Professionalism in Nursing

Whether your in your area of practice or not, a professional attitude should be illustrated. Eventhough being a Nurse for 25 years or just a new graduate, we are taught in school that one of the  Nurse’s characteristics are professionalism. This must always be utilized, regardless of the situation. Since we are carrying the title Nurse, we might as well carry on our characteristics. Would you act unprofessional in your workplace? No, of course, now when your not in your workplace , would you still act unprofessional? Your still a Nurse when you leave work, I mean don’t you have a license that validates your title as a valid Nurse?

Alberta RN students protest at legislature about shortage of nursing jobs

Alberta nursing students who are preparing to graduate with very unhealthy job prospects showed their frustration Thursday by holding a protest rally in front of the legislature.

Most of the 60 protesters were fourth-year registered nursing students who said their best chance of getting a job now will be in neighbouring Saskatchewan or elsewhere in Canada.

“The public has a right to know that they’re funding nurses to work elsewhere,” said Quinn Grundy, a student who helped organize the rally.

“Saskatchewan has signing bonuses for nurses, B.C. is hiring and the territories are actively recruiting.”

Premier Ed Stelmach acknowledged the importance of nurses to Alberta’s health-care system, but offered no direct response to the concerns raised by the students.

“We are … continuing to train 1,200 additional nurses a year,” the premier told reporters.”That was our commitment in the election and we don’t want to lose any to any other jurisdictions.”

“We embrace them. They play an important role and will continue to do that.”

The College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta estimates the province is short up to 1,300 RNs. The United Nurses of Alberta says nursing jobs are being frozen or cut by the government to meet new budget targets.

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Tags: nursing jobs

Nursing schools developing cultural safe curriculum

The Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada (A.N.A.C.), together with its partner, the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN), have selected six Canadian Schools of Nursing as representative schools for the implementation of new Nursing curriculum based on cultural safety competencies. This work will be inclusive of all the competencies in the new A.N.A.C. Framework, entitled “Cultural Competence and Cultural Safety in Nursing Education: A Framework for First Nations, Inuit and Métis Nursing.”

The Framework was the result of a joint partnership between the Canadian Nurses Association, The Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing and the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada. It was formally launched on National Reconciliation Day, June 11, 2009, and is the result of a project – made possible by $405K in funding from Health Canada’s Aboriginal Health Human Resources Initiative (AHHRI) – called ‘Making it Happen: Strengthening Aboriginal Health Human Resources’.

“Health Canada is delighted to support this project, which demonstrates our commitment to culturally competent practices, which aim to improve the experience of First Nation, Métis and Inuit in health care settings,” said Minister of Health Leona Aglukkaq.

“Such practices also promote the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal nursing students, and support a healthy work environment, essential to both the well-being of nurses, and of their patients,” she added.

After a Call for Proposals, the selection committee made their decision on the representative schools based on differing geographic regions and program format as well as having both and representatives from both university and college programs. The six nursing schools selected are: Nova Scotia Community College, St Francis Xavier University, Trent University, Laurentian University, the University of Alberta and Langara College. Five of the six nursing schools are Bachelors of Nursing programs while the sixth, Nova Scotia Community College, is a Practical Nursing program.

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Tags: new Nursing curriculum

Creating a Culture of Evidence-Based Decision Making

Introduction

The National Forum on Health believes that one of the key goals of the health sector in the 21st century should be the establishment of a culture of evidence-based decision making. Decision makers at all levels-health care providers, administrators, policy makers, patients and the public-will use high-quality evidence to make informed choices about health and health care.

The Evidence-Based Decision Making Working Group investigated and debated possible strategies that would insert more high-quality evidence into the decision-making process at the level of both practice and policy; that would make decision making more accountable; and that would produce the best possible health and health care outcomes.

The Working Group commissioned research to:

• examine the meaning and concepts of evidence and evidence-based decision making;
• identify cases of successful implementation of evidence-based decision making as well as cases that illustrate opportunities for improvement;
• identify the health information infrastructure needed to support evidence-based decision making;
• examine tools which support more effective health care decision making; and
• identify strategies for assisting and increasing the role of Canadians in decision making in health and health care.

We heard from the public and key stakeholders through public consultations, national stakeholder conferences and dialogues with consumers and experts of health information technology (see Appendix 1).

