Comments on: Being Poor is Expensive – Nursing Needs to Raise its Game, by Zak Matieschyn BSN, MN, RN, NP(Family)

By: Zak Matieschyn

Zak Matieschyn — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 00:59:06 +0000

In reply to Penny. Well said, Penny. It sounds like you are doing excellent advocacy work for the people and communities you work with. A true nurse! I look forward to a day when nursing will have a greater stake in the development of social policy in British Columbia. Zak

By: Zak Matieschyn

Zak Matieschyn — Sat, 19 Mar 2016 00:52:28 +0000

In reply to Kathleen Harris.

Hi Kathleen,

I'm interested in hearing more about your ideas of how to raise the profile of this important issue amongst nursing. We have a lot of power and influence waiting to be unleashed.
Feel free to email me at president@www.nnpbc.com to discuss this further.

Zak

By: Karen Irving

Karen Irving — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 05:47:55 +0000

Zak,
Thanks for your blog on poverty and the need for nurses and NPs to raise the bar on poverty, particularly for children. I strongly believe that as NPs and nurses we need to work from the bottom up rather than the top down to help move the determinants of health forward. This would be beneficial in many ways as it would improve the health of individuals and families and also decrease the overall cost of healthcare as a whole.

I also work with marginalized and people that live on the street. Many do not have a roof over their head or a bed to sleep in. Many depend on the food bank or the meals that are dispensed through various agencies for their token one meal per day. Many of us do provide extras to assist our clients to help them make ends meet but are we doing enough?

That is the question--are we speaking out so that our voices are heard by those that make a difference? Do we take every opportunity to voice our concerns? What are we doing as individuals and groups to raise the bar to help ensure that the social determinants of health are being more frequently met for our clients and particularly the children? If each one of us can make a difference for one child we will impact approximately 30,000 children. How will you make a difference? I challenge you ...

Karen

By: Penny

Penny — Thu, 17 Mar 2016 03:35:07 +0000

Thank you for bringing voice to this vitally important issue. I am in complete agreement that the nursing profession has a role and responsibility to advocate for those whose lives are greatly impacted in a negative way by the limits poverty places on their lives, health and well being. It is known that we have the highest rates of child poverty in the country, too many children are poor and living with food and housing insecurity, this is not acceptable. We need to show the children in this province, in this country that they matter.
As Cindy Blackstock noted in her Globe and Mail article, Stacking the odds against First Nations families, "We only get one childhood. Raising a generation of children who are honoured, loved and supported creates a better future. The World Health Organization reports that investing $1 in a child saves taxpayers $6 to $7 dollars downstream and creates a better society." We must address the issue of poverty for children, their families and their communities.
There are many who working to bring awareness to the issue of poverty it would be a huge boost and perhaps create a tipping point if we could all come together to add our collective voice to this issue to create the change that is needed. I continue to advocate for awareness and change for Aboriginal people and will look for opportunities to participate and influence social policy that addresses poverty in a tangible and meaningful way.

By: Kathleen Harris

Kathleen Harris — Wed, 16 Mar 2016 04:28:16 +0000

Thank you Zak, for using the power of your voice at ARNBC to speak on this serious issue in BC. My Masters degree is a combination of a Master of Public Health program at SFU, with a specific concentration in social inequities, and nursing leadership. I am currently involved with the BC Poverty Reduction Coalition and local Nanaimo area Aboriginal groups that are concerned with poverty and general SDH that grossly disproportionately affect Aboriginal people.

I could not agree more that BC nurses have a crucial role to play in making improvements on the issue of poverty and social inequities in health. I believe we have an ethical responsibility to stand up to what we know are societally driven health harms. As you point out, poverty is likely the most significant sole contributor to ill health in BC. I would like to join a call for nurses to take a public stand at the BC legislature. I have some ideas around this and am hoping you might be interested in helping to make a very visible gathering of BC Nurses heard in Victoria.

Please contact me if you know of others that it would be helpful for me to connect with to create nursing action in poverty awareness and poverty reduction.
Sincerely,
Kathleen