BCNU Update Magazine July-August 2017

UPDATE JULY/AUGUST 2017

M A G A Z I N E

SECURING A VIOLENCE-FREE WORKPLACE NEW EMERGENCY ROOM SAFER FOR STAFF AND PATIENTS

PLUS

PULL-OUT BCNU POSITION STATEMENT ON PALLIATIVE CARE

BCNU Convention 2017

RISE UP! Nurses rally for safe communities and safe workplaces

SAFETY ADVOCATES BCNU South Islands region OH&S rep Patricia Crown and ER nurses Nicole West and Rick Howard

OPIOID CRISIS DEMANDS MORE TREATMENT OPTIONS | YOUR PENSION Q&A | DECOLONIZING THE HEALTH-CARE WORKPLACE | VIRTUAL RALLY TARGETS VIOLENCE IN THE WORKPLACE

VANCOUVER PRIDE PARADE AUGUST 6, 2017 Walk with the BCNU campaign bus and/or volunteer at the BCNU pride booth at Sunset Beach where we will be doing community outreach, health promotion and trivia games.

Come on out, have fun and show your BCNU pride!

MORE INFORMATION Frances Beswick f.m.beswick@gmail.com FACEBOOK EVENT BCNU Marches With Pride 2017

CONTENTS

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VOL 36 NO3

• JULY/AUGUST 2017

42

32

20

34

30

DEPARTMENTS

12

VITAL SIGNS

33

MEMBER PROFILE

36

YOUR PENSION

39

BOOK REVIEW

41

COUNCIL PROFILE

42

UPFRONT

5 CHECK IN News and events from around the province.

14 FROM WORDS TO ACTION Virtual rally sees Surrey nurses demanding safer care.

16 ROYAL JUBILEE SUCCESS Members' OH&S efforts result in safer ER.

18 CRISIS UNABATED More treatment measures needed to stem opioid overdose deaths.

OFF DUTY

20 RESPONSIBLE PROFESSIONAL Nurse fights for improvements on her unit.

24 DECOLONIZING THE HEALTH-CARE WORKPLACE Making health care inclusive for Indigenous peoples.

FEATURE

BCNU POSITION STATEMENT ON PALLIATIVE CARE PULL-OUT p. 15

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COVER PHOTO: JOHN YANYSHYN

RISE UP!

Convention 2017 saw nurses come together to rally for safe communities and safe workplaces.

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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MOVING? NEW EMAIL? UPDATE M A G A Z I N E

MISSION STATEMENT The British Columbia Nurses’ Union protects and advances the health, social and economic well-being of our members, our profession and our communities.

BCNU UPDATE is published by the BC Nurses’ Union, an independent Canadian union governed by a council elected by our 43,000 members. Signed articles do not necessarily represent official BCNU policies.

EDITOR Lew MacDonald CONTRIBUTORS Juliet Chang, Laura Comuzzi, Sharon Costello, David Cubberley, Gayle Duteil, Kath Kitts, Shawn Leclair, Courtney McGilion, Cindy Paton, Umar Sheikh PHOTOS Sharon Costello, David Cubberley, Kath Kitts, Shawn Leclair, Lew MacDonald, Courtney McGilion, Doug Payette CONTACT US BCNU Communications Department

STAY CONNECTED

When you move, please let us know your new address so we can keep sending you Update Magazine, election information and other vital union material. Send us your home email address and we’ll send you BCNU’s member eNews.

4060 Regent Street Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5 PHONE 604.433.2268 TOLL FREE 1.800.663.9991 FAX 604.433.7945 TOLL FREE FAX 1.888.284.2222 BCNU WEBSITE www.bcnu.org EMAIL EDITOR lmacdonald@bcnu.org MOVING? Please send change of address to membership@bcnu.org Publications Mail Agreement 40834030

Please contact the Membership Department by email at membership@bcnu.org or by phone at 604-433-2268 or 1-800-663-9991

Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to BCNU 4060 Regent Street Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5

CHECK IN

NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE

INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

MY ACCOUNT: READY WHEN YOU ARE

JOIN BCNU AT THE PNE BCNU’s big blue bus will be spending a few days at this year’s Pacific National Exhibition, and you’re encouraged to come out and spend some time at the fair with other BCNU member-volunteers.

Members will be interacting with the public checking blood pressure and blood glucose levels, and talking about health care from August 24–27.

Volunteers are required to commit to a minimum threehour time block. You’ll get free admission on the day of your shift, meaning you can enjoy the PNE before or after you volunteer. Email BCNU Metro Vancouver region lobby coordinator Brooke Raphael for more information: brookeraphael@bcnu.org

NIGERIAN NURSES IN BC

Municipal Pension Plan members were mailed their annual statements this June. But did you know that there is a fast way to manage and review every aspect of your pension plan? My Account is a new tool that will help you better understand your pension and manage your retirement. Visit myaccount.pensionsbc.ca and start exploring today.

RPNS GATHER From left: Right Rufus Ufuoma Awharitoma (RPN, Alberta), Femi Duyilemi (RPN, VGH), BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen, Liz Goba (RPN, Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions), Jerry Duruiheoma (RPN, Forensic Psychiatric Hospital) Emmanuel Ige (RPN, VGH) and Ayodele Ajayioladoyinbo (RPN, Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addictions).

NEW! BCNU ANNUAL REPORT 2016 BCNU’s Annual Report is now available online as a dynamic and responsive digital publication complete with member stories and leadership profiles that tell the story of our union.

Visit annualreport.bcnu.org

THE BC NURSES’ UNION WAS A PROUD SUPPORTER of the International Association of Psychiatric Nurses of Nigeria’s 11th Scientific Conference held in Vancouver in April. The conference theme was “Addressing Minority Mental Health Issues in our Contemporary World.” BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen and BCNU RIVA region communication secretary and Mosaic of Colour caucus member Liz Goba accepted an award on behalf of the union that acknowledged the support BCNU provides to its members. •

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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CHECK IN

NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE

PRO-D FOR HEALTH CARE ASSISTANTS Three lucky BCNU members will be attending the Hearts and Hands Conference for Health Care Assistants in Vancouver on October 3.

Lorna Crooks and Beverly Johnson (Thompson North Okanagan region) and Jenni Reitan (West Kootenay region) had their names drawn from a group of members who had completed an online survey.

NEW FACES ON COUNCIL BCNU members elected seven new regional chairs during this year’s election. The successful candidates will assume office in September. From left: Tracey Geenberg (Fraser Valley region), Ron Poland (West Kootenay region), Helena Barzilay (East Kootenay region), Danette Thomson (North East region) Walter Lumamba (South Fraser Valley region), Sara Johl (RIVA region) and Hardev Bhullar (South Fraser Valley region).

APPLY NOW FOR BCNU MEMBER EDUCATION

SUMMER STUDENT AT BCNU This May BCNU welcomed nursing student Linda Yang to the professional practice and advocacy department as a summer student.

Hired as part of the Canada Summer Jobs program, Yang brings great skills and enthusiasm to the team as she works mainly on human rights and equity initiatives.

In addition to this opportunity with BCNU, Yang has also been granted an academic achievement scholarship from the Canadian Nurses Foundation.

Yang is currently a BCNU student representative at BCIT, and we look forward to a long and active relationship with her after she graduates in December.

PROVINCEWIDE VOTE HELD THIS SPRING

Registration is now open to all members for workshops scheduled for September 2017.

