Theresa Furey is an RPN who likes to change it up!
In her nursing career she has journeyed from a role in Orthopedics to the Pharmaceutical Industry, and then started her own consulting business. While maintaining her consulting business, Theresa also works for Lifeline, educating clients who are at high risk for falls. Theresa’s latest endeavour includes a role in chronic pain management at GreenRoot, a Medical Marijuana Clinic.
Theresa Furey has been an RPN for 40 years. Theresa started her unique nursing career in Orthopedics at the Juravinski Hospital in Hamilton, formerly the Henderson Hospital. This endeavor continued for 10 years at which time Theresa started working for the Pharmaceutical Industry.
Theresa’s career with Wyeth Pharmaceuticals spanned more than two decades, culminating with her role as the Manager of Continuing Health Education for Ontario and the East Coast. Throughout her time at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, Theresa was recognized many times for her excellence in sales and health education development in the areas of the central nervous system, women’s health, cardiovascular, and infectious disease.
Theresa left Wyeth Pharmaceuticals to start her own consulting business working with small pharmaceutical companies in sales, medical and marketing departments. Theresa’s consulting company assists in the development, coordination and implementation of health education for conferences, speaker tours, and advisory board meetings.
While maintaining her consulting company, Theresa also works full-time with Philips Lifeline as their Lifeline Community Representative for the Niagara Region. Lifeline is a personal emergency response service that provides immediate assistance to people in their homes in a medical emergency situation. Theresa’s role is to provide education programs on fall prevention to seniors and work closely with discharge planners, physicians, Community Care Access Centre Care coordinators, occupational and physiotherapists for patients who are at a high risk for falls upon discharge from the hospital. Theresa also meets with clients in their home or at the bedside to provide education about Lifeline and keeping themselves independent and safe in the home. Working in this role has provided the opportunity for Theresa to utilize her unique knowledge and expertise gathered from her experience in nursing, health education and sales. As a result of these experiences, Theresa is a highly trusted and valued member of the interprofessional team for both the clients and her colleagues. Theresa’s commitment to falls prevention education and Lifeline services promotes safety and independence for clients at risk of falling.
Most recently, while still self-employed and working for Lifeline, Theresa is involved in a special nursing project with a patient centred clinic called GreenRoot. GreenRoot is a new health centre, connecting clients, doctors, and licensed producers of medical cannabis. Theresa’s role is to work with clients to collect and complete a patient history for a referral that is sent to the physician who prescribes medical cannabis. Theresa is part of the team of nurses at GreenRoot who work one-on-one with the clients to gather as much medical information as possible, including medical records to support the physician in completing the medical documentation to prescribe marijuana. GreenRoot helps clients explore their medical marijuana choices and to connect the clients with an appropriate licensed producer, in addition to providing assistance with completing forms and phone calls for the clients. Theresa became involved with GreenRoot through a physician who felt there was a real need for clients to gain access to medical marijuana for pain management and other conditions. The GreenRoot clinic provides alternatives to opioids for chronic pain management, multiple sclerosis, and HIV/AIDS. Seeing patients in the clinic on a part-time basis provides Theresa the opportunity to utilize her highly tuned nursing assessment skills. Theresa sees her work at the GreenRoot clinic as an opportunity for professional growth.