A huge thank you to all of the bloggers and commenters who shared your opinions, thoughts, frustrations, enthusiasm, and in some cases, anger, during the course of 2013. We’ve heard from so many nurses across B.C., telling us how much you appreciate and value this blog, and the unique opportunity it gives to engage in discussion about issues that are important to nurses and nursing. We look forward to hearing from many more of you in 2014, and encourage all nurses to join in the discussion or consider writing a blog yourself.
Two blogposts in particular stood out for us this year. Lori Campbell’s submission, Nursing Stereotypes: The Good, The Bad and The Ugly focused on the controversy stirred up by the MTV reality show Scrubbing In, which caught the attention of many nurses and the public. Lori’s approach was a bit different than most of the naysayers, in that she not only criticized the show itself, but also focused on the long history of sexism in the portrayal of nurses by popular media. Lori asked some important questions about why this is accepted – and what needs to be done to change how our profession is viewed.
Rob Calnan’s more recent blogpost, Nursing Leaders Address the Need for Major Change in Health Policy, has certainly resonated with nurses, many of whom have felt that his comments echo their own feelings of frustration about how disjointed and fractured the profession has become in the province. The fact that nursing leaders are taking first steps towards changing this, and are willing to come forward in a proactive and forceful way, has captured the attention of many nurses, who are desperately hoping that policy and advocacy changes will return the profession to a place of respect.
Honourable mentions this year include any and all blogposts around the flu policy/flu shot, a carry-over from our conversation from last year, and one which gave us an opportunity to participate with the Minister of Health and other officials in the launch of the 2013/2014 B.C. Flu Strategy. Paddy Rodney provided a first look into some of the discussion ARNBC has been having with nurses around the province when it comes to the controversial and difficult topic of staff mix. In fact, all of our 2013 blog contributors deserve a special note of thanks for their courage to speak up on important issues facing the profession during the past year.
We already have a number of blogposts lined up for the New Year, but we encourage anyone who has a passion, an interest or the desire to share their voice, to contact us at admin@www.nnpbc.com and share your ideas and suggestions. If you need help with writing, editing or honing your ideas, we’re more than happy to help. You can check out our guest blogger guidelines here.
Remember, your voice is our strength!
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!
[…] Our social media presence grew steadily during the past year as more people used these platforms for engagement with their colleagues. It is fascinating to observe the interest generated by blog posts, as noted in this year-end article. […]