Current offerings include: • A Brief History of Work (September 7) • JOHS Committee Training (September 13) • Communicating: Essential Skills (September 19-21) Visit www.bcnu.org to learn more and register online.

MEMBERS ACROSS THE PROVINCE CAST BALLOTS THIS spring to elect representatives for their regional executive teams. The representatives on BCNU’s 16 regional executives play a key role in supporting the initiatives established by BCNU Council at the local level.

Ballots were cast online from May 23 to June 2. Full results can be found on the BCNU website.

The incumbent provincial candidates – President Gayle Duteil, Vice President Christine Sorensen and Treasurer Sharon Sponton – were elected by acclamation. Elections for the two remaining positions on the provincial executive committee have been postponed, but will take place no later than January 2018. They may be conducted earlier, depending on the timeliness of an official hearing under the BCNU Constitution.

The BCNU provincial nominations committee members would like to thank all candidates who ran in this year's elections and all members who took the time to vote. Terms for all positions start September 2017. •

SKILLS FOR THE WORKPLACE members from around BC took part in "Communicating: Essential Skills" June 28-30. The course focused on communicating confidently with managers, co-workers, patients and patients' families.

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JULY/AUGUST 2017 • UPDATE MAGAZINE

JOIN THE NURSES’ HEALTH STUDY 3 By giving one hour of your time a year (one 30-minute online survey every six months) you can help change what we know about health.

A world-renowned group of nurses are contributing to groundbreaking research on lifestyle, environment, nurses' work life, and wellness.* Nurses’ Health Study 3 began in 2010 and currently

has over 40,000 nurses enrolled. The Nurses’ Health Studies are the largest, longest running investigations of women’s health with over 230,000 nurses having already participated in the Nurses’ Health Study and Nurses’ Health Study 2.

Visit www.nhs3.org to participate today. * This information is provided to support research potentially of value to BCNU members, and does not indicate endorsement.

BCNU DAY: AND THE WINNER IS… “I never win anything!” exclaimed Valeriya Filkov when told she was the winner of an iPad Mini. BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen presented the Langley Memorial Hospital nurse and BCNU Day Quiz contestant with her prize on June 14. Filkov was among the more than 1,800 members who participated in this year’s quiz, which focused on BCNU’s violence prevention campaign. BCNU held its founding convention on June 11, 1981 and celebrates its 36th anniversary this year.

BARGAINING TEAM Public service contract bargaining committee members are looking forward to ratifying a tentative agreement that was reached July 4. Back row: Christine Brisebois, Karen Edwards and Lola Backeland. Sitting: Lisa Isaac and Arvita Cotter.

TENTATIVE AGREEMENT REACHED FOR PUBLIC SERVICE NURSES THE BARGAINING TEAM FOR A GROUP OF PUBLIC service nurses seeking to narrow the wage gap with health sector nurses report reaching a tentative agreement with the province as of July 4.

The approximately 115 nurses, who look after at-risk children, vulnerable youth and young adults in government facilities and programs, have been in negotiations since January 2017 and without a contract since 2014.

The wage gap between the two sectors that opened up in 2010 has grown with each new contract, making recruiting and retaining new hires more difficult and jeopardizing the safety and quality of care delivery. Workplace impacts include unfilled positions, lack of auxiliary backup to allow nurses to take earned time off, excessive amounts of overtime, more dangerous working conditions, and growing waitlists for access to needed services.

Under the tentative agreement, the parties have agreed to a facilitated review of recruitment and retention barriers for nurses working in the public service, many of whom are employed by the Ministry of Children and Family Development.

A ratification vote will be held after members review the details of the agreement.

If ratified, public service nurses would also receive wage increases retroactive to 2015, as well as “economic stability dividends,” similar to those negotiated as part of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial contract.

In the meantime, BCNU is hopeful that this tentative agreement will serve to encourage Community Living BC to agree to similar arrangements for the 20 nurses working at its Provincial Assessment Centre, where a similar wage gap is causing recruitment and retention problems at that facility. •

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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PUBLIC SERVICES

CHECK IN NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE

PROFESSIONAL PRACTICE

QUESTIONS REMAIN OVER COMBINED REGULATOR LAST YEAR THE PROVINCE’S THREE NURSING regulators announced plans to create a new body to regulate all nurses in the province. If implemented, a unitary college would be responsible for regulating licensed practical nurses, nurse practitioners, registered nurses and registered psychiatric nurses.

Nursing colleges have since reported making preliminary implementation plans for each of their core functions and supporting teams in order to facilitate the change. However BCNU has voiced concern over the lack of detail in the proposed plan to merge regulators.

“In the past BCNU has agreed in principal to support a merged regulatory body for nurses and this has not changed,” says BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen, “however there are a number of questions that need to be addressed before BCNU can support this plan.”

Sorensen notes that LPNs, RNs and RPNs pay differing registration fees in BC, but colleges have not indicated whether all nurses would pay the same fee – as is the case in Ontario – or if there would be a fee reduction or a fee increase with a combined regulator.

Clarification is also needed on the combined regulator’s relationship with the province’s nursing associations. “BCNU has disputed automatic allocation of RN registrant fees to the Association of Registered Nurses of BC without a registrant’s choice, and we need to know if there are plans to replicate this with LPN and RPN associations,” says Sorensen.

Autonomy with the province’s respective nursing professions is also highly valued, and a lack of information about the proposed governance structure of a new regulator has also caused concern.

“We recognize that there can be positive results from collaboration and alignment amongst nurse regulators in BC,” says Sorensen, “but BCNU members have legitimate concerns that remain unaddressed.” •

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JULY/AUGUST 2017 • UPDATE MAGAZINE

NEW REPORT BUSTS TAX MYTHS IT’S ALL TOO EASY TO turn on the television after work or listen to the radio on the way home and hear reports of studies purporting to show an ever growing tax burden. A case in point is the Fraser Institute’s annual Tax Freedom Day report, which calculates that Canadian families generally pay a tax rate of over 40 percent.

Much news coverage contributes to the narrative that taxes must be cut to ensure future prosperity. This can be disheartening for nurses and other public health-care workers whose paycheques depend on the taxes paid to the governments that fund a large part of our health-care system.

But a new report from the Broadbent Institute has found that most mainstream media coverage of taxation gives Canadians the impression that they pay far more in taxes than they do in reality, and provides evidence to demonstrate that many of the popular sentiments and figures reported in public discussion about taxation and overtaxation are simply inaccurate. The Brass Tax investigates the claims of the Fraser Institute and other economic think-tanks, and finds that the average tax rate is only about half what is commonly claimed.

This study finds that the effective tax rate for the

typical Canadian family is approximately 24 percent. Moreover, the typical working Canadian individual pays a rate of approximately 14 percent in income taxes.

Only 2 percent of working Canadians aged 25 to 54 pay more than 30 percent of their income as income tax, and only 20 percent of working Canadians pay more than 20 percent of their income as income tax.

This study also explains the trend highlighted by the Macdonald-Laurier Institute that the most affluent Canadians are paying a larger share of income taxes than in the past. In fact, wealthier Canadians are paying more taxes because they are receiving a larger share of income. Their tax rate has fallen over time — these individuals pay a larger share of tax simply because their share of income is increasing.

The findings in this study are particularly challenging for proponents of the narrative of overtaxation when one considers that as a share of GDP, government tax revenue in Canada is trending downward and is lower than that of most countries in the OECD. The Brass Tax is a welcome counter to the myth of overtaxation that undervalues public services and undermines governments’ ability to invest in programs that are key to the well-being of all Canadians.

