I am a nurse. - College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta

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CARNA Provincial Council PRESIDENT Margaret Hadley, RN, MN Edmonton 780.466.6566 president@nurses.ab.ca PRESIDENT-ELECT Joan Petruk, RN, MHS Camrose 780.672.8361 jpetruk@cable-lynx.net NORTHWEST REGION Ellen Jones, RN Grimshaw 780.332.4938 gajones@agt.net NORTHEAST REGION Debra Ransom, RN, BN Lac La Biche 780.623.4471 780.623.2473 debra.ransom@telus.net EDMONTON/WEST REGION Cheryl Deckert, RN, BN Wetaskiwin 780.361.4220 cdeckert@dthr.ab.ca Debbie Elliott, RN, M.Ed. Edmonton 780.735.2363 elliott3@shaw.ca CARNA Staff Directory CENTRAL REGION Tammy Syrnyk, RN Camrose 780.608.8839 tammy.syrnyk@ech.ab.ca CALGARY/WEST REGION Shirley Chandler, RN, BTSN Calgary 403.258.3237 shirley.chandler@calgaryhealthregion.ca Dianne Dyer, RN, BN, MN Calgary 403.944.4339 ddyer@nurses.ab.ca Maureen Jamison, RN, BScN Calgary 403.669.4633 maureen_jamison@yahoo.ca SOUTH REGION Heidi Watters, RN, BN, MEd, GNC(C) Lethbridge 403.388.6376 hwatters@nurses.ab.ca ALL STAFF CAN BE REACHED BY CALLING: 780.451.0043 or toll free 1.800.252.9392 Executive Director: Mary-Anne Robinson Director of Communications: Margaret Ward-Jack Director of Corporate Services: Jeanette Machtemes Director of Policy and Practice: Lynn Redfern Registrar/Director of Regulatory Services: Kim Campbell Deputy Registrars: Terry Gushuliak, Jean Farrar, Terri Fortunaso Competence Consultant: Barb Perry Complaints Director: Sue Chandler Conduct Counsel: Gwendolyn Parsons Nursing Consultants–Policy and Practice: Debra Allen, Marie-Andrée Chassé, Donna Hogg, Debbie Phillipchuk Librarian and Archivist: Lorraine Mychajlunow NEPAB Consultant: Lori Kashuba Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust: Margaret Nolan Regional Coordinators: Northwest: Kathleen Waterhouse 780.539.9470 Northeast: Barb Diepold 780.826.5383 Edmonton/West: Penny Davis 780.484.7668 Alison Adams 780.756.0551 Central: Heather Wasylenki 403.782.2024 Calgary/West: Christine Davies 403.932.7243 Beverlie Johnson 403.625.3260 South: Pat Shackleford 403.394.0125 Valerie Mutschler 403.504.5603 2 Alberta RN April 2008 Volume 64 No 4 www.nurses.ab.ca PUBLIC REPRESENTATIVES Maggie Fulford, BSc, DC Edmonton 780.412.8741 mfulford@nurses.ab.ca Margaret Hunziker, BA, MA Cochrane 403.932.2069 hunziker@shaw.ca Mark Tims, QC Westlock 780.349.5366 mtims@nurses.ab.ca Rene Weber, DVM Red Deer 403.346.5956 rweber@nurses.ab.ca New infoLAW ® inside Two revised infoLAW ® bulletins on the topics of the nurse as witness and malpractice lawsuits are included for your reference in this issue of Alberta RN. InfoLAW ® bulletins are published by the Canadian Nurses Protective Society and are designed to brief you on specific professional legal issues. The entire series of infoLAW ® bulletins has been inserted in past issues of Alberta RN. We encourage members to file the bulletins for convenient reference. All bulletins are available free of charge to CARNA members at www.cnps.ca. To obtain the user name and password, go to the member only section of www.nurses.ab.ca. Alberta RN is published nine times a year by: College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta 11620-168 Street Edmonton, AB T5M 4A6 Phone: 780.451.0043 Toll free in Canada: 1.800.252.9392 Fax: 780.452.3276 www.nurses.ab.ca Managing Editor: Margaret Ward-Jack Editor: Rachel Champagne Assistant Editor: Rose Mary Phillip Designer: Julie Wons Advertising Representative: Jan Henry, McCrone Publications Phone: 800.727.0782 Fax: 866.413.9328 mccrone@interbaun.com Please note CARNA does not endorse advertised services, products or opinions. US Postmaster: Alberta RN (USPS #009-624) is published monthly except June, August and December by the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta. c/o U.S. Agent: Transborder Mail, 4708 Caldwell Rd E, Edgewood, WA 98372-9221. Alberta RN is published at a rate of $40 per year. Periodicals postage paid at Puyallup, WA and at additional mailing offices. US Postmaster: Send address changes (covers only) to Alberta RN, c/o Transborder Mail, PO Box 6016, Federal Way, WA 98063-6016. ISSN 1481-9988 Canadian Publications Mail Agreement No. 40062713 Return Undeliverable Canadian Addresses to: Circulation Dept., 11620-168 Street, Edmonton, AB T5M 4A6. E-mail: carna@nurses.ab.ca Alberta RN is printed on recycled paper.
