Meet RNAO’s new president • Helping international nurses register • RNAO’s Day at Queen’s Park March/April 2004 Registered Nurse JOURNAL NURSING’S HISTORYOF HAZARDS The purchase of new, safer equipment in Ontario hospitals is good news, but is it enough? Clinidata nurses... caring to be the best. “It is so rewarding to help callers with specific symptoms, as well as giving pre- ventative health information. I am also pleased to go home and say to myself, ‘I learned something new today’.” At Clinidata, our nurses and support staff are committed to excellence and quality health care through our role as Become a part service provider for Telehealth Ontario. of this rewarding Clinidata is managed by nurses at every level. 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Telehealth nursing. Registered Nurse JOURNAL VOLUME 16, NO. 2, MARCH/APRIL 2004 FEATURES 19 NURSING’S HISTORY OF HAZARDS 12 By Kimberley Kearsey The government’s promise to fund the purchase of new, safer equipment in Ontario hospitals is good news, but is it enough to fix the age-old occupational hazards that have become “part of the job” for nurses? Q&A WITH JOAN LESMOND 17 By Carl Mavromichalis Joan Lesmond will take the helm as RNAO president on April 23. She offers members and colleagues a glimpse of her goals over the next two years. CULTURE SHOCK 19 By Kimberley Kearsey and Carl Mavromichalis With a little guidance and CARE, more and more internationally educated nurses are making THE LINEUP the grade in Ontario. EDITOR’S NOTE 4 BIG DREAMS IN A BIG RIG 21 By Carl Mavromichalis PRESIDENT’S VIEW 5 A passion for nursing and a penchant for MAILBAG/CHNAC STANDARDS 6 trucking drives one nursing student to a BScN and the opportunity to fulfill her dream EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR’S DISPATCH 7 of outpost nursing. OUT & ABOUT 8 A DAY IN THE LIFE OF RNAO’S BOOK REVIEW 9 22 EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR NURSING IN THE NEWS 10 By Cheryl Yost, RN, BScN, MEd Cheryl Yost shares her experience as the first RN PROFILE 23 recipient of the Hub Fellowship, and the CALENDAR 27 necessities that go along with job shadowing executive director Doris Grinspun for one week. POLITICIANS PROMISE RNs, 24 CHANGE IS A PRIORITY By Kimberley Kearsey For the fifth consecutive year, RNAO’s Annual Day at Queen’s Park provokes policy discussion between nurses and provincial politicians. The journal of the Editor’s Note REGISTERED NURSES ASSOCIATION OF ONTARIO 438 University Avenue, Suite 1600, Toronto ON M5G 2K8 Phone: 416-599-1925 Toll-Free: 1-800-268-7199 Fax: 416-599-1926 Web site: http://www.rnao.org E-mail: [email protected] Letters to the editor: [email protected] EDITORIAL STAFF Lesley Frey, Acting Publisher Kimberley Kearsey, Acting Managing Editor The power of change, Jill Shaw, Editorial Assistant EDITORIAL ADVISORY COMMITTEE the importance of initiative Patricia Stiles, Chair Kathy Dawe, Joseph Gajasan, Rebecca Hagey, Ann Lukits, André Picard, Rani Srivastava, With this issue, I celebrate one year as managing editor Carol Yandreski DESIGN, ART DIRECTION, PRODUCTION of Registered Nurse Journal. It’s been a tremendous experience, Tammy Hunter/Ireland+Associates and one that has offered me invaluable insight into the sweep- ADVERTISING Registered Nurses Association of Ontario ing and often complicated policy and practice challenges nurs- Phone: 416-599-1925, ext. 211 Fax: 416-599-1926 es face across the province and the country. SUBSCRIPTIONS Our cover feature, for example, touches on two pieces of an The Registered Nurse Journal is a benefit to members of the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario. Paid sub- intricate and complicated occupational health and safety puzzle with which nurses scriptions from others are welcome. Subscription rate (six issues): Canada $36 per year. Outside Canada: $42 per contend daily.It is a telling example of just how sizable the challenges for the profes- year. Publications Mail Registration No. 10239. Agreement No. 4006768, ISSN 1484-0863. Printed with sion can be. It also serves as an example of the kind of professional hazards nurses need vegetable-based inks on recycled paper (50% recycled and 20% post-consumer fibre) on acid-free paper. to persistently bring to the attention of government and employers. The Registered Nurse Journal is published six times a year by the Registered Nurses Association