Connections. In This Issue. RNANT/NU Newsletter Winter 2012

Transcription

1 Photo by Pat Nymark Connections RNANT/NU Newsletter Winter 2012 In This Issue Board of Directors...2 Presidents Message...3 Executive Director s Message..4 Call for nominations 5 inic... 6 PCR Report...6 Writing an Exam..7 YK Nursing Chapter News.8 A Day in the Life..9 CAEN Conference..10 Diabetes Boot Camp...11 Bits and Pieces 12 Connections Winter

2 RNANT/NU The Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut is the professional regulatory body and professional association of Registered Nurses. As a self-regulating body we have a mandate to protect the public. As an Association, we have a responsibility to represent, support and advocate for nurses. RNANT/NU Board of Directors President Angela Luciani President Elect Vacant NT Vice President Kevin Grinsted NU Vice President Barbara Harvey Secretary Elizabeth Cook Treasurer Karen Graham NT North Representative Jane Smith Mission To promote and ensure competent nursing practice for people of the Northwest Territories and Nunavut NT South Representative NU West Representative NU East Representative NT Public Representative NU Public Representative Kristy Riley Vacant Vacant Jeanette Hall John Maurice Mailing Address RNANT/NU PO Box 2757 Yellowknife NT X1A 2R1 Office Hours Executive Director Director of Regulatory Services and Policy Director of Professional Conduct Review Regulatory Co-ordinator Executive Assistant Staff Steven Leck Sheila Humphrey Paul McCaskill Karin Hjelmeland Laurie Richardson Monday Friday (except Statutory holidays) Tel: Fax: Website: info@rnantnu.ca Office Location The RNANT/NU office is located in the Monkey Tree Mall, beside Diamonte s Restaurant. #3 483 Range Lake Road Yellowknife, NT Connections Winter

3 President s Message Angela Luciani Writing my second message as President has proven to be quite challenging for me. Not only am I presently in Nepal volunteering as a Field Surveillance Officer for Routine Immunization and Measles/Rubella National Immunization Days, but nursing in Canada is experiencing change. I have received many s regarding the Entry to Practice Nursing Exam in Canada, and can write with honesty that the Board of Directors of RNANT/NU is meeting regularly to review information as it is released. While RNANT/NU has yet to make a decision regarding the Entry to Practice Nursing Exam, the decision is currently being made by other jurisdictions within Canada. In an effort to answer some of the many questions we all have, RNANT/NU has put together a FAQ page on the Entry to Practice Examination as well as the Canadian Council of Registered Nurse Regulators and will continue to communicate any updates of examination information via this method. Changes could impact exam providers, portability, number of offerings, and location of potential exam writes. RNANT/NU is ensuring northern exam needs are met by being present at the table for all exam discussions. At the CNA Board, changes are also taking place as a result of the changes to the not-for-profit legislation. This will impact voting at the CNA table and the number of votes each jurisdiction and other membership groups have available to them. Information will be made available as CNA makes decisions surrounding their voting structure. It is also a busy season as we gear up for our General Meeting. Nominations forms are available, as are Resolution forms. I encourage any of you who want to see changes or have a voice in the future direction of RNANT/NU to put forth a resolution or nominate someone for a Board of Directors position. I am grateful that in my time out of the country we are being well represented at the Canadian Nurses Association table by Barb Harvey, an RNANT/NU Board of Directors member with many years of experience. Angela Connections Winter

4 Executive Director s Message Steven Leck Work continues on your behalf at the RNANT/NU office and we continue to be busy to meet our obligations of protection of the public Registration renewal went well with many nurses getting their renewal applications in before the administrative deadline of December 1 st. This allowed the staff sufficient time to have everyone registered in time for We did renew about 40 members less this year than last, but we will have to see how the end of the year works out. The last few years our numbers have been fluctuating up and down a bit. Professional Conduct in 2011 was the busiest year on record with the highest number of complaints filed in our history. This, of course, has led to increased work, staff hours and legal expenses for hearings etc. This has a significant impact on our expenses in this year but also shows we are taking our responsibilities under the Nursing Profession Act seriously. More detail will be available once the yearend report is presented to the Board of Directors in May. We are pleased the new Practice and Prescriptive Guidelines for Nurse Practitioners were approved by the GNWT Minister of Health for use in the NT. We are still working with the GN to have these guidelines approved for use in Nunavut. As many of you have heard, the RNANT/NU, along with all other regulators in Canada that provide entry to practice registration exams, agreed to enter into negotiations with a new exam provider. Once the Board of Directors of the RNANT/NU can meet to discuss the most recently available information, they will be deciding what direction this Association will be taking. Once this direction has been made, we will be providing more information to our members and others. I would encourage you to review our FAQ document on our website and if you have any questions please forward them to me. Lastly, I would encourage all members of our Association to become active members on either your Board of Directors or one of our committees. There is valuable work to be done to ensure your profession meets its obligations. By not having a full board or committees, it puts more work on fewer people and in some cases makes it difficult to maintain quorum and allow the work to proceed. Steven Leck, BScN, RN Executive Director Connections Winter