President’s Update Balancing the Art and Science of Nursing is a month that I always APRIL associate with nursing graduations. I vividly remember my own graduation – a time of excitement and pride as I finally could call myself a nurse and start out on the career of my choice. It is also very clear to me that expectations of new graduates cannot be the same as they were when I graduated 30 years ago. Yet employers do have the right to expect that new graduates are prepared in a way that gives them confidence as they enter the workplace. One way to support new graduates is to fully recognize that nursing is both an art and a science. To me, the art of nursing comes with learning how to apply theoretical knowledge when caring for real people. It is when the theoretical knowledge combines with the ability to truly provide nursing care to individuals, families and communities that we become professional registered nurses. As Marla Salmon, dean of the Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing at Emory University in Georgia has said: “Nursing is about human connections… when a nurse evaluates a patient with his or her physical, cognitive, spiritual and emotional needs in mind, she’s making sure the person survives, not just the patient. That’s what makes it nursing.” In the current nursing shortage, it is essential to retain both experienced registered nurses and new graduates. New graduates today are facing some particular challenges. An online article called “New Grad Nurses in the Workplace” (wiki.usask.ca/nursing) presents some of the research describing the perceptions of new graduates as they enter the workforce. New nurses are thrust into the acute-care setting, expected to practice competently, efficiently and, for the most part, independently with little guidance from senior staff (Duchscher, 2004). Newhouse, Hoffman, Suflita, and Hairston (2007) found that 57 per cent of new graduate nurses will leave their first position within two years of hire, largely because the new grad does not perceive his/her self as competent and feels ill-equipped to manage the transition phase to staff nurse. update Duchscher’s research (2001) also found that it took about five or six months for new grads to begin to feel that they were professional nurses. In a 2004 study, Duchscher and Crowin describe strategies to help facilitate the transitional period which include promoting tolerance and respect between new nursing grads and experienced nurses, monitoring and ending oppressive nursing actions (increase collaborative leadership, monitor isolation and decrease alienation of grads, and develop flexible work practices that compliment multi-generational nursing staffs). It seems to me that these measures would contribute to a healthier practice setting for all nursing staff. There is also recognition that, as a profession, registered nursing needs to reconsider the way we are delivering nursing education. A basic nursing education must incorporate the “Nursing is about human connections… when a nurse evaluates a patient with his or her physical, cognitive, spiritual and emotional needs in mind, she’s making sure the person survives, not just the patient. That’s what makes it nursing.” Dr. Marla Salmon, Dean Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, Emory University growing body of scientific knowledge and develop critical thinking skills. However, we also need to ensure that sufficient opportunities are provided for clinical practice to help students along the road to developing skill in the “art” of nursing. In Alberta, nursing educators and employers are beginning the work of reassessing the content of nursing education programs to try to restore this balance, work which CARNA supports. One thing we all share is a desire to ensure that new graduates are successful as they make the transition from student to professional registered nurse. As we work to restore the balance between the art and science of nursing, we recognize that our ultimate responsibility is to ensure that the public receives competent, professional care from all registered nurses, wherever they are in their nursing careers. RN Margaret Hadley, RN, MN E-mail: president@nurses.ab.ca Phone: 780.466.6566 www.nurses.ab.ca April 2008 Volume 64 No 4 Alberta RN 3
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Page 9 and 10: MEMBERS WANTED! Invigilators for Ca
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Page 15 and 16: Heart of Health Care Donate to ARNE
Page 17 and 18: call for resolutions CARNA Annual G
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I am a nurse. - College & Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta

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