Read the report on your mobile device

LOOKING FOR CONTINUITY Members working for Chiron Health Services meet at the BCNU provincial office in May to plan their bargaining strategy.

From left: BCNU President Gayle Duteil, Elaine Clado-Manacsa, Angela Merrick, Desiree O'Hern, Doug Anderson, Megan Rutledge, Teresa Botel, Heather Lima, George Lemyre, BCNU labour relations officer Lindsay Clement, Richard Berger and Carmalita Bond.

INDEPENDENT BARGAINING

BETWEEN EMPLOYERS BCNU IS WORKING TO PROTECT FUTURE EMPLOYMENT FOR CORRECTIONS CARE STAFF A GROUP OF BCNU MEMBERS looking to negotiate a new collective agreement with their independent employer have been left in limbo after the company lost its contract with Corrections BC where it supplies health care services to inmates at BC’s 10 correctional centres.

The Provincial Health Services Authority (PHSA) will be replacing Chiron Health Services Inc., a private company, on Oct. 1. The move from contracted care provision to the public health-care system effectively terminates the employment relationship for Chiron’s 335 professional employees.

In the past, whenever Corrections BC changed private care contractors, the existing specialized workforce, along with its earned benefits, travelled with the new contract. But as it stands, the existing contract will simply expire on September 30.

Needless to say, the change has left many Chiron members wondering if they’ll have a job come fall.

BCNU has been in ongoing discussions with PHSA to establish ground rules for the transition that would recognize previous service and limit the new employer’s ability to cherry-pick the existing corrections workforce. But negotiations have been difficult and protracted because

BCNU has no current contractual relationship with PHSA covering this group of soon-to-be employees.

Despite these challenges, talks with the health authority are ongoing and the following gains could potentially be negotiated: • Recognition of Chiron seniority for the purposes of applying for jobs within Correctional Health Services after October 1, 2017.

• Placement of successful corrections hires on applicable wage schedules based on relevant experience levels.

• Recognition and transfer of sick leave credits accrued prior to starting with PHSA. • Continuous enrolment in the Municipal Pension Plan (no service interruption).

• Recognition of continuous service prior to starting with PHSA, adjusted to account for 37.5-hour work week.

• No new waiting period for health and welfare benefits if completed at Chiron.

• An appropriate orientation program for all new hires.

• A probationary period of three months, as per Article 14 of the current Nurses’ Bargaining Association contract.

• PHSA seniority (beginning October

1, 2017) for job applications outside of Chiron but within PHSA. At the same time BCNU continues to bargain with Chiron in pursuit of an appropriate severance package for any employees who are unsuccessful in getting jobs with PHSA, along with a fair wage increase for the period from April (when the Chiron contract expired) to September 30.

Chiron employees took a legal strike vote on May 1 in order to send a clear message to their current employer that fair treatment and continuity of employment, seniority, wages and benefits were reasonable expectations for the corrections care workforce. Members voted 95 percent in favour of strike action, which could still come to pass if Chiron refuses to negotiate fairly.

BCNU supports the idea of moving care provision into the public system in order to improve the continuity of inmate care, but not at the cost of victimizing the current highly skilled, seasoned workforce at Chiron. • NOTE: At the time of writing, BCNU was very close to reaching agreement with PHSA to secure “priority notice and consideration” by worksite for Chiron Health Services employees on all future job postings.

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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CHECK IN NEWS FROM AROUND THE PROVINCE

MEDICARE

CHARTER CHALLENGE ONGOING Trial delayed as spotlight is shone on unlawful billing practices across the country THE CHARTER TRIAL challenging medicare laws that underpin the province’s public health care system has once again stalled at the BC Supreme Court.

Meanwhile a new national report and an investigation has revealed that doctors across the country are increasingly charging patients unlawful fees for services covered by public health plans – and BC physicians are the worst offenders.

The reports come just as BC Supreme Court Justice John Steeves granted an extended adjournment to Cambie Surgeries Corporation (CSC), the primary plaintiff in the case.

The trial will not resume until mid-October at the earliest while the parties work to resolve procedural issues that have dogged the case over the past six months.

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It’s just the latest in a series of delays in an almost decade-long legal journey that has taken on farcical proportions.

WAITING GAME

When the trial finally began last September, BCNUsupported patients who were responsible for triggering the legal battle had already been waiting since 2009 for their day in court.

The group had successfully filed for intervenor standing in litigation that Dr. Brian Day’s Cambie Surgery Centre and the Specialist Referral Clinic had brought against the provincial government in January of that year, arguing that medicare laws protecting patients from being billed for medically necessary services violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

But Cambie’s Charter

JULY/AUGUST 2017 • UPDATE MAGAZINE

challenge was a pre-emptive move designed to stave off an audit of the clinics’ billing practices. In 2007 the Medical Services Commission (MSC) notified Dr. Day that it had received correspondence from many patients who reported being billed between $400 and $17,000 for services already covered by the Medical Services Plan (MSP) and informed the doctor that his clinics would be audited.

Some of this patient correspondence was gathered as a result of BCNU community organizing efforts, and formed the basis of an earlier petition the union had filed in BC Supreme Court to show evidence of ongoing BC Medicare Protection Act violations.

Dr. Day was able to use the courts to delay an audit of his clinics for three years – and when one was finally conducted in 2012, it showed that CSC illegally billed patients almost half a million dollars over a 30-day period alone. Afterward, Day brazenly admitted to breaking the law and proceeded to re-launch his Charter challenge. More delays followed after a new trial was delayed in 2014 when CSC lawyers said they

wished to enter into settlement discussions with the province. When these failed, the trial that was scheduled to begin in March 2016 was delayed once again until last September after the plaintiffs petitioned for more time to review the evidence assembled by the province in its defence.

Cambie has been granted the latest delay to allow it to properly prepare its case after the judge ruled it could not call evidence from non-medical expert witnesses about harm that patients suffer while waiting for medical treatment. The plaintiffs are now scrambling to replace their lay witnesses with doctors. And astonishingly, they have sought relief from having to pay daily court hearing fees on the grounds that they amount to "undue hardship" and are an impedement to justice, though they concede they are able to afford them.

In the meantime, Dr. Day has made a plea to the public, claiming to have exhausted his litigation funds and has called on individuals to donate to his cause via a website run by the right-wing Canadian Constitution Foundation.

Time required for fund-

FOR-PROFIT HEALTH CARE New reports reveal that doctors across the country are increasingly charging patients unlawful fees for services covered by public health plans.

raising was also one of the reasons given for seeking the adjournment from the trial.

In the meantime, the MSC has been prevented from conducting further audits until the case is finished.

And because it is a constitutional challenge, it will likely drag on for several more years before heading to the Supreme Court of Canada.

“Concerning and disappointing,” is how BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen characterizes the delays. “We have patient-intervenors who have been waiting years to present important affidavit evidence attesting to the harm they have suffered in their dealings with private clinics, and yet it appears to be ‘business as usual’ at these facilities while their litigation drags on.”

SURVEYS AND INVESTIGATION REVEAL GROWING THREAT

Sorensen’s concerns were validated with the release in June of a cross-Canada survey by the Ontario Health Coalition which found evidence that at least 88 clinics in six provinces are charging extra user-fees.