This paper summarizes our findings. It begins with a brief description of evidence-based decision making and the barriers to the use of evidence, explaining why these problems exist and describing some of the factors which influence the use of evidence. We then present our vision of an evidence-based culture for health and health care and the means to create this culture. The final section offers opportunities and solutions to achieve this vision.

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NorQuest nursing program off to Jamaica

NorQuest College’s practical nurse diploma program will now be offered in Jamaica, officials announced yesterday.

This fall, students in pre-university courses can begin training as licensed practical nurses eligible to work in Canada.

The program comes at a time when the demand for qualified nurses is on the rise, said Wendy Kinsella, chair of the NorQuest board of governors.

The partnership involves NorQuest’s Practical Nurses College, the Jamaican government and employers in Canada looking to hire graduates.

“My father told me early in life all young men must dream dreams, but no dream comes true unless you wake up and make it come true,” said Pearnel Charles, minister of labour and social security with the Jamaican government. “We are awake, we are dreaming, we intend to make this dream a reality.”

Approximately 200 pre-university/NorQuest College grads will be ready to work in February 2010.

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Province has yet to contact union about swine flu emergency plans

The union representing Alberta licensed practical nurses says nobody from the province has contacted them to discuss emergency plans for a feared catastrophic fall resurgence of the swine flu.

“I’ve heard nothing from Alberta Health Services,” said Sandy Kyle, who represents 3,300 Edmonton-area unionized LPNs with the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE). There are almost 8,000 LPNs province wide.

“It just amazes me,” said Kyle. “It’s quite incredible, especially when they say it’s going to spread like wildfire.”

The news comes amid complaints Alberta Health Services (AHS) hasn’t sat down, either, with the province’s 24,000 registered nurses to plan a strategy to fight the virus.

Doctors, though, have struck a deal that would pay them more than $500 an hour to work overnight shifts if a public emergency is declared.

Liberal House Leader Laurie Blakeman said, with fears of an outbreak being imminent, it’s the wrong time to be alienating nurses by excluding them from pandemic planning.

“I don’t know what the logic is in the government picking a fight with other health professionals at a time when they’ll really need every one of them to go that extra mile for the public,” said Blakeman.

She figures the government should consult with nurses and negotiate special flu-fighting rates for them and other health workers, as was done with doctors.

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Tags: Alberta licensed practical nurses

Determinants of Health, Biology and Genetic Endowment

Public Perception

Public education is necessary to provide an accurate understanding of genetic inheritance and what the notion of being “at risk” means. Confusion about these terms can lead to serious problems such as biological determinism. This is when human development and human behaviour are determined by a person’s DNA sequence or one’s intolerance of disability. Genetic testing becomes a tool for parents to decide whether to have only “disease-free” and “disability-free” offspring. In order for the public to make informed choices, public education needs to provide information on both the scientific validity of these beliefs and the social consequences of adhering to them.

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Expanded role for nurse practitioners, Canadian survey suggests

TORONTO — Most Canadians are in favour of an expanded role for nurse practitioners, with three in four saying they would be comfortable seeing a nurse practitioner instead of their family doctor, a new survey suggests.

The Canadian Press Harris-Decima survey found that 88 per cent of respondents would be comfortable being treated by a nurse practitioner at a walk-in clinic. And 74 per cent said the same about having their regular physical done by a nurse practitioner.

Nurse practitioners have more qualifications than a nurse and can diagnose patients, as well as provide some treatment, refer people for testing and prescribe some medication.

“People have a lot of trust in nurses and recognize that many, many nurses are very knowledgeable about the kind of day-to-day types of issues that many people come to their doctor to check on – just doing the physical, or ‘My kid’s got a cold or the flu or something, what do I do?”‘ said Jeff Walker, Harris-Decima’s senior vice-president.

“I think there’s a recognition that you don’t always need to see a doctor for some of those kinds of things.”

The survey found that one in five respondents reported having been treated by a nurse practitioner, although Walker acknowledged some may not have known whether the person treating them had the exact credentials.

There are nurse practitioners across the country, but more in some provinces than others. For instance, there are only 72 nurse practitioners in Manitoba, but upwards of 1,300 in Ontario, according to associations representing the profession.

“It may be they have some blurriness about whether a person is officially defined as a nurse practitioner or not,” Walker noted.

“But I think that the case really is that people recalled a circumstance where they basically were treated by the nurse. The doctor didn’t really do anything – maybe didn’t even see them at a clinic.”