5 A Call for Nominations A call for Nominations for a current vacant Board of Directors position: President Elect Term ending May 2012 at the General Meeting President Elect shall perform duties as delegated by the President; in the absence of the President, shall perform the duties of the President as delegated; be the contact person on the executive for the Public Representative on the Board. Also see RNANT/NU bylaws posted on the website. Nomination forms are available from the RNANT/NU office. A call for nominations for the General Meeting in May 2012 for the following positions on the RNANT/NU Board of Directors: President Elect two year term See above description. Vice President Northwest Territories two year term The Vice President will perform duties as assigned by the President: in the absence of the President or the President Elect, perform such duties of the President or The President Elect as delegated; be the contact person on the executive committee for the Northwest territories regional members on the Board. Vice President Nunavut two year term The Vice President will perform duties as assigned by the President: in the absence of the President or the President Elect, perform such duties of the President or The President Elect as delegated; be the contact person on the executive committee for the Nunavut regional members on the Board. Secretary two year term The Secretary shall keep record of all general and special meetings of the Board and all meetings of the Executive Committee. Treasurer two year term The Treasurer ensures an accurate record is kept of all monies received and spent by the Association; present an audited financial statement at the GM; submit a monthly financial report to the Executive Committee. Four regional Representatives The regional representatives shall communicate with the Vice-Presidents; communicate the activities of the association to the members of the Association in the region they represent. Nunavut Representative EAST Qikiqtaaluk Region two year term Nunavut Representative WEST Kivalliq and Kitikmeot Region two year term Northwest Territories Representative NORTH two year term Northwest Territories Representative SOUTH two year term See RNANT/NU bylaws for the region boundaries. Nomination forms are available from the RNANT/NU office. Connections Winter

6 Information for Nurses in the NWT Canada s ONLY regular live broadcast by nurses, about nurses, for nurses! inic will be broadcast live on the first Thursday of the month from 1:15 PM to 1:45 PM All nurses, including RNs, LPNs, and NPs as well as Nursing Students are invited to dial-in to the broadcast. What is inic? inic is a 30-minute teleconference that is run in a radio show format to share information and discuss issues that affect nurses in the NWT. It s brief, it s interesting, and it s designed to fit into your busy day. Who is inic for? inic s goal is to connect with all nurses, including RNs, LPNs, NPs, and Nursing Students across the NWT. What if I don t have time to dial in? A summary is ed out after the show so you can catch up on what you missed. For more information and call-in instructions please contact - nursing@gov.nt.ca Settlement Agreement PCR Report Allegations regarding a possible ethical violation were brought to the attention of the RNANT/NU. On December 12, 2011 the Chair of the Professional Conduct Committee approved a Settlement Agreement between RNANT/NU and the member. The member voluntarily entered into Alternate Dispute Resolution and was fully involved and co-operative with the process. The member has agreed to undertakings involving improving their understanding of ethics. Connections Winter