The group surveyed 136 private hospital, diagnostic and “boutique” physician clinics across Canada and almost 400 individual patients. Both clinics and patients were asked about extra user-charges for needed health care services and some 250 patients detailed instances where they had been charged for care.

“As private clinics have moved in and taken over services provided by our public hospitals, they have bolstered their owners’ incomes and profits by charging extra user fees to patients amounting to hundreds or even thousands of dollars,” explained Ontario Health Coalition (OHC) executive director Natalie Mehra on the release of the survey. “We found that the majority of private clinics are charging extra user fees to patients, with many also billing the public health system and the costs for patients in the private clinics are exorbitant – up to five times or more than those in the public system.”

The OHC report also reveals that BC has far more private surgical clinics and reported instances of extra-billing than other provinces.

And later in June, a Globe and Mail investigation made similar revelations, and reported how some doctor-owned private clinics charge patients for quicker access to necessary medical services, such as MRI tests and minor surgeries, which are supposed to be covered by the provinces.

POLITICAL CLIMATE CHANGING

When Dr. Day launched his challenge the federal Conservatives were in power, and doctors’ regulators across Canada were not inclined to insert themselves into the debate. But the political tide could be turning for Day and his ilk.

In response to the Globe and Mail investigation, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of BC sent a letter to its almost 13,000 registrants reminding them of their responsibility under the law.

“While charging patients directly for uninsured services is permissible if operationalized ethically and in compliance with applicable standards … it is never acceptable to improperly bill or charge an extra amount for a service covered by the [provincial] Medical Services Plan,” college registrar Heidi Oetter wrote.

However, in an interview with the Globe, Dr. Oetter noted that the rules against extra-billing are enforced by the province, not the college, and said the college would only consider disciplining doctors who charge fees patients can’t afford or don’t fully understand.

The Globe investigation also prompted federal Health Minister Jane Philpott to speak out about extra billing in an opinion piece for The Globe.

Responding to criticism that Ottawa hasn’t done enough to address the problem, she wrote that fees charged through extra-billing are “both unlawful and abusive and, most of all, they defy the spirit of Canadian health-care. They are bad policy and bad medicine.”

She also wrote that she made it clear to her provincial counterparts that she has concerns about unlawful fees and that “our government will take further action, as required.”

Incoming Doctors of

BC President Dr. Triana Larsen Soles has also spoken out against unlawful billing.

And while she has said it is not her organization’s job to police the system, she stated in media interviews recently that she supports the provincial government and the college making a definite statement about doctors’ responsibilities.

Larsen may get her wish under a new provincial government. MLA Judy Darcy is likely to become health minister, and in opposition she promised that an NDP government would enforce regulations that prohibit the charging of fees for services already covered by MSP. She has also indicated that private clinic audits put on hold during the Cambie litigation would resume. This alone would serve to eliminate the profit motive that has been a factor in the increasing number of surgeries performed at private clinics in BC. Sorensen says a new provincial government can’t act fast enough to address the issue. “Cambie’s litigation has made a mockery of the justice system, and while patients continue to wait to have their stories told, the rules against extra-billing continue to be broken,” she says. “BCNU helped bring this whole issue to light when we filed our court petition in 2005 seeking to compel the province to enforce its own rules, and then later provided legal support to patients whose voices would not otherwise be heard.

“And we are still waiting.

Enough is enough.” •

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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REGULATED NURSE NUMBERS TODAY

VITAL SIGNS

The supply of regulated nurses in Canada grew 17.8% between 2007 (357,584) and 2016 (421,093).

The regulated nursing workforce grew by 19% between 2007 (332,794) and 2016 (396,177).

NUMBERS THAT MATTER

In 2016, there were 285,482 RNs (including 4,540 NPs), 105,098 LPNs and 5,597 RPNs working in Canada.

FLOW OF REGULATED NURSES

NURSES GET RESPECT

Regulated nurses who are employed in a nursing profession

Regulated nurses who have a licence to practise nursing

A June poll has found that nurses are the most respected professionals in Canada, with 92 percent of respondents saying they regarded nurses positively – far higher than any other profession.

Regulated nurses obtaining a licence to practise in a jurisdiction in which they did not register the previous year

Regulated nurses failing to renew their licence in the jurisdiction

All things considered, do you have a positive or negative opinion of each of the following professions?

Very positive

Somewhat positive

Nurses

60

32

Doctors

92

45

44

89

Scientists

51

38

89

Teachers

50

35

Engineers

35

50

Police officers

34

43

85 85 77

Auto mechanics

22

51

73

Military officers

28

45

73

Journalists

19

44

Building contractors

12

42

Lawyers

14

36

Bankers

13

36

Politicians 6 0

18

Regulated nurses choosing to renew their licence in the jurisdiction

BC NUMBERS

The supply of regulated nurses in BC grew 31.2% between 2007 (39,130) and 2016 (51,339).

63

The regulated nursing workforce grew by 26.5% between 2007 (37,984) and 2016 (48,034).

54 50

The proportion of regulated nurses employed full time decreased from 55.0% in 2007 to 53.6% in 2016.

49

24

20

40

60

80

100

DISTRIBUTION BY DESIGNATION AND SECTOR

Source: Insights West

INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION

The proportion of internationally educated nurses in Canada has remained stable between 2007 and 2016, representing 8.1% of all regulated nurses.

India

RPNs 86.5

78.8

80

percent

Philippines 34.4%

RNs

83.7

IEN graduate source countries 2016

43%

LPNs

100

75.9

60

56.3 50.3 49.7 43.7

40

United Kingdom Other 9.3%

13.3%

AGE

The average age of a regulated nurse in 2016: 43.6 <35 years: 29.5% >55 years: 22.7% Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information. Regulated Nurses, 2016: â&#x20AC;˘ UPDATE MAGAZINE CanadaJULY/AUGUST and Jurisdictional2017 Highlights

12

13.5 3.5

0

24.1

21.2

20 16.3

2007

3.5 2016

acute care

7.7

2007

8.3 3.5 2016

long-term care

2007

7.7

2016

community care

Source: Canadian Institute for Health Information. Regulated Nurses, 2016: Canada and Jurisdictional Highlights

ON THE

1

2

BUS 3

4

5

6

BCNU’s campaign bus has been busy again this year criss-crossing the province and rolling into towns at community events across BC. The bus began its tour with visits to several BCNU regions during National Nursing Week May 8 – 14, helping to put the focus on the thousands of highly skilled professionals in BC and across Canada who advocate for safe patient care every day.

Look out for the BCNU bus in your community this summer!

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THE PEOPLE 1. BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen and BCNU Central Vancouver region co-chair Marlene Goertzen meet Vancouver General Hospital members at the bus on May 24.

2. BCNU Okanagan-Similkameen region lobby coordinator Deanna Jerowsky, treasurer Linda Partington and region char Rhonda Croft welcome the bus to their region. 3. The bus travels to meet members at the

Burnaby Centre for Mental Health and Addiction on May 10 during National Nursing Week. From left: Angelica Custodio, Andrew Lou, Michael Scott, Aletta Felderer, Ariel Gabriel, Eleanor King, BCNU RIVA region lobby coordinator Romy de Leon along with two Langara College nursing students. 4. BCNU President Gayle Duteil joins members at the Forensic Psychiatric Hospital in Coquitlam for a barbecue on

May 4. 5. National Nursing Week saw the bus visit Richmond General Hospital on May 9.

