamics or potential unpopular opinion/loneliness of a single voice)
- can hold space for emotion with kindness for self and others without needing to fix them
- have a spirit of curiosity and creativity
- can navigate the misconceptions of the Parent Partner Coordinator role
- can work interdependently with a co-lead

Thank you for your interest in IWK Health.

Please note that we only contact applicants selected for interview/testing. If we invite you to participate in an assessment process (such as an interview or testing) you have the right to request accommodation. Please discuss your needs when invited to the assessment process.

This is a Management/Non Union  bargaining  unit position. Preference is given to bargaining unit employees for unionized positions. Successful applicants changing unions, bargaining units or employment status, are advised to seek clarification regarding their seniority, benefits, and vacation entitlement and/or usage, prior to accepting the position.

An offer of employment is conditional upon the completion and satisfactory results of all applicable background checks and confirmation of credentials.

If you are an employee of IWK Health, please apply through the internal careers page to ensure you are flagged as an internal applicant.