of In this issue we review RNAO’s 5th Annual Day at Queen’s Park, and look at what Ontario. The views or opinions expressed in the editorials, politicians propose to address some of the other big-picture issues for the profession. articles or advertisements are those of the authors/adver- tisers and do not necessarily represent the policies of We offer you their perspectives on the need for more full-time employment, com- RNAO or the Editorial Advisory Committee. RNAO assumes no responsibility or liability for damages arising petitive bidding in the community health sector, funding and accountability, and the from any error or omission or from the use of any infor- mation or advice contained in the Registered Nurse ongoing struggles to understand how public/private partnerships impact the lives of Journal including editorials, studies, reports, letters and advertisements. All articles and photos accepted for publi- nurses and their patients. cation become the property of the Registered Nurse Journal.Indexed in Cumulative Index to Nursing and Each of the stories we bring you this month explore the power of change and the Allied Health Literature. importance of initiative. In the eyes of political leaders and decision-makers, change RNAO OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS may be complicated, expensive, fraught with red-tape, and achievable only in the long Adeline Falk-Rafael, RN, PhD term. In the eyes of nurses, change is essential. And it’s the only option if people are President ext. 202 Joan Lesmond, RN, BScN, MSN to get the care they need and deserve from nurses. President-Elect, ext. 204 Doris Grinspun, RN, MSN, PhD (Candidate) I’ve enjoyed my front-row seat this past year as political change unfolded across the Executive Director ext. 206 Irmajean Bajnok, RN, MScN, PhD entire health-care system.And I’m excited to share in the political strides of the asso- Director, Centre for Professional Nursing Excellence ext. 234 ciation in the year to come. Nancy Campbell Director, Finance and Administration ext. 229 Jacqueline Choiniere, RN, MA Director, Policy and Research ext. 215 Lesley Frey Acting Director, Communications ext. 209 Daniel Lau, MBA Director, Membership and Services ext. 218 Kimberley Kearsey Acting Managing Editor www.rnao.org 4 March/April 2004 President’s View with Adeline Falk-Rafael Awe, pride define two years as RNAO president Two years ago I reason for nurses to be political and speak ment accountable to campaign promises to became your presi- truth to power than the loss of 44 deliver 8,000 more nurses, with 70 per cent dent and I challenged Ontarians to SARS, including two nursing of RNs working full-time; and to strengthen nurses to a course of colleagues who made the supreme sacrifice our beleaguered public health system to political action and in the line of duty.Registered nurses risked ensure we are prepared for future health professional citizenship their own health and safety to protect their emergencies. that would embrace patients, families and colleagues, and it is As my term draws to a close, the 30- the notion that politi- impossible to separate the personal tragedy year-old words of Hildegard Peplau that I cal advocacy is a dimension of caring that is of SARS from political decisions related to shared with you when we embarked on this a moral imperative. I challenged each of us health care. For instance, SARS shone a remarkable journey in 2001 are an equally to assume the role of citizen nurse, to put spotlight on the danger of ill-conceived fitting vision for the next leg of our mission: ‘health’ and ‘care’ back into an illness treat- “And this is the test:Whether or not the ment system while at the same time keeping will and the energy of nurses can be mobi- profit out of the equation. As I reflect lized sufficiently to meet the new [and As I reflect on my time as president, I “ not-so-new] challenges on the horizon for am proud of the perseverance and persis- on my time the profession of nursing…Silence gives tence demonstrated by members of our consent, it is said.” She continued: “This is professional association. We have built an the time for nurses to stand up and be association that is a force to be reckoned as president, I am counted as men and women who intend to with, often setting the political and policy continue the advancement of the profes- agenda rather than simply responding to it.