BCNU RIVA region chair Lauren Vandergronden is pictured centre with RIVA region communications secretary Liz Goba on her left.

6. BCNU members bring the bus to the BC Highland Games in Coquitlam June 17. From left: Simon Fraser region mental health advocate Suellen Larsen, steward liaison Jereme Bennett,

region co-chair Lynn Lagace and lobby coordinator Maria Huertas.

7. The bus visits the University Hospital of Northern BC on June 21. From left: OH&S rep Danette Thomson, PRP advocate Barb Erickson (partially hidden), unit clerks Sharon Bryce and Lynda Heaslip, region chair Roni Lokken, Judi Dindayal, treasurer Hanna Embree, steward liaison Tracey Jonker and communications secretary Bal Badial.

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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HEALTH & SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

“Our central campaign slogan ‘Violence. Not Part of the Job’ challenges an implicit assumption in our workplaces today,” said Gear. “Our list of demands for priority actions, including properly trained security 24/7, will go a long way towards making health care safer for nurses and their patients.

“I try to make sure that every nurse I talk with understands the critical importance of motivating managers to do what’s actually required by provincial law – which is to do everything in their power to minimize the risks of violence in the workplace,” Gear told the group.

“We have a long way to go as yet, but we’re starting to get their attention.”

To launch the virtual rally (essentially a simultaneous online social media presence around a single focus, in this case the rising rate of violence against nurses and the need to take action now) the meeting broke into self-selected groups utilizing a series of six activity stations, each with a distinct focus. The Personal Resilience Station was especially popular – where nurses used a variety of props to take pictures of themselves for posting on Facebook and other social media sites.

South Fraser Valley region nurses also signed postcards, sent emails to the health authority CEOs via the BCNU website, and completed BCNU’s in-house violence-prevention survey.

SENDING A SELFIE WITH A MESSAGE BCNU South Fraser Valley region member Armi Kugler snaps a photo with co-workers during the June 20 regional meeting.

MOVING FROM WORDS TO ACTIONS BCNU’s violence-prevention campaign enters new phase

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HOTOS AND HASHTAGS filling up cyberspace with violence-free health-care messages are the latest in a series of actions nurses are taking to further BCNU’s violence-prevention campaign and keep nurses safe at work.

On June 20, over 200 BCNU South Fraser Valley region members participated in a “virtual rally” on violence prevention as part of their regional meeting. An initiative of regional OH&S rep Karen Evjen, the event provided nurse-leaders with an understanding

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of the goals of the union’s violence-prevention campaign and gave them an opportunity to test new promotional tools using social media.

BCNU’s executive councillor Adriane Gear was on hand to kick off the virtual rally by outlining the various initiatives under way to reduce violence. She connected the dots between awareness-raising, pledge and postcard signing, lobbying of politicians and bureaucrats, and the launching of worksite campaigns at high-risk sites to increase reporting and the filing of OH&S grievances.

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BUILDING MOMENTUM

On other campaign fronts, a new postcard-signing drive is also taking off among BCNU members as a way to pressure politicians to turn the anti-violence pledges made by party leaders during the recent election into concrete

“Our list of demands for priority actions will go a long way towards making health care safer for nurses.”

BCNU Executive Councillor Adriane Gear

actions to make health care safer.

The pledge form and the follow-up postcard list key actions to keep nurses safer at work. In addition to personal alarms, these include properly trained, hands-on security 24–7 at high-risk sites; safety, security and Code White standards that protect nurses from aggression at work; enough nurses on duty at all times to manage care safely; and modifying the Criminal Code of Canada to make violence against a nurse an “aggravating circumstance” for the purposes of sentencing.

The postcard, launched in mid-May at BCNU’s annual convention where some 500 were immediately signed, is now being distributed to nurses and their families all across BC. And to build momentum for the campaign, two stamped, pre-addressed postcards to BC’s health minister are included in this issue of Update Magazine. All members are asked to sign one, find a friend or family member to sign the other, and then return them to BCNU by mail.

Signatures will continue to be collected throughout the summer, with the intention to present stacks of signed postcards to a new health minister early this fall (over 8,000 have been signed to date).

“Signing cards really expands the potential impact of our planned lobbying effort this fall,” says BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen. “The more cards we deliver urging the health minister to keep the electoral pledge on violence prevention, the more likely it is the minister will feel compelled to take action,” she explains.

“At the end of the day, this campaign is about pressing those with the power to improve safety in health care and to take definite actions to reduce violence,” says Sorensen. “We have a great commitment in our agreement to build a culture of safety and violence reduction, but now we need to translate words into deeds that actually keep nurses safe at work.”

The extensive media campaign that debuted in March declaring that violence is not part of nurses’ jobs has broadened public awareness of the growing violence nurses now face. This sets the stage for change, but the challenge of converting awareness into definite actions means putting pressure on decision makers in the Ministry of Health, the Health Authorities, and at WorkSafeBC. Following the May 9 provincial election, BCNU has aired a third phase of its violence-prevention advertising campaign using a new ad highlighting the risk of violence community nurses face when making visits to patient's homes. Opinion polling of both the public and nurses is also under way in order to gauge the campaign’s effectiveness.

An in-house survey of nurses’ attitudes towards violence prevention has also been in the field since May, with over 2,000 completed as of June 30. Prepared by BCNU’s Professional

VIOLENCE IS NOT PART OF THE JOB! BCNU South Fraser Valley region members take part in a virtual rally during their June 20 regional meeting in Surrey

Practice and Advocacy Department, the survey is intended to generate insights that will help shape a workplace-focused campaign to directly engage nurses in advocating for change. • TAKE ACTION TODAY! Sign and deliver the BCNU violence-prevention campaign postcards located on page 35 of the magazine.

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HEALTH & SAFETY IN THE WORKPLACE

SECURING A VIOLENCE-FREE WORKPLACE Royal Jubilee Hospital sees major upgrades to psychiatric emergency services department

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N HER 20 YEARS OF WORKING right next door to the Archie Courtnall Centre Psychiatric Emergency Service (PES) department at Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital, ER nurse Daphne Wass has witnessed her fair share of distressing moments. But she recalls one incident that made her realize something needed to change.

“I remember a fellow came in who had just been tasered by police, and he was struggling and pushing around the police officers and ambulance attendants that were with him,” she explains. “At the same time, a 94-yearold woman, who had already spent two full days in the triage area in the hallway, was walking back from the washroom. I realized then that she was about to walk into the pandemonium that was unfolding in front of us and she didn’t deserve that. It was really the moment that I thought, we need to stand up and do something here.”

The Archie Courtnall Centre is Victoria’s only emergency room for

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adult mental health patients experiencing a psychiatric crisis. Many who walk through the front doors pose a risk of harming themselves or others. Often, there are between 10 and 20 patients in the unit at any given time, waiting for assessment, stabilization and medication.

When it first opened in 2004, the PES department was one of very few service models providing emergency-style services for patients whose main needs are psychiatric. Over the years, the facility has struggled as the patient volume has increased and patient needs have become more complex. And staff say it’s expected to continue.

Nurses and health-care staff who work in the PES department have voiced concerns about a practice environment that lacks safe working conditions and fails to provide patients with a dignified experience. They report that the unit has lacked a hands-on security officer despite a large number of violent incidents, the nursing station has been

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breached a number of times and offers no protection in an emergency, and there are only two seclusion rooms.

