After what seems like months of anticipation, B.C.’s Lieutenant Governor, Judith Guichon, has called for a provincial election to be held on May 14, 2013. From today on, British Columbians will be inundated with TV ads, opportunities to attend candidate events, front-yard campaign signage and canvassers and candidates knocking on doors.
Nursing is one of the most respected, valued and strong professions in B.C. with a long history of providing advice to elected representatives around public policy issues that impact the health and well-being of British Columbians, their families and the communities they live in. Now is the time for B.C. nurses to seek answers from their local candidates about how they will begin to address some of the issues facing the healthcare system if they are voted into office.
Nurses across the province have asked ARNBC to provide some tools and tips to help them be engaged in this election campaign and to raise the issues and concerns that are important to our profession and the health of the patients we work with.
We encourage all B.C. nurses to visit our Election Page [or click here] and review and use the materials to engage your local candidates. If you have any questions or ideas about additional issues you would like us to share, we would we be happy to hear from you. Drop us an email at admin@www.nnpbc.com, post a message on our Facebook page or send us a Tweet.
As well, any nurse who is interested in writing an election specific item for this blog should have a quick look at the Blog Submission Guidelines and then email your submission to admin@www.nnpbc.com.
Let’s keep health and healthcare front and centre throughout the election campaign and make sure our professional concerns as nurses are heard loud and clear as we work together to determine who should represent the province in the Legislature.
ABOUT ARNBC
The Association of Registered Nurses of British Columbia (ARNBC) is a professional organization that provides a unified voice for registered nurses and nurse practitioners in the development of health, nursing and public policy that advances the health of British Columbians.
We welcome comments on this or any other blogpost!
We know that many of you have been visiting our Election Page during the past week. We have posted background issues notes on primary care, senior’s care, and a nursing call to action. Please let us know what you think and what you’re doing in your communities now that the campaign is underway.
The parties are announcing their health platforms this week. Watch for media coverage and opportunities to comment from a nursing perspective:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/story/2013/04/23/bc-healthcare-dix-clark.html
Please feel free to add a comment here, drop us an email at admin@www.nnpbc.com, post a message on our Facebook page, or send us a Tweet. We really do want to hear from you!