Amanda Annett, BA Psych, BSN, RN, is a Clinical Research Coordinator at Interior Health. In addition to supporting clinical research, Amanda is currently working on her Master of Science in Nursing at UBC Okanagan School of Nursing in the cardiac field.
My job is to provide good, safe information to primary care providers and others. With this knowledge they may feel empowered to screen and advise patients on preventive measures.
Amanda Annett zoomed in on the human heart. Her interest in its eloquent and essential function began in her third-year practicum placement on the cardiac unit of Kelowna General Hospital (KGH).
“I started my Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree set on an academic career. I’d already done a Bachelor of Psychology Honours degree, which gave me a taste for research. I saw myself on a straight trajectory through to PhD. But after time on the cardiac unit, I discovered I loved caring for people at the bedside.”
Amanda paused her academic vision to pursue her clinical nursing practice in cardiology. With pun fully intended she says, “It made my heart sing at the time.”
The demographics of the patients, the level of acuity, the development of new interventions, and the ever-evolving field were all aspects Amanda enjoyed.
But Amanda evolved, too. Getting married and starting a family meant a lifestyle not quite as conducive to shiftwork. Also, in her interactions with patients and their families, she became keenly aware that the care she was providing—though necessary and in many cases life-saving—was downstream medicine.
“I would talk to family members of patients—brothers, sisters, parents—who understood there is a genetic predisposition to these cardiac events. They felt helpless. They were just waiting for it to happen to them. I thought, I need to go upstream to help these families. And, fortunate for me, upstream was exactly the focus of a new research study called SAVE BC.”
As KGH Research Coordinator, Amanda performs a variety of roles, including testing of blood samples, which must first be spun in a centrifuge to separate out the blood’s components.
On the advice of a friend, she applied for a position as Clinical Research Coordinator at Interior Health, and as the successful candidate was assigned to lead the SAVE BC Kelowna site.
SAVE BC stands for Study to Avoid cardioVascular Events in British Columbia. The goals of the study are to better identify, treat and prevent premature atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD). To unpack this further, ‘premature’ refers to earlier-than-normally expected cardiac events, such as heart attacks. For males, premature is 50 years and younger and for females it is 55 years and younger. ‘Atherosclerotic’ refers to the buildup of plaque in the arteries. And ‘cardiovascular disease’ refers to the narrowing or hardening of the vessels in the heart that can lead to heart attack, chest pain (angina), or other serious heart conditions.
In essence, when a patient is admitted to hospital who meets these criteria they are referred to the SAVE BC team for participation in the study. As a participant, the patient attends clinical visits each year for cardiac risk assessment and management with specialists. Additionally, because of the hereditary nature of premature atherosclerotic CVD, their immediate family members are also asked to undergo screening, including blood work, genetic testing, and imaging. Those relatives identified as high risk will have annual clinic visits, whereas those at low risk will have clinic visits once every three years. Through these visits, they receive comprehensive cardiac risk assessments, risk factor management to hopefully prevent, or at minimum, delay the onset of a cardiac event.
“Close relatives of a patient are up to 10-times more likely to develop atherosclerotic CVD,” says Amanda. “Yet B.C. does not currently have a formal program for identifying and screening at-risk family members. Through the goldmine of data we’re accumulating about families, our goal is to create that algorithm. We know early intervention saves lives.”
Amanda places a blood smear onto a slide for further analysis.
One of Amanda’s primary roles is knowledge translation—sharing what the SAVE BC team is finding out, specifically from a nursing lens.
“My job is to provide good, safe information to primary care providers and others,” says Amanda. “With this knowledge, they may feel empowered to screen and advise patients on preventive measures.”
Amanda also serves as a contact for nurses in acute care at KGH where she still picks up the occasional shift. Even if a patient doesn’t meet the criteria for SAVE BC, Amanda still avails herself to the care team to provide guidance. From all appearances, Amanda has found the sweet spot of combining clinical practice with clinical research. And now she’s come full circle as she undertakes a Master of Science in Nursing at UBC Okanagan School of Nursing.
“My thesis will take the learnings from SAVE BC and apply it into practice across cardiac units in B.C.,” says Amanda. “My vision for my thesis is that it informs standard of care across the province. By adopting screening processes in the acute care system, we can identify those at risk earlier and hopefully prevent their family members from ever having a cardiac event themselves.”
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