7 Writing an exam is fun! Well, if you are in an item-writing session in Ottawa at the Assessment Strategies Inc. (ASI) testing centre, it s fun. The national nursing exam the Canadian Registered Nurses Exam, known as the CRNE is the responsibility of ASI in collaboration with provincial/territorial authorities. As well as nursing exams, the ASI writes exams for many other professions. The Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) is the nationwide professional influence for registered nurses in Canada. It represents the 11 provincial and territorial nursing associations and colleges, including143, 843 registered nurses. The CNA presses continually on forward with the practice and profession of nursing to improve health outcomes and strengthen Canada s publicly funded not-for-profit health system. Now, how does one get to go to these sessions? Basically, to be eligible, participants must have a current RN registration/license; have some computer knowledge, and an address. One must be working during his or her term of commitment, which is three years. There are several one-week sessions a year. When participants are selected from the national list of over 300 nominees, factors taken into consideration include jurisdictional representation, areas of responsibility, preferred working language, and availability. Overall, the intent is to obtain a balance among these factors to ensure that each item-writing session has the best possible blend of participants that will yield high-quality items for the CRNE test bank. The participation form is on the CNA web site: CNA funds all travel, hotel and meals. Aside from the fun of spending a week in Ottawa (I am from Iqaluit!) there is a tremendous benefit from networking with our colleagues from all over Canada who engage in very different modes of nursing. For instance, in my last mini working group of six, three of us were educators, one was a community nurse in maternal/child nursing, one worked in provincial health care, and one has been working full-time on her PhD. An educator from Ontario is participating in a study to assess the effectiveness of the simulators purchased by most schools in the last few years. Another current discussion topic was the boundaries of social networking. As an educator, I feel these sessions are an invaluable way to discover trends in the field, compare nursing schools, and learn procedures on the front line nursing, to name a few. We dined out together, visited museums, shopped and traded s with hopes that we may meet again at another session or other nursing gathering such as the CNA Annual conference. We even asked our ASI facilitator for a group photo to remember this extraordinary opportunity. Sally Naphan Nunavut Connections Winter

8 Yellowknife Nursing Chapter Discussion & Education Corner Guest Speaker Anna Tumchewics presented a wonderful overview of her new permanent full time position as an Enterostomal Therapist for the NWT. Thanks to Anna, we now have a broader knowledge base and better understanding of her role and what she has to offer patients and practitioners. Thank you so much Anna. At the January meeting, chapter members met to discuss the proposed changes regarding the Canadian Registered Nurse Exam (CRNE). This has set-up a huge amount of divisiveness within the nursing profession. A second issue raised was related to the current health funding discussion. Past Events Sock Drive this was a very successful initiative this fall. Stanton Territorial Hospital led the way by collecting 280 pairs of socks. Other donations were collected by nursing students and staff from Aurora College, Public Health, and Home Care. All collected socks were distributed for use at the Foot Washing Program at Salvation Army and a smaller donation was made to the Side Door for needs of the youth population. Current Events Personal Care items will collect items starting from February 20 to March 16 th. These items will be distributed to the Women s Shelter and for the Side Door youth facility. Please help by having a box at your site. Items can be dropped off at Aurora College, Room 304 and the RNANT/NU office by March 19 th. Upcoming meetings: March 19 th, April 16 th, an event during Nurses week in May. The socks collected for the sock drive. A thank-you note from the Side Door Youth Center displayed by YK Chapter Nurses. From left to right: Sheila Humphrey, Anna Tumchewics, Heather Leslie, Karen Graham, Vee Faria. Connections Winter

9 A day in the life. of a Student in Arctic Nursing Iqaluit, Nunavut, Canada It is 0600 hours; time for me to wake up and prepare for another clinical shift at the Qikiqtani General Hospital (QGH). For one of our third year classes, we have two eight hour shifts a week that contributes to the requirements for a passing grade. Our shift for this semester starts at 0710 on the dot and we are to come prepared with our completed patient(s) research, Care Plans and medication cards for all the medication we will be administering throughout the day. We begin our shift attending report, this gives us an idea on what to expect with our patients for the day to come. The hospital in Iqaluit is the only hospital for the Baffin Region; therefore many of our patients come from smaller communities. We have no special wards for different admitting diagnosis, so we see a bit of everything on the same floor. As students we are challenged on a daily basis and have great support from our instructors and the staff at QGH. Since our shifts are only eight hours per day, the morning tends to go by extremely fast, especially since the amount of responsibilities we are able to perform are continually growing. We are sure to complete all the given care between The last hour of our shift is designated to meet with our peers and our instructor to reflect on what we have learned or to simply discuss our feelings about the day. In partnership with Dalhousie University in Halifax, NS, the four year Bachelor of Science degree in Arctic Nursing program is offered here in Iqaluit at the Nunatta Campus of the Nunavut Arctic College. We follow all Dalhousie University course objectives; however each class is uniquely tapered to include a Northern element. Our Nursing program is like any other nursing program, we have a designated room that we use to practice our clinical skills. We can practice any skill you can imagine, from inserting an NG tube, to administering intramuscular injections, to inserting Foley catheters. I believe that if it were not for this special lab, it would make the first time in an actual hospital setting a lot more nerve wracking to conduct. Our instructors place a schedule on the lab door and the students are able to use the room to practice any skill as long as the lab isn t being used for general class needs. The capacity for students at the Nunavut Arctic College is a lot smaller compared to Universities in the south, this means we have significantly smaller classes. My third year class has a total of eight students and is currently the largest class since the Nursing program began in Iqaluit. This aspect is a huge reason why I believe I am as successful as I am in this program. The teacher to student ratio really benefits the students a great deal. Nursing is such a difficult program and requires a lot of concentration and motivation to stay on top of all the assignments, exams, care plans, essays and clinical hours. Our faculty is filled with amazing individuals who are all very approachable and have an open door policy where they are willing to answer any questions the students may have. As a student attending Nunavut Arctic College you are eligible to apply Arctic Nursing Students Nunatta Campus, Nunavut Arctic College, Iqaluit Nunavut (Left to Right) Nancy Mike, Ceilidh MacIsaac, Tina Campbell (me), D Arcy Masson, Sandra Shwartz, Denise Romero Connections Winter