Seventy-two per cent of respondents said the role of the nurse practitioner should be expanded in Canada, while 22 per cent said it should remain the same. Only four per cent felt they should play a smaller role.

Eighty per cent of those surveyed said they thought that expanding the role of nurse practitioners would be an effective way of helping to manage the costs of health care.

Full Story.

Tags: nurse practitioner

Blausen Human Atlas iPhone App

BLAUSEN MEDICAL LAUNCHES HUMAN ATLAS 2.0
iPHONE APP WITH INCREASED CONTENT
AND ENHANCED FUNCTIONALITY

Blausen Human Atlas 2.0 app, contains 150 3D animations of common medical treatments and conditions, adds 9 rotatable body systems, 1,500-term medical glossary, 1,200 illustrations and the ability to purchase 15 additional atlases.
HOUSTON (August 11, 2009) – Houston-based Blausen Inc., developer and owner of the world’s largest library of 3D medical animations, has introduced its Blausen Human Atlas 2.0 iPhone app with increased medical content and enhanced functionality. Developed in partnership with CodeMorphic, a leading iPhone application developer, the new app continues the earlier use of 3D videos to provide point-of-care education for 150 common medical conditions and treatments. They are divided into 15 medical topics: Cancer, Circulatory, Digestive, Ear, Endocrine, Eye, Immunology, Muscular, Nervous, Pediatric, Reproductive, Respiratory, Skeletal, Skin and Urinary.  Each topic can also be purchased as a smaller atlas app.

New in this latest 2.0 version are:
•       360 degree rotatable 3D Human Figures showing nine full body systems, e.g. circulatory, muscular, nervous, etc.
•       Searchable 1,500+ term medical glossary, cross referenced to related animations, images and definitions
•       1,200 detailed still images from the 3D animations
•       Ability to purchase optional expanded content atlas upgrades with additional animations         for each of the 15 topics, from Cancer to Urinary.

To view a video introduction of the app, please visit YouTube .

The new Human Atlas 2.0 app retails for $19.99 from the Apple iTunes App Store. The included 15 categories have approximately 10 video animations each. Expanded content upgrades must be purchased through the 2.0 app and are $3.99 – 4.99 per atlas topic.

“Thanks to the feedback and suggestions of our 1.0 users, the resulting 2.0 version of the Human Atlas app, with its increased content with the medical glossary and the still images, plus its enhanced ability to manipulate and rotate individual body systems, is certainly without equal in the medical information space,” said Bruce Blausen, founder and CEO of Blausen Inc.  “This is a dramatic development in patient and consumer education, and ideal for use by doctors, nurses or consumer caregivers.”

Continued Blausen, “For example, say you want to know more about Diabetes. With the new 2.0 Human Atlas, you can view the overall Human Body circulatory system; watch the ‘Diabetes’ 3D animation of the condition; and then go to the glossary and search related terms to access related animations and detailed images. It’s an ideal way of understanding the core concepts of the disease.”

CodeMorphic CEO Bill Heyman said, “”We’re glad we were able to leverage the advanced technology of the iPhone to get this great medical animation library into the hands of more healthcare professionals and consumers. We believe the app is one of the finest available in the medical category. And, we look forward to developing more apps for Blausen and other great brands.”

Blausen and CodeMorphic will follow this latest Blausen Human Atlas iPhone app with additional Blausen iPhone applications, targeted to various geographic and medical specialty areas. The information is delivered in a readily understandable way and will be available in 12 different languages. For more information, visit the Apple Store or www.blausen.com/iphone.

About Blausen Group
Blausen Group includes three separate divisions, Blausen Medical, Blausen Media and Blausen Legal. Blausen Medical, founded in 1991 by Bruce Blausen, is the developer, owner and licensor of the world’s largest library of medical and scientific illustrations and animations. Blausen Media is an advertising agency that provides effective marketing communication strategies and executions and a proven record of distilling complex text-based information into compelling rich media creative. Blausen Legal specializes in providing highest quality biomedical visual media to legal professionals. For more information regarding Blausen Group, please visit the website at www.Blausen.com.

About CodeMorphic
CodeMorphic, based in Minneapolis, MN, develops high-end, cutting-edge iPhone applications for leading brands and organizations in the medical, real estate, food, and communications industries, including the highly ranked Public Radio Tuner. For more information about CodeMorphic, please visit www.codemorphic.com.

For More info and Press release.

IPHONE Application for medical Student