But much-needed improvements are finally coming to the unit after years of diligence and effort on the part of nurses and BCNU OH&S advocates who used their Joint Occupational Health and Safety (JOHS) Committee and the professional responsibility process (PRP) to effect change.

The PES department underwent a full renovation this spring and reopened on June 28. The department had been temporarily relocated and operating out of the Royal Jubilee ER while the work was being completed.

Staff have high hopes the new facility will be safer for them and provide a more stable environment for patients.

BREAKTHROUGH

The road to improvement in the PES department has been a long one for staff, OH&S representatives and JOHS Committee members, but a break-

OPENING DAY Members providing psychiatric emergency services at the Archie Courtnall Centre in Victoria’s Royal Jubilee Hospital are looking forward to working in their newly updated department. The unit re-opened June 28. From left: Personal security officer Niraj Manjhu, BCNU South Islands region OH&S rep Patricia Crown, Nicole West, Rick Howard and Royal Jubilee Hospital full-time steward Richard Fields.

“It was really the moment that I thought, we need to stand up and do something here.”

Daphne Wass

through came last year after Island Heath conducted a violence prevention survey in April after numerous and ongoing complaints from staff.

Following the survey the employer commissioned an independent risk assessment that was completed by consultant Alison Hutchison in November 2016. Her report analyzed the ongoing issues at the facility in detail and provided a long list of recommendations that included providing a 24-7 protection security officer (PSO) seven days a week and rebuilding the nursing station with input from staff and JOHS Committee members.

A large number of staff met with management last December to dis-

cuss the report’s findings. But despite the cautious optimism following the recommendations, many reported walking away from the meeting feeling ignored by managers and uncertain if the needed changes would ever become a reality.

Wass – who is the BCNU South Islands region (PRP) advocate – included these concerns in a detailed PRF that was submitted in January 2017 that, once again, highlighted the dangerous working conditions in the PES department.

Patricia Crown is BCNU’s South Islands region OH&S representative.

She reports that persistent efforts on the part of staff in the wake of the

Hutchison report were the key to eventual success.

“We wanted to put pressure on management to go ahead with the risk assessment recommendations instead of leaving it on the shelf,” she says.

“So we had a meeting with the staff and encouraged them to file a PRF, we filed an Article 32 (OH&S) grievance and I brought [the issue] to the JOSH Committee and the Regional Violence Prevention Committee.”

A 21-day letter is an important step in the JOHS Committee process. Staff and management reps on the committee must reach consensus before a formal recommendation to the employer is made, and it’s not always easy to reach an agreement on the correct course of action. But once submitted, the employer must respond within 21 days in writing to any written recommendations from the committee.

“We still weren’t getting anywhere so that’s when we filed a 21-day letter saying we needed to go ahead on the recommendations and lo and behold, we got their attention,” says Crown.

CHANGES UNDERWAY

With a price tag of over $2 million, the renovated PES department will have a safer and more secure nursing station, and an additional seclusion room with a skylight. There will also be a new multipurpose room and a new exam room for patient interviews. continued on page 19

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A PRESCRITION FOR TREATMENT OPTIONS The BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) is a provincially networked organization with a mandate to develop, help implement, and evaluate evidence-based approaches to substance use and addiction. The organization has been central in helping government and public health offiicials develop an effective response to the province’s opioid overdose crisis.

In response to the growing death rates, it recently called for a number of concrete steps to be taken in order to address the structural reasons for the crisis, and recommends that the province implement the following measures: DEVELOP AN ADDICTION TREATMENT SYSTEM There is currently no functioning substance-use system of care. Even the most basic elements, such as data on rates of disease and treatment capacity are largely non-existent. Recovery from addiction is possible, but only if a functioning treatment and recovery system is in place.

IMPLEMENT A PROVINCIAL DRUG-TESTING SERVICE The province must focus on the toxic drug supply that is the fundamental cause of overdose deaths. While providing naloxone is critical, a provincial drug-testing service would allow consumers to test for and avoid toxic drugs like fentanyl.

EXPAND OPIOID SUBSTITUTION THERAPIES Opioid substitution therapies from methadone through to prescription heroin have been proven to save lives and health-care dollars, They also provide the added benefit of waging economic war on organized crime by removing consumers from the illicit opioid market.

TRAIN HEALTH-CARE PROVIDERS IN EVIDENCE-BASED SUBSTANCE-USE CARE We do not have the skilled workforce required to offer effective substance-use prevention, treatment and recovery services. As a result, money is spent dealing with the consequences of untreated addiction rather than intervening early with cost-effective and lifesaving services.

FULLY ENGAGE PERSONS WITH LIVED EXPERIENCE Rather than marginalizing those who use drugs and those in recovery, the system should seek to embrace those with the experience and knowledge to be part of the solution and help extend the reach of the response to the current epidemic.

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PROFESSIONAL ISSUES

CRISIS UNABATED BCNU calls for more treatment options as province-wide opioid overdose deaths soar

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ara Bates has worked as an outreach nurse in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside for 11 years and says it’s been extremely difficult to watch as the opioid crisis takes a critical toll on the community she calls her office.

“As an outreach nurse working through this crisis, I sometimes ask myself before a shift if someone is going to die today,” she says. “We’ve seen it have a serious impact on the community. I see ambulances and firetrucks going by almost hourly.

The problem is definitely getting worse and that’s really, really stressful.”

Bates’s story is one that nurses around the province can relate to as they work through the province’s worst public health crisis since the HIV/AIDS epidemic in the 1980’s.

From outreach and community nurses to those treating patients in emergency rooms, the day-to-day toll has many relying on their co-workers to help them get through the long days.

“In this line of work, you have to have a close team,” says Bates. “You stick together. You support each other. The work you do can be very thankless. A lot of the time you take what you’ve seen that day home with you. I can’t imagine doing this job without people around that understand what you’ve been through.”

BCNU recently urged the government, through a province-wide media campaign, to take action and focus on providing the treatment

programs and harm reduction strategies needed to save lives and get in front of the crisis. Vice President Christine Sorensen says that, despite the unpredictability in Victoria, all parties need to put politics aside and put the opioid crisis front and centre.

“We are asking that they make a plan and focus on an immediate response,” she says. “We know they want to develop a framework based on treatment-on-demand, drug substitution, early warning monitoring and coordinated response.

“We need to make sure the next coroner's report doesn't surpass the last.”

BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen

“As a nurse and someone who talks to nurses every day, I can tell you these goals sound promising but we need action now. We need to make sure the next coroner’s report doesn’t surpass the last.”

BCNU applauds the recent opening of a safe injection facility in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside as well as two others in Surrey. But Sorensen says there are still a number of applications pending approval from Health Canada for facilities in Victoria, Kelowna and Kamloops.

“Kamloops saw 13 people die

GROWING CRISIS Despite concerted action, the number of overdose deaths in the province continues to reach record levels.

Vancouver Fire and Rescue received 688 overdose calls in the month of April alone.

recently from opioid overdoses,” she says. “That is shocking. What we are seeing is a serious need for supervised sites, but a delayed response from the federal government means we are not taking all of the action that’s needed to provide resources that will no doubt save lives.”

At Vancouver’s Insite supervised injection facility, community nurse Len Vaness works with hundreds of clients who are walking through the doors.

And while they’ve seen a staggering number of overdoses, there have been no deaths. Vaness credits that success to the fact that people have access to medical help if they overdose.

“A large number of people who are dying are using drugs alone, in private residences,” he explains. “They are, for the large part, young males and aren’t able to get help if something goes wrong. The most dangerous part of this crisis is the drugs themselves. We are seeing fentanyl showing up in cocaine, MDMA, and heroin. Harm reduction strategies are definitely an important step but it might be time we take a serious look at prescription therapy.”

The BCNU has been a long-time advocate for harm reduction and evidence-based treatment programs and fundamentally believes that lives can be saved by providing support for people coping with the effects of substance abuse, and sharing knowledge and resources. There will be an ongoing effort to support nurses dealing with the emotional and physical effects of the crisis, and to apply extra pressure on government and health authorities to work together to find a solution. •

SECURING A VIOLENCEFREE WORKPLACE continued from page 17 Attention has also been paid to improving the overall look and feel of the facility. Patients will walk through the doors into a unit boasting a calming westcoast theme complete with wood paneling, murals of trees and beaches and Indigenous art. Patients will also have access to educational materials, and information about the department will be shown on a brand new television that will be installed in the waiting area.

Crown says the improvements won’t just better serve patients’ needs, but will also improve the morale of the staff by ensuring their safety is kept a top priority.

to do,” she says. “We have to give credit to management as well. They’ve really stepped up and have been supportive throughout this process.”

Rick Howard began working in Royal Jubilee’s ER as a nurse in 2002 and just recently retired. He agrees the changes will bring much needed stability to the unit and improve safety for staff.

“The pressure on the entire system has increased over the years and the patients in PES can be very challenging, especially if they are waiting to be seen and haven’t been stabilized or seen by a physician yet,” he says. “I know this is going to make a big difference. The people who work there deserve to feel secure.”

IMPROVEMENTS NEEDED SYSTEM WIDE

The improvements to the PES department come as BCNU continues to raise awareness about the level of violence in health care settings in a province-wide violence prevention campaign. Besides educating nurses that violence isn’t part of the job, the campaign has also focused on the need for trained security guards at worksites 24-7 and personal alarms for nurses among other safety measures.

Violence prevention is also a promiRick Howard nent part of BCNU’s recently bargained NBA collective agreement. A 2016 Memorandum of Understanding nego“Staff will be happy to know that a tiated between the Nurses’ Bargaining trained, hands-on, PSO will be assigned Association and provincial health to PES for 21 hours,” she says. “Often, employers commits to developing a on average, security would be at the framework to recognize that healthunit over a dozen times a day. This will care workers are vulnerable to violence mean someone is there most of the time and that prevention is a complex issue now. The new nursing station will also requiring protocols to be in place. have the room for a fourth nurse which The improvements at Royal Jubilee’s should address the nurse-to-patient PES department come too late for ratio concerns we’ve had for some dozens of staff members who have left time.” over the years due to the increasing Wass echoes Crown's optimism. danger and violence they’ve experi“Everyone has done their bit along enced. However, when the new facility the way to make this happen and it reopens this summer, the hope is that shows that speaking up (through PRFs nurses will feel safe, secure and supand grievances) can be the best thing ported while on the job. •

“I know this is going to make a big difference. The people who work there deserve to feel secure.”

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PROFESSIONAL ISSUES IN THE WORKPLACE

RESPONSIBLE PROFESSIONAL Nurse advocate instrumental in using professional responsibility process to secure improvements at UHNBC ambulatory care unit

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f you don’t file a professional responsibility form (PRF) - nothing will ever change!” That’s the advice of Prince George’s Donna Keown.

She would know, having filed many PRFs in recent years in an effort to fix chronic understaffing resulting in unsafe sedation recovery and infection control protocols in the ambulatory care unit at the University Hospital of Northern BC (UHNBC).

The professional responsibility process (PRP) is an effective way for nurses to safeguard their practice and protect their patients and residents.

The PRP has been agreed to by BCNU and health employers, and provides steps for nurses and managers to follow when nurses feel their ability to meet professional standards is compromised.

The process also helps nurses advocate for changes to workload and practice conditions. When members identify issues, the first step is to have a conversation with their manager. If that doesn’t produce change, the next step is to fill out a PRF. Keown started practicing at Vanderhoof Hospital in 1994 and has worked casual and full-time over her 23-plus years as a nurse. She began working in ambulatory care at UHNBC in March of 2011, and says that it soon

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became clear to her that improvements were needed. “When I first started, there was only one RN in the endoscopy suite to assist the doctor and patient, and often there was only one RN on call over the weekend,” she recalls. “We had to prepare and sedate the patient, assist the doctor, recover the patient and clean the scope”.

Keown says she had been pulled from the recovery floor on more than one occasion to wash scopes, leaving other important care responsibilities ignored.

“The workload was absolutely inappropriate – you cannot process the scope in the allotted time and care for the patients in the recovery ward”.

Keown filed a PRF in response to a scope that sat for more than an hour without getting cleaned. It was just one of many. “I filed a Step 1 in the professional responsibility process, submitted a Patient Safety Learning System (PSLS) report and called the Workplace Health Call Centre,” she says, noting the other reporting measures a nurse should take when they identify a risk to patients or themselves.

“There were times when the scope wouldn’t be sterilized for over 45 minutes, making it an infection control issue,” she explains. But now, thanks to the PRP, Keown says the entire scope

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washing process in the sterilization process department (SPD) has changed.

“Everyone from SPD is trained to come and wash scopes,” she reports.

Keown says that in the beginning her co-workers were reluctant to participate in the PRP, and hesitated filing PRFs. “I filed most of them myself although I always invited my colleagues to be on the PRF with me”.

Keown’s experience was not unlike others trying to influence change, and who find that colleagues are afraid to raise professional practice concerns with the employer. “There was a lot of fear – fear of repercussions and being

DETERMINED ADVOCATE Donna Keown spearheaded the professional responsibility process that resulted in much-needed improvements to sedation recovery and infection control protocols in the ambulatory care unit at the University Hospital of Northern BC.

“I had to be diligent as it was the longest and hardest fight I have ever had.”

Donna Keown

targeted by management,” she recalls.

However with the encouragement of her stewards, Keown says she was able to keep up the effort. “My stewards were there whenever I needed them. They were my guides through this process.”

“When I had my meetings in management’s office for Step 1 of the PR process, I took a steward. If it was not resolved, I pushed the process and the PRFs were heard and discussed,” recalls Keown. “Some solutions were trialed, but did not always resolve the issues,” she notes. “For the on-call, scope and recovery safety issue, I kept filing new PRFs and readdressing them at the professional responsibility committee meetings.”

“I had to be diligent as it was the longest and hardest fight I have ever had in a department to ensure patient and nurse safety,” admits Keown. She says that the breakthroughs that were achieved encouraged others, and soon co-workers began signing her PRFs or filing their own.

Keown continues to further her nursing skills and knowledge, and has taken

courses in post-anesthesia recovery and emergency care. Always interested in learning and keeping her skill base fresh, she reports choosing to take a term position in pre-surgical screening at UHNBC until September 2017.

She plans to return to the ambulatory care unit in the fall. In the meantime, she is encouraged for her colleagues there and says the arduous process she spearheaded has resulted in the creation of two full-time vacation RN relief lines and better morale on the unit.

“There is always a second RN in the endoscopy suite now and the RN on-call over the weekend has the ability to call someone in to help them,” she reports.

“It’s used pretty much 99 percent of the time.”

Keown describes herself as an activist but, despite being asked, she did not become a steward until December 2015. She now sits on UHNBC's professional responsibility process committee. “It is hard work,” she admits of her efforts, “but it works – you have to be committed to completing the PRFs”. •

PROFESSIONAL VOICE These members are just some of BCNU’s professional responsibility process advocates who are ready to help.

From left: Pauline Barlow (Coastal Mountain region), Debera Willis (Thompson North Okanagan region), Heather Picklyk (OkananganSimilkameen region), Ravi Kochar (Fraser Valley region), Denise Waurynchuk (East Kootenay region), Lesley Edora (Central Vancouver region) and Barbara Erickson (North East region). Consult the list below for the contact information of the PRP advocate in your region.

HOW TO CONTACT YOUR REGIONAL PRP ADVOCATES Vancouver Metro Andrea Rauh andrearauh@bcnu.org

Okanagan Similkameen Heather Picklyk heatherpicklyk@bcnu.org

North East Barbara Erickson barbaraerickson@bcnu.org

Fraser Valley Ravi Kochar ravikochar@bcnu.org

Simon Fraser Cameron Ward camward@bcnu.org

Central Vancouver Lesley Edora lesleyedora@bcnu.org

South Fraser Valley Catherine Clutchey catherineclutchey@bcnu.org

Shaughnessy Heights Manpreet Mann manpreetmann@bcnu.org

South Islands Daphne Wass daphnewass@bcnu.org

Pacific Rim Ray Hawkes rayhawkes@bcnu.org

East Kootenay Denise Waurynchuk denisewaurynchuk@bcnu.org

RIVA Sara Johl sarajohl@bcnu.org

Coastal Mountain Pauline Barlow paulinebarlow@bcnu.org

West Kootenay Glenna Lynch glennalynch@bcnu.org

North West Louise Weightman louiseweightman@bcnu.org

Thompson North Okanagan Debera Willis deberawillis@bcnu.org

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FEATURE

The spirited shouts that began at Vancouver’s Hyatt Regency Hotel and grew as BC Nurses’ Union members marched down Burrard Street on May 17 meant there was no mistaking that nurses were in town.

PHOTOS: KELLAN HIGGINS

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UPDATE MAGAZINE â&#x20AC;¢ JULY/AUGUST 2017

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FEATURE

RISE UP! BCNU President Gayle Duteil and members of the union’s provincial executive rally nurses from the steps of the Vancouver Art Gallery.

The event was the union’s 36th annual convention, and the cause was safe communities and safe worksites.

Some 500 convention delegates took to the streets and gathered at the Vancouver Art Gallery to demand an end to the chronic violence in health care and in communities across BC. Flanked by members of the BCNU provincial executive and the union’s Aboriginal Leadership Circle, union president Gayle Duteil urged rally attendees to continue the campaign to put an end to the violence that has become all too endemic in healthcare settings.

“Every single day, in communities large and small, nurses are beaten, kicked, receive death threats, attacked with weapons and assaulted,” said Duteil.

Duteil also spoke out against the violence inflicted on women, children and youth in BC communities, praising the work of groups like Langley’s Ishtar Transition Housing Society in helping people flee abusive situations.

“As nurses, we share a common thread with the work Ishtar is committed to,” she said. “Every single day, in worksites around this province, nurses provide care for those who are victims of abuse and violence. In times of need, it is usually nurses who are there, providing care without prejudice.”

Ishtar Executive Director Laurie Parsons joined the rally and thanked BCNU for its fundraising on behalf of the society.

The rally also welcomed Indigenous artist JB the First Lady who led a group of dancers in a moving song about

the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women across Canada who, as a group, have suffered more violence and abuse than any other segment of society.

Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions President Linda Silas was also on hand. She echoed BCNU’s message that violence is not part of a nurse’s job and urged government to take responsibility for securing their safety while providing care to patients.

Duteil told the assembled group that “there is no better slogan for this year’s rally than ‘Rise Up!’ It’s what nurses do every day. I ask that you take this message home with you to your regions and

CONVENTION VIDEO Watch highlights from the BCNU 2017 convention rally in Vancouver where nurses gathered to call for an end to violence in communities across the province.

View now on your mobile device

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JULY/AUGUST 2017 • UPDATE MAGAZINE

OPENING REMARKS BCNU President Gayle Duteil welcomes delegates on opening day.

share with your colleagues and your community, that violence is not part of our job.”

PRESIDENT’S ADDRESS

A day earlier, Duteil welcomed delegates and observers from across BC before calling the annual meeting to order. She opened the event by reflecting on her three-year journey since being elected president of the union in 2014 and congratulated the many activists present on the collective bargaining wins BCNU achieved following ratification of the 2014-2019 Nurses’ Bargaining Association (NBA) collective agreement.

She recalled hearing about members’ difficulties getting drug coverage under the Pharmacare tie-in agreement after she assumed office, and said that negotiating a superior arrangement was her top priority. She noted that improved coverage was achieved through the negotiation of Blue Rx that now sees the restoration of 90 percent of the coverage that had been lost.

Duteil asked delegates to start thinking about what kinds of coverage are important to them before the union prepares for the next round of bargain-

UNION BUSINESS BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen chairs a debate on proposed bylaw amendments.

We negotiate for all and we will leave no member behind” BCNU President Gayle Duteil

ing in the year ahead and communicate these priorities in future BCNU bargaining surveys and planning meetings.

Whatever benefits BCNU negotiates in the next round, Duteil assured members that the joint benefits trust

arrangement agreed to by other health sector unions, and which shifts the costs of benefits onto workers over the long term, would be a non-starter at the bargaining table. “We said ‘no’ to the joint benefits trust and in the next round of bargaining we will still say no.”

Duteil said she was especially proud that this year’s convention was the first where all health authority-employed nurses were officially covered under one NBA collective agreement and that the pledge BCNU made to LPNs had been fulfilled. She noted that LPNs are now eligible to receive all NBA shift premiums listed in

HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUITY BCNU’s Human Rights and Equity Committee is made up of the union’s four equity caucus chairs and reps from the Young Nurses and Men in Nursing networks. The committee met during convention to discuss issues of common interest, including clarifying the process for approving regional equity caucus funding requests, and the differences between regular, late and emergency convention resolutions.

PROMOTING EQUITY From left: East Kootenay region chair Lori Pearson, West Kootenay region chair Lorne Burkart, Pacific Rim region’s Kelly Woywitka, BCNU Vice President Christine Sorensen, Thompson North Okanagan region’s Diane Lindgren, North East region chair Roni Lokken, North East region’s Sarra Smeaton, Okanagan-Similkameen region’s Harwinder Sandhu, Thompson North Okanagan region Chair Tracy Quewezance, North West region’s Hanna Embree and South Fraser Valley region’s Walter Lumamba.

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FEATURE

Article 28 – an improvement that has resulted in an average annual salary increase of $1,500 – and that the $1 perhour increase negotiated for LPNs balances the needs of all BCNU members covered by the $3.6-billion agreement.

Duteil also stressed that NBA bargaining is not the only focus of the union. She told them about the precarious situation facing the more than 200 members working in corrections facilities for Chiron Health Services.

The group is in bargaining with its employer and took a strike vote in May that saw 95 percent voting in favour of job action. Now the Provincial Health Services Authority, which is taking over care delivery from Chiron at BC's 10 correctional centres on October 1, is ignoring these members’ independent collective agreement and forcing them

We of course remain united for safe patient care but now, more than ever, we must be united for safe nurses.”

BCNU President Gayle Duteil

to re