National Nursing Week

2 WINNIPEG FREE PRESS - SATURDAY, MAY 4, 2019 Happy National Nursing Week Wab Kinew and the NDP Caucus are Proud to Stand with Manitoba's Nurses. "I will rebuild our healthcare system after Premier Pallister's cuts by listening to people on the front lines." Are you worried about the state of healthcare in Manitoba thanks to Pallister's cuts and closures to Winnipeg's emergency rooms, cardiac surgeries and nurses? If so, tell us what you think by emailing OLO@yourmanitoba.ca Find out more at healthcare.yourmanitoba.ca Authorized by NDP Caucus Wab's Ad for Nursing Week 2.indd 1 2019-04-25 10:15 AM VOICES TO LEAD — POWER FOR CHANGE EVERY NURSE HAS A STORY AND EVERY STORY HAS THE POTENTIAL TO IMPROVE THE HEALTH SYSTEM E ach year, we pause to recognize nurses during the week of May 12 to coincide with the birthday of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale. This year, National Nursing Week runs from Monday, May 6 to Sunday May 12, with a focus on the theme, Nurses: A Voice to Lead – Health for All. This theme illustrates that every nurse has a story to tell, and each of those stories has the power to improve physical and mental health outcomes for all. During National Nursing Week, we celebrate the roles nurses play in every area of health care, from cradle to grave, as researchers and administrators, educators and advocates, and as hands-on caregivers in hospitals, clinics, long-term care facilities and in the greater community. COLLEGE OF REGISTERED NURSES OF MANITOBA 2018 was a big year for registered nurses (RNs) since they became governed under the Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA) last May 31. "The RHPA provides a framework for how we work together as inter-professional teams in providing health care," says Katherine Stansfield, CEO and registrar of the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba. "We have overlapping scopes of practices. In order to provide health care in the best possible way, every profession plays a very vital role in meeting that entire need of the population." Under the RHPA, registered nurses can pursue additional education to extend their practice to become authorized prescribers, which differs from the role of nurse practitioners. "Nurse practitioners are fully autonomous. They can order, prescribe and diagnose. They have a very broad scope of practice," Stansfield says. "But there is a group of registered nurses that are not nurse practitioners who can prescribe certain drugs in a more limited way, and the ability to order lab tests and diagnostic tests is also available. That's how the practice of registered nursing is evolving." This year, another focus draws attention to the wide-ranging roles of registered nurses. "RNs have a very strong clinical role. Most people think of them in hospital settings, but we have other roles that are worth thinking about," Stansfield says. "There are roles as communicators, collaborators and co- ordinators. RNs play a key role in ensuring that the needs of a particular individual, family or community are understood and communicated with all the other members of the team." RNs also play vital roles as educators, scholars and leaders. "It might be a surprise for people to know that many of the leaders in the health-care system are registered nurses," Stansfield says. "Making decisions about how the health-care system runs, where we need resources, how those resources work — all of that is influenced and led by registered nurses in an administration role." Currently, there are 12,779 registered nurses and 227 nurse practitioners in Manitoba. For the first time, there are also four authorized prescribers. All three groups fall under the oversight of the College. "It's a career that offers so much diversity. You can practise clinically in so many different settings with a large degree of autonomy but always within an inter-professional team," Stansfield says. "There's not a day that goes by that you haven't done something that is meaningful to somebody else. As a profession, I think that's very important and very fulfilling." By Jennifer McFee Your leadership makes a difference every day. Share your story @ canadanurses #VoiceToLead #IND2019 & #NationalNursingWeek cna-aiic.ca Your leadership makes a difference every day. Share your story @ canadanurses #VoiceToLead #IND2019 & #NationalNursingWeek NATIONAL NURSING WEEK MAY 6-12, 2019 NATIONAL NURSING WEEK cna-aiic.ca

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