The week of October 24th was Canadian Patient Safety Week (CPSW). The goal of CPSW is to increase awareness of Patient Safety and Quality Improvement across Canada. This year’s campaign is to spread the word about the importance of asking questions in keeping care safe.

In light of the campaign, Adult Health 1 students participated in asking a variety of questions to make care safer. These questions are questions that the health care professional (the student) would ask their patients to make care safer; as well as what questions patients could ask us to make care safer.

These questions are posted outside the hallway of C615.

As well, students were provided the opportunity to take this initiative further by talking to their patients in clinical practice, talking with their clinical instructors, and talking with the health care professionals in the various clinical areas.

To learn more about CPSW, click here.

To learn more about the Canadian Patient Safety Institute, check out their web site.

Monday October 31st was no ordinary clinical day for the CP7 students. The Pediatric clinical students and instructors got into the spirit of Halloween and brought smiles to their young patients’ faces by wearing costumes that either replaced or supplemented their usual RRC Nursing uniforms! Thanks to all the participating students and instructors for their good “spirits”!!!

Third year BN students from the Epidemiology and Illness Prevention course presented posters on various topics to their peers, faculty, and the larger college community. The poster presentations took place on October 26th in the library hallway. Students invited anyone passing by to take a minute and learn about these important health topics.

The posters are part of a class assignment in which students choose a prevention related topic. While there are some guidelines for the information, students showcased their creativity and ingenuity in the way they presented that information. Each group created unique posters, pamphlets, and visual aides to get their message across. One group titled their poster after an Ice Cube song (check yourself before you wreck yourself) to promote awareness about motor vehicle collisions. Another group created a ‘bra pong’ game (which I was terrible at!) to promote awareness about breast cancer.

Focused on various topics, the posters looked at awareness and prevention of injury such as motor vehicle collisions, sexually transmitted diseases through condom use such as syphilis, and diseases such as influenza, tuberculosis, melanoma, and breast cancer. Students also handed out pamphlets created with a specific level of health literacy to ensure that the message was accessible to a wider audience.

The instructors of the course, Sonia, Ana, and Winona, encourage their students to talk to their peers and learn from each other. When students weren’t discussing their own posters with people passing by, they were over at another poster learning from their classmates. All the students did a fantastic job not only creating the posters but engaging their audience in order to spread a very important message about awareness and prevention.

At an open meeting in January 2014, the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (CRNM) announced that it had to change its mandate in response to the incoming Regulated Health Professions Act (RHPA). The CRNM would continue in its regulatory role in protecting the public via standards of care and defining nurses’ roles and responsibilities. It was, however, unable to maintain its mandate to represent the profession of nursing. It also would no longer be able to advocate on behalf of the health of people living in Manitoba, could not be the jurisdictional member on the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) Board of Directors and, most importantly, it would no longer be able to act as the “professional voice” for nurses in the province. In other words, the voice of RNs in Manitoba was potentially going to become silent.

With the passing of the RHPA, CRNM would be prohibited from collecting fees for another body (i.e. CNA). The government of the day also identified that CRNM could not participate in lobbying activities similar to those of CNA. Thus CRNM jurisdictional CNA membership could not be maintained. It was felt that a potential conflict of interest could occur if the CRNM advocated for nurses while continuing to provide professional liability. The CRNM mandate to protect the public, thus providing this coverage, while at the same time investigating and enforcing disciplinary actions in situations where the CRNM mandate of maintaining public protection was challenged could result in a perceived conflict of interest.

The Manitoba RN Network (MRNN) was created with the purpose of exploring the need, mandate, and feasibility of establishing a new professional association in Manitoba. One of the steering committee co-chairs is our very own Tracey Fallak. The Network held a series of meetings with various stakeholders from the nursing profession, associated agencies, and government officials; completed an environmental scan; and sent out a survey over the course of approximately two years to help determine the feasibility of establishing the new Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (ARNM). A number of strategic goals were formulated along with a series of points as to how the voice of nurses in Manitoba would be maintained.

