Celebrating Nursing Week
Hi Everyone,
It’s National Nursing Week, and today, May 12th, is International Nurses Day as well as Indigenous Nurses Day. I would like to take a moment to express my gratitude and highlight how the dedicated work you do every day has a powerful impact on the health and well-being of our community.
The theme of National Nursing Week this year is The Power of Nurses to Transform Heath. We know that nurses play a critical role in shaping care delivery, innovation and positive outcomes.
As we celebrate you and your profession, it’s important to acknowledge that there are still many challenges facing the health care system every day. Nursing can be demanding – both physically and emotionally – and yet the compassion, commitment and willingness to continue to show up every day, despite some difficult challenges is inspiring. You make a difference in the lives of every patient, client and resident that you encounter, connect with and care for.
We want you to know that we are committed to improving the workforce, with a priority on recruiting, developing and retaining staff. We are focusing on doing more to create supportive environments to ensure nurses stay in the workforce – including increasing leadership development and other educational opportunities to learn and grow, which you can learn more about here.
Hundreds more students are starting to enter the workforce, and along with that, we want experienced nurses to have support in sharing their knowledge and skill, supporting development with opportunities for preceptors and educational facilitators.
You may have also heard the announcement made about the Lower Wait Times and System Improvement Team. We have started engagement with the team and have our ED Implementation Support Team that is stationed at Grace Hospital until the end of June. The focus of this team is to identify and action strategies to improve wait times.
We know the voices of nurses’ matter. It’s important for the nurse perspective to be included in these changes. As we move forward with improvement initiatives, having nurses engaged and involved is going to be key to any changes we make for the future of health care. You have a commitment from me to ensure you will be heard and I encourage you to consider lending your expertise and voice.
This week is really an opportunity to spotlight your unwavering commitment, as well as the impact you have on transforming health care for the future. It’s my honour to recognize your knowledge and skills, and to thank each one of you for your continued dedication and resilience.
We’ve put together a calendar of the recognition and celebratory events taking place across the region which you can find here. You can also find more information about Nursing Week activities on the Canadian Nurses Association website.
We asked staff to nominate a nurse they know who deserves to be in the spotlight for going above and beyond. You can read their inspirational stories here. We’ve also created some stories which feature our own nurses and the contributions they make every day. They will be featured under “Our Stories” on InSite and on our social media channels.
We know nurses are vital to health care, and we’re here to support you every step of the way. Thank you. #ThePowerofNurses
Sincerely,
Mary Anne Lynch
Chief Nursing Officer, WRHA