Felicia Lau, a registered nurse, has spent over six years at Holland Bloorview, where her career has blossomed. Now serving as the extern coordinator and advanced practice nurse educator (APNE), Felicia leads innovative programs that support and mentor clinical learners while integrating advanced care practices internally.
As the extern coordinator, Felicia is responsible for leading the planning, education, practice and integration of the externs at Holland Bloorview in accordance with professional standards and in collaboration with clinical teams. This includes facilitating extern orientation; creating and adapting learning resources; being a conduit between unit leadership, collaborative practice and operations; and meeting with internal and external partners such as other extern coordinators and stakeholders. She also maintains a regular unit presence to support not only the externs and their ongoing learning needs but also assist the regulated health-care providers that mentor and work directly with the externs.
The enhanced extern program is funded by the Ontario Ministry of Health and enables hospitals to supplement existing human health resources in a flexible way to meet each organization’s unique needs. Externs, who are clinical learners employed as unregulated care providers, are provided with experiential opportunities to learn, apply, and grow their skills under the supervision of regulated care providers. Holland Bloorview is proud to have implemented this program in the Fall of 2022. Since that time, we have welcomed over 60 nursing, respiratory therapy, physiotherapy, and occupational therapy externs, advancing our commitment to training the next generation of healthcare professionals and transforming care through education.
When Felicia first heard about Holland Bloorview, it was the hospital’s unique role in caring for children with tracheostomies and ventilators that caught her attention. “For such a complex population, I thought, WOW! I wonder how they do that in a rehabilitation setting,” Felicia recalls. Drawn by Holland Bloorview’s vision of creating meaningful and healthy futures for all children, youth and families. She began her career on the complex continuing care unit (CCC) and soon found herself immersed in a workplace that matched her passion for pediatric care.
Felicia finds great joy in her work. “As extern coordinator, I have the privilege of preparing, inspiring, and enhancing the clinical competence and confidence of the next generation of health care professionals. We aim to reimagine care and actively reduce barriers for clients with disabilities and developmental differences.” She also appreciates the strong sense of teamwork, noting, “I’m very lucky to work with a great team that I can rely on for advice and expertise.”
Felicia's journey at Holland Bloorview has been one of remarkable professional growth. Starting as a registered nurse, she moved through several departments, including the specialized orthopedic and developmental rehab unit (SODR) and ambulatory care with the neuromotor team. Her growing passion for pediatric care led her to pursue a Masters in Nursing, during which she successfully applied for a part-time contract with the advanced practice nurse educators.
This marked the beginning of her transformation into an educator and leader within the hospital. Her passion for pediatric care, leadership in education, and commitment to nurturing the next generation of health care professionals at Holland Bloorview continues to flourish.
Read more about Felicia’s journey:
Tell us about yourself and your role at Holland Bloorview?
I am a registered nurse with clinical experience in pediatric rehabilitation, oral and maxillofacial surgery, acute care, and geriatric complex care. I have been at Holland Bloorview for over 6 years. Currently, I am the extern coordinator – advanced practice nurse educator for the Ontario Ministry of Health’s enhanced extern program.
What attracted you to Holland Bloorview?
I developed an interest for respirology and pediatrics in nursing school. Once I graduated, Holland Bloorview was put on my radar because it was the only pediatric hospital in Ontario where kids with tracheostomies and ventilators receive non-acute care. The more I researched Holland Bloorview, its commitment to “creating a world of possibilities for kids with disabilities” was so passionate and I wanted to be a part of it.
What does your new role as extern coordinator mean to you?
It means a lot to me. I have inspiring colleagues at Holland Bloorview who have been a motivating force behind my drive to advance my nursing career. At times when I was hesitant or doubtful, they reassured me and I would not be where I am at Holland Bloorview without their ongoing support and guidance. Now that I’ve moved into a permanent position with the collaborative practice and clinical education team, it challenges me to have more confidence in my abilities as an extern coordinator and advanced practice nurse educator (APNE). My hope in this role is that I can contribute to the meaningful work that my amazing APNE colleagues are involved in and be a considered a positive role model, mentor, and coach for others to foster personal and professional growth and support the delivery of high-quality care to clients and families at Holland Bloorview.
Can you highlight any major projects you’re working on?
I am currently collaborating with the collaborative practice leader and occupational therapy (OT) and physiotherapy (PT) clinical scholars to integrate externs more fully into our care teams. Our current model for OT and PT externs is that they provide nurses with an extension of support for several aspects of an inpatient client’s care such as their activities of daily living (feeding including enteral feeds, dressing, mobilizing, positioning, toileting, and tip suctioning). Assistance with these ADLs alleviates nurses of some of their care tasks and allows them to focus on specific controlled acts or nursing responsibilities that cannot be delegated to unregulated care providers. Although the OT and PT externs will develop important client and family facing clinical skills like communication, advocacy, and critical thinking, we have found that there is opportunity to elevate their Holland Bloorview experience by partnering them with regulated care providers in their own fields of interest and expanding what care activities they can perform with direct or indirect supervision. The objective of this initiative is that the externs will be able to leverage the incredible expertise the OTs and PTs at Holland Bloorview have, grow our interprofessional team’s resources and capabilities, and ease the externs’ transition from student to professional roles.
Can you share a pivotal moment in your career?
I had newly started as an APNE had been consulted to assess on a teenage client with complex wounds on her admission day. I was nervous but noticed she had a Grey’s Anatomy themed name plate for her room. Great! Something we could talk about to break the ice. After chatting a bit about the characters, myself, along with her admitting nurse, assessed that a couple of her wounds were healing well and no longer needed to be covered by a dressing to manage any drainage. In cases like this, we might choose to keep some wounds still covered depending on if we want to protect the new skin from friction or shear from medical devices or for other reasons like client comfort. To help in our decision-making, I looked at the client and asked her “What do you think? Should we cover these wounds?”. The client perked up and shared that she’d like us to leave them uncovered because she almost couldn’t remember how her body looked like without bandages. And so, we left them uncovered. I then saw this client a few weeks later and she recognized me as an APNE. I responded by telling her I am and that she had a great memory. Her response is what resonates with me to this day. She said “Of course I remember you! No one has ever asked me what I wanted to do for my wounds, but you did. This highlighted for me the impact of client-centered care and the importance of valuing the voices of those we care for.
Do you have any hobbies? What inspires you outside of your professional life?
If I’m not going out to eat with family and friends, playing cards and board games, gardening, or cooking a dish with whatever random items I have in the house, you’ll find me browsing every aisle at Costco!
My mom inspires me outside of my professional life. She works very hard, pours her heart into everything and everyone she meets. When I’m being optimistic and jumping into something quickly, she will never sugar-coat her opinions and will ground me back to the alternatives or worst-case scenarios even when it is not something I want to hear. Thinking about it now as an adult, she was actually teaching me to think critically about different situations I encounter and be prepared for bumps or challenges that might come my way. She also loves kids and so I have her to thank too for my passion for pediatrics!
What impact do you hope to make in the future?
I aim to continue enhancing the extern program and foster leadership that embraces innovation, creativity, collaboration and growth at Holland Bloorview.
