Nancy DiPietro, Coordinator Nina’s Place in 2003

Nina’s Place is the Regional Sa/DVCC located at Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital in Burlington. It celebrated its 1st anniversary December 6, 2002. Since its inception, Nina’s Place has provided care to over 50 individuals who experienced sexual and/or interpersonal violence - so far most cases have been sexual assault related. Nancy DiPietro says: “We are involved with many community committees including the Halton Violence Prevention Council and the Halton Sexual and Domestic Violence Collaborative.”

Nancy DiPietro is privileged to have been a part of this organization for the past 3 months. Since Nancy DiPietro’s arrival Nina’s place has: developed a new training manual for nursing stag; expanded their roster to 17 nurses; sent 2 nurses to SANE training; and held a 2-day domestic violence training workshop with the help of Network Coordinator, Sheila Macdonald.

Nancy DiPietro says:”We are the pilot site for the implementation of the Routine Universal Comprehensive Screening (RUCS) protocol. This initiative involved holding focus groups at 5 hospitals in the region to examine barriers to screening for domestic violence.” Nancy DiPietro completed a 2-day ‘Train the Trainer’ workshop led by Education Wife Assault. Ten hospital employees from various departments and disciplines attended this workshop along with 5 representatives from community partners. Nancy DiPietro hopes the information she learned will be shared with colleagues, both formally and informally. Nancy DiPietro wants their community to know that Joseph Brant Memorial Hospital recognizes domestic violence as a serious health issue and that this is a safe space to come for help.

Nancy DiPietro adds: “For the future… we will be strengthening our team and continuing to build relationships within our community. We also plan to expand our service to include providing care to children and adolescents.” “It is our hope that Halton Region will emerge as a leader in providing comprehensive care to survivors of sexual and interpersonal violence,” adds Nancy DiPietro.

Read more about Nancy Dipietro: www.nancydipietro.org

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