Hamilton ICU nurse polar plunges to fund the dying wishes of palliative care patients
CBC
Most cold mornings at sunrise this year, you can find a Hamilton nurse in the frigid waters of Lake Ontario, swimming in honour of her dying patients.
Yulia Shevchenko has pledged to go for an icy swim 333 times this year to raise money in support of palliative care patients, to give them a little more peace in their final moments.
The money that Shevchenko hopes to raise will contribute to the 3 Wishes Project at St.Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton, where she has worked for the past 12 years. That project gives health-care providers the resources to personalize a patient's care at the end of their lives.
"I'm trying to give back so that nurses and other health-care professionals can provide more of that humanistic care and have some more funds to help provide that," Shevchenko said.
Working in the St. Joe's ICU has been even more stressful during the pandemic, Shevchenko said.
Some friends of hers introduced her to the "polar plunge" — also known as cold exposure therapy — that involves swimming in cold temperatures, which some people do for better mental health.
"The whole reason why I started polar dipping was my work in intensive care," Shevchenko said.
"The past year was a very hard time for intensive care units because of COVID-19."
Shevchenko said for herself and many health-care professionals, it has been a "mentally draining" time and her cold water experiences are helping her to cope better.
"Last February I literally stopped sleeping," she said. "That's how bad it was."
Neala Hoad is a fellow ICU nurse with Shevchenko and works as a part-time expansion coordinator for 3 Wishes Project.
"As an ICU nurse and just coming out of the major waves of the pandemic, I can really relate to what Yulia experienced," Hoad said.
"My colleagues and I are also happy that someone can explain the way things have been but also raise awareness about 3 Wishes at the same time."
Through fundraising initiatives in support of the project, like the one that Shevchenko has taken on, Hoad said St. Joe's staff hope to expand the program throughout the hospital.
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