Meet the surgery enterostomal therapy team, Misericordia Community Hospital
July 31, 2025
By Erika Rachel Miranda, communications and marketing student
For the surgical enterostomal therapy team at the Misericordia Community Hospital, it’s not unusual to see patients resort to measures like duct taping a vegetable bag over their stoma rather than using proper supplies. It’s moments like these that reinforce the team’s commitment to ensuring every patient receives the dignity, education and compassionate support they deserve during some of the most vulnerable times of their lives.
“We’re not just wound and ostomy centric” says Jennifer MacDonald, an enterostomal therapy nurse. “We’re patient-centred, so we have a very holistic approach to our patients.”
Jennifer is one of four nurses on the Misericordia hospital’s surgical enterostomal therapy team, which recently received the 2025 Covenant Mission Award for Compassion. Alongside Beth Beaudoin, Michele Archutick and Leslie Trischuk, she provides expert, person-centred care to patients recovering from surgical wounds and living with stomas, a surgically made opening in the abdomen that allows waste to exit the body into a pouching system. Their approach goes beyond procedures and protocols. For this team, compassion means advocacy, education and long-term support that continues well after patients leave the hospital.
“We’ll tell them what a stoma is, how it’s made, how it’s going to be managed and how we work with them on the pouching system that they’ll be using,” says Beth Beaudoin, who works closely with surgeons to manage complex gastrointestinal, plastic and orthopedic wounds. “We talk about diet and lifestyle and how to manage any complications that might come up.”
While Beth focuses on surgical wounds, Jennifer also specializes in continence care, often helping women manage pelvic health issues due to childbirth or aging. Whether she’s teaching Kegel exercises or supporting someone with incontinence, her goal is the same: to create a safe space where no topic is taboo.
"We really don’t have any difficulty talking to patients about topics that a lot of people don’t want to talk about. We’re a safe zone for people."
Enterostomal therapy nurse, Misericordia Community Hospital
The team’s work is holistic and grounded in trust. They assess each patient’s needs with care, considering everything from pain control and mental health to spiritual care and social support.
“Some of our patients are really sick or in crisis,” says Beth. “We want to ensure they have the highest quality of life possible and help them feel safe enough to express their concerns.”
That support extends into the community. Jennifer volunteers twice a month at Hope Mission, helping unhoused individuals with stoma care. Some of these patients cannot get medical supplies through conventional channels. Jennifer brings donated appliances and provides hands-on assistance, ensuring dignity for those who might otherwise go without.
When the team members learned they had received the Covenant Mission Award for Compassion, they were surprised. “I felt very honoured and humbled,” says Beth. “It also felt really great to have our hard work acknowledged.” The recognition gave the team a renewed sense of pride in their work and in the relationships they build with patients, families and colleagues, she says.
“Much of what we do isn’t known by people who don’t work directly with us, so I was beyond thrilled when we won the award and very grateful to those people who took the time to nominate us and advocate for our team.”