10 for student housing. During my first year I was lucky enough to be placed with classmates in a four bedroom unit just up the hill from the main campus building where our classes are held. On top of being extremely close to our school we are also under a five minute walk to the hospital which makes everything very convenient. I know I cannot speak for the rest of the Nursing programs available across Canada, but this is mainly my perspective on being a student in the Nursing program here in Iqaluit, Nunavut. Iqaluit is my home and it is amazing to be able to attend a post-secondary program with people I have grown up with. The Nursing program follows a strict timeline involving a total of eight semesters where each semester has prerequisites for the next. This means that the classmates you begin year one with are the classmates you will most likely get to graduate with. My classmates and I have become extremely tight knit. Being in class every day together for the past two and a half years has brought us closer. We have had our struggles together and most importantly our triumphs. I am finding it very difficult not to become emotional writing about the strong bond that we have. We have all seen each other at breaking points, and when one class mate is down we come together to support one another. I am extremely lucky to be in school with seven of the most amazing, smart and perfect candidates for futures as Registered Nurses. I can say from personal experiences, that if it had not been for the support from my classmates I would probably have not fought as hard as I have to get myself this far. Tina-Linette Campbell, 3 rd year Student Nurse Nunavut Arctic College, Iqaluit, Nunavut Under the Same Sky: Celebration, Collaboration, Continuity Yellowknife April 24-26, 2012 Aurora College North Slave Yellowknife campus is pleased to host the Collaboration for Academic Education in Nursing (CAEN) Conference, Under the Same Sky: Celebration, Collaboration, Continuity. CAEN is a partnership of schools of nursing throughout British Columbia and the Northwest Territories. This annual conference is an opportunity for nurse educators to discuss innovations in teaching and learning, review and critique the shared curriculum, and showcase scholarly work. We welcome approximately fifty faculty members who teach within BSN programs at these universities and colleges. The keynote speaker, Susanne Gordon, and award winning author, journalist and playwright, will address the conference on the morning of Wednesday, April 25, The title of the keynote address is When Chicken Soup Isn t Enough: How Nurses Can Learn to Talk About the Real Value of Their Work Using both didactic and interactive methods, Ms Gordon will explore why it is nurses so often have difficulty explaining their work and changing the traditional image of their profession. She will help nurses build the skills needed to transform public understanding of their work and to better explain their importance to the public. This portion of the conference is open to all interested nurses. Please Matthew Smith at msmith@auroracollege.nt.ca to confirm a seat. Connections Winter

11 Connections Winter

12 Bits and Pieces Websites Canadian Nurses Association Canadian Nurses Protective Society NurseOne Canadian Association for Rural and Remote Nurses Conferences Canadian Nurses Foundation June 17, 2012 Vancouver, BC Canadian Nurses Association June 18 22, 2012 Vancouver, BC Community Health Nurses of Canada May 12 14, 2012 Toronto, Ontario International Congress On Circumpolar Health Call to Congress 2012 Aug 5 12, 2012 Fairbanks, Alaska International Polar Year Conference April, 2012 Montreal, Quebec Connections Keeping nurses in the North linked to each other. Let us know who you are, where you are and what you do. Send submissions to ea@rnantnu.ca or kgraham@auroracollege.nt.ca Newsletter Committee Elizabeth Cook Brenda Kolasa Pat Nymark Next Issue June 2012 Karen Graham Heather Leslie Please send us photos and a brief description of your Nurses Week Celebrations. Submission deadline 15 June 2012 Moving? WE NEED TO KNOW Please provide your new address, phone number and address to: RNANT/NU at info@rnantnu.ca or Call the office (867) Connections Winter