Hospital Insider: Nurse-physician relationship is key

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Dr. Jeff Manning describes the importance of nurses to a family medicine practice as all-important, saying, “The nurses are the face of our work.”

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Mary Lynn Wheat was Manning’s lead nurse, having worked together for over 30 years.  They both shared similar backgrounds and interests in healthcare.

Wheat was raised in Simcoe and studied nursing at the Brantford General Hospital (BGH) School of Nursing.

“My grandmother was a caregiver, and she inspired me to become a nurse when I was five years old. I never ever wavered.”

Manning grew up in Brant County, in Burford, and went to Burford District High School.

“My father, Alan, owned Manning Pharmacy in Burford, and my mother, Marilyn, went to the BGH School of Nursing and worked at BGH.”

In 1967, Wheat began nursing in Simcoe at Norfolk General Hospital.

“I received a bursary from Norfolk General Hospital, and I worked there for two years in their emergency department and a surgical unit. It is a much smaller hospital, and I gained broad experience.”

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Two years later, Wheat came to Brantford to St. Joseph’s Hospital working in the emergency department and surgical unit. This was followed by stints at a nursing home, and the family practice of Dr. Pickett, Dr. Jack Shaver and Dr. Jim Shaver. She also worked at the Brantford General Hospital and the Willett Hospital in Paris in her 50-year career.

After graduating in 1989, earning a degree in kinesiology at the University of Waterloo, and attending McMaster School of Medicine, Manning began working with Wheat.

“I had the privilege of working alongside Dr. Manning and the other physicians and staff,” Wheat said. “We all worked well together caring for our patients.”

As the lead nurse for Manning, she was responsible for triaging patients, providing telephone advice, doing minor procedures, injections, and general interaction with the patients.

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“One of her many strengths was Mary Lynn understood our patients,” Manning said recently.

Katie Collier is now Manning’s lead nurse, with Sam Elliott, Carrie Giles and Jennie Brouwer completing the staff.

Through 2015, Manning also worked at the BGH in obstetrics, the emergency department and inpatient units.

“I have cared for the children of patients and even delivered the grandchild of one patient.”

“Over the years we travel the same path, we all age together,” Manning said.

Wheat said she would absolutely become a nurse if she had to start over again. “I was a nurse for my dolls as a youngster, and a nurse for Dr. Manning throughout much of my nursing career.”

Manning said, “The nurse-physician relationship is especially important. Mary Lynn taught me a lot. We enjoyed working together and remain good friends to this day.”

Hospital Insider is written by Gary Chalk, a former employee of the Brant Community Healthcare System.

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