It is a new year - a politically important year. As you are aware, we are drawing closer to 2014, when the federal-provincial Health Accord will be re-negotiated. This week, the Premiers of all the provinces are meeting in Victoria to discuss the future of health care in Canada.
Late last year, 10 of Canada’s nursing regulatory bodies selected an American organization, the National Council of State Boards of Nursing, to develop a new examination for entry-to-practice which will replace the current Canadian exam by 2015. The NCLEX (National Council Licensure EXamination) is the name of the exam currently used in the United States.
There has been a lot of talk lately about the NCLEX coming to Canada. To be honest, when I first heard about it my thought was, “that doesn’t sound completely terrible”.Read More »A Canadian version of the US Licensure Examination, eh? by Nickie Snyder RN
By Patricia Foster, RN
I have been privileged to work in a nurse led clinic for 17 years. The Comox Valley Nursing Centre began as a demonstration project, highlighting nurses working to the full scope of their practice, in partnership with the community. Chronic illnesses and in particular chronic pain were the primary needs.
Patients and colleagues have taught us much:Read More »Better Health, Better Care: The Role of Nurses in Chronic Disease Management, by Patricia Foster RN
Insite is the only legal supervised injection site in North America, located in the Downtown Eastside neighbourhood of Vancouver. After a lengthy legal struggle, on September 30, 2011 the Supreme Court of Canada unanimously ruled that Insite should immediately be granted an exemption under the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act (CDSA) and remain open (http://scc.lexum.org/en/2011/2011scc44/2011scc44.html). The ruling stated that closing Insite would prevent injection drug users from accessing needed health services… Read More »What Did It Take to Get Insite? by Irene Goldstone
In January 2012, the B.C. Government plans to launch the Nurse-Family Partnership program (NFP), a nurse home-visitation program offered to vulnerable, young, first-time mothers who have low incomes and are at an early stage in their pregnancy (28 weeks or earlier). ). The program is based on compelling research evidence from US studies that demonstrates the importance of intensive nurse follow-up for high risk families. As nurses, we should support… Read More »Positioning the Nurse-Family Partnership Program in British Columbia – How can it be a win-win for optimum family health? by Susan Duncan RN
The ARNBC Forum page. Click on the picture to go to the page.
The ARNBC Board has been busy since the September 8th joint CNA/ARNBC meeting. Many thanks to those who attended and contributed their thoughts and comments throughout the day, as well as in the follow-up evaluation survey. You've given us a lot to consider as we move ahead with planning for the coming year.
Please feel free to view materials from the Forum on our website by visiting our Forum Page. The page includes the overview powerpoint/speaking notes, pictures from the day, as well as Read More »Update on Activities
Registered nurses and nurse practitioners provide care for individuals, families and communities from all walks of life across British Columbia. Many of the people we encounter face complex health and social challenges—and such challenges are especially complex for those who live in poverty. The BC Office of the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives (CCPA) recently released a compelling report about “The Cost of Poverty in BC”.
Read More »The Costs of Poverty in BC: Nurses’ Voices Matter! by Paddy Rodney RN
Nurses across a wide range of service sectors contribute a major component of the spectrum of primary care – supporting patients, families and communities in a wide range of health promotion, disease prevention, and chronic illness management activities to name a few. However, wherever they work, nurses also witness the individual impacts of a troubled primary care system -- a system that does not yet guarantee access for all British Columbians, that remains strongly physician-centric at a time when physicians themselves are concerned about the serious scarcity of primary care providers within their own ranks, and whose funding and management systems operate in isolation from the rest of the publicly funded health care system. British Columbia lags behind most other provinces and many other nations in enacting a truly comprehensive and coordinated interprofessional system of care. And nurses see first hand how the gaps in primary care lead to unacceptable acute and chronic illness rates as well as preventable human suffering.
Read More »Adding the RN Voice to Primary Care Reform , by Sally Thorne RN
