Hoarding is getting a lot of attention these days on talk shows and as the subject of a reality TV series. But for public health nurses who deal with hoarding every day, it isn’t entertainment — it’s serious business.

“Undergraduates need to be passionate about critical inquiry,” says Barbara Paterson, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Tier 1 Canada Research Chair and a professor and director of the University of New Brunswick Chronic Illness Research Institute. “That means making sense of the research that’s out there so that they know what is relevant to their practice.”

The Role 3 Multinational Medical Unit based at the Kandahar Airfield (KAF) includes a Canadian mental health team composed of a psychiatrist, a social worker, and at least one mental health nurse. Interdisciplinary care is the norm; the team members collaborate internally and externally with Primary Care, Role 1 medical officers (who care directly for the Canadian Battle Group), inpatient services, and medical units attached to allied forces in southern Afghanistan. A referral for mental health services could come from any of these sources.

March 2009 • On the Job

Although most people have probably heard of the international humanitarian group Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF), it may surprise some to find out that its doctors account for only one small part of the volunteers. In fact, each volunteer team consists of an even split of health and non-medical professionals.

Ruth Kitson, executive director of community and primary health care for Brockville Community Health, had been running nursing clinics in various communities in the Lanark, Leeds and Grenville area, but she was frustrated by all the time it took to set up the equipment and materials. She had a vision of a fully equipped mobile unit that could drive right into a community and be ready to go.