At the end of these numerous endeavours, the MRNN was incorporated and became the Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (ARNM). The members of the steering committee on the MRNN became the board and Karen Dunlop was hired as interim director to help guide nurses through the new processes involved in obtaining Canadian Nurses Protective Society (CNPS) coverage and maintaining CNA membership.

Tracey is excited about the new association and about asking RNs what having the new association will mean for them. She believes firmly that the strong professional voice of registered nurses will advocate and promote the health of people living in Manitoba and the scope of practice of Registered Nurses. The professional voice of ARNM will strive to ensure that the voices of Manitoba RNs will be heard locally, nationally, and internationally.

Become involved by visiting the ARNM website.

On September 30th, Nursing faculty took part in a lunch and learn titled Unlocking Potential. Presented by Paul Bissonnette (B. Kin, CEP, CSCS, FMSC, Pn1), the session focused on motivating others. Drawing on his experience as a trainer, Paul applied his knowledge to the classroom context, helping faculty to gain insight and understanding on how to deal with unmotivated individuals.

The presentation identified that behaviour is the biggest downfall to someone’s potential and therefore unlocking potential is about changing that behaviour. In order to change behaviour, we first need to understand behaviour triggers and the barriers to change. With this understanding, we can then apply strategies to promote change and exemplify our own coaching excellence to motivate others.

To learn more about Unlocking Potential, click here to watch the whole presentation.

To download a copy of the powerpoint, click here.

Red River College Nursing Program Awards Presentation 2016

Congratulations To This Year’s Award Winners

Jean Burrows Scholarship  – Natasha Kuchta : Jean Burrows was the Nursing Dept. Chair from 1974 to 1998 and, upon her retirement, this scholarship was created for a 1st year student recognizing their outstanding academic achievement.

Nursing Students Endowment Scholarship – Allison Hay, Laura Byman, Emily Lapp, and Ashley Jahns : This award was established from students who, in 1997 as part of their tuition fees, contributed to this endowment fund.  In 2001, a portion of this money was dedicated to the creation of this award.  The class of 2002 also made a sizable contribution from their own fundraising efforts.

Bernice Parrott Award – Anh Chau and Susana Fixe: This award was established to provide financial assistance to a deserving student after term six in the BN program to recognize their hard work and efforts.

Nursing Legacy Award – Britta Hoogervorst, Emma Lynn Wear, Alexa Fraser, Laura Byman, Miranda Martens, Cindy Astorino, Jane Wittick, Erin Conway, and Kali Croswell: This award recognizes outstanding clinical performance of students.

Thorey Johnson Nursing Award – Amelia Goerz: In honor of their mother, Mrs. Johnson’s daughters have established this scholarship for a nursing student who has expressed a special interest in rural nursing practice.

Nursing Leadership Award – Justine Subchak and Jenn Wirth:
This award is for deserving students who have gone above and beyond in support and leadership of their peers. This award was established by the awards committee, with nominations from faculty and peers.

Discipline of Professional Nursing Award – Natasha Kuchta, Angela Simeonidis, and Suzanne Moss : These awards are presented to students for their outstanding achievement in the courses of Discipline of Professional Nursing 1-5.

Mary Langhan Nursing Award – Stephanie Loewen: This award is  presented to a 3rd year student who has demonstrated a high level of skill in the clinical setting and has expressed a special interest in obstetrics and gynecology.

Karla Ferens Memorial Entrance Aware for Health Care Aide – This award recipient has displayed the same accomplishments exhibited by Karla Ferens; involvement in sports and leadership qualities.  Karla was a 2011 RRC graduate of the HCA program.

Community Service Award – Paige Proctor and Laurie Chan:This award is presented to second and third year students who have volunteered for a community agency while maintaining sound academic achievement.

Karen Wall Indigenous Nursing Student Award – Amber Davis:This award is presented to a 3rd year student of Canadian Indigenous heritage who has achieved academic success in the BN program, and has demonstrated leadership within the Indigenous community.

Congratulations to all our graduates! We wish each and every one of you the best in your new beginnings and wherever your path may take you!

Congratulations to Emily Lapp for receiving the College of Registered Nurses of Manitoba Gold Medal Award.

Our Pinning Ceremony has great meaning; the pins mark transition from education and preparation into the profession of Nursing.

Thank you to all the supporters (families and friends) that helped our students through the rough patches and to the staff for being who you are and organizing a lovely Pinning Ceremony.

Nursing students are taught leadership but it is a quality they already exemplify in Nursing Student Council, run by nursing students for nursing students.

The council fundraises and plans the Nursing grad, as the cost is not covered by the department, but they want to be clear that they are more than just a fundraising committee. They believe that, as future nurses, it is important to maintain a presence within the community by helping out with events such as food drives. The council is also the voice of the nursing students at Red River College. They encourage all nursing students with any questions or concerns to come and talk to them and they will do their best to lead students in the right direction. While RRC has a larger student council, the nursing student council believes in the importance of a program specific voice, stating “It allows us to voice concerns specific to our program because who knows nursing students better than nursing students themselves.”

First Student Council Meeting – September 9th 2016

The council also encourages students to get involved in their field. They are now a part of the Canadian Nursing Students Association (CNSA), which is an association for nursing students across Canada that gives students a voice at a federal level. The CNSA is holding a national conference in Winnipeg this year and nursing student council is hoping a few RRC nursing students will be able to attend.

Putting on events and fundraisers is a major component of the council. During orientation week, the council held a Welcome Back Party for the nursing students. The evening consisted of games, raffle prizes, and a 50/50. There are also a number of events planned for the following year including a Halloween social, a Kernels Popcorn fundraiser, bake sales, food drives, and many more to come.

Nursing student council is currently run by Co-Presidents, Karen Calitis and Paige Procter, as well as Vice President and CNSA Official Delegate, Jake Kahler.

Karen, Paige, and Jake encourage all nursing students to get involved, if they can. There is no cost to join and, as students themselves, they know that Nursing is a busy program. They only ask students to put in the amount of time they can give. The council is striving to meet once a month but is looking at a minimum of one meeting per term. They will also need volunteers for their many events. The first student council meeting was held on September 9th.

L-R: Jake Kahler, Karen Calitis, Paige Procter

They hope that the students will work together towards celebrating graduation, reiterating that grad is funded and planned by students so “what we put into our grad as students is what we are going to get out of it for a party.” This is not to say that nursing student council is only beneficial for students in their third year. By working with student council, nursing students of all years will be able to network with other students from different years, gain experience working with a team, and future insight into what they can do for their graduating year.

Nursing student council would like students to know that if they are available to help, they would really appreciate it. If students are interested in helping out or just want to voice their questions or concerns, please email any of the three executive council members. The council can also be followed on Instagram at bn_awesome. They are also currently working on a Facebook page, so keep an eye out for that!

They are kicking off the school year with a Kernels Popcorn Fundraiser! Download the order form here. All students and faculty members are welcome to order and support nursing student council. The fundraiser began on September 9th. All forms are due by Friday, September 30th.

On behalf of the Nursing department, we thank the nursing student council for the wonderful work they are doing!

Nursing Student Council is having a student council meeting on Friday, September 9, 2016 from 1230-1300 in room E108.

All nursing students are welcome to attend. Those in attendance will receive free homemade cookies!

So, come out tomorrow and find out what nursing student council is all about!

Welcome back to all returning Nursing students, faculty, and staff! Also, welcome to our new intake of first year students!  We look forward to a great year together!

Faculty and staff began the year by reflecting on where we’ve come from, what we’re doing, and where we’re going.  Together, we celebrated the commitment and contribution of the Nursing instructors, acknowledging those of us who have reached their 5, 10, 15, even 25 years with the department!

We also looked to our future in upcoming Nursing events, the new dean of Health Sciences, and the continuation of the simulation pilot.

Classes are already underway as we begin another year of teaching, learning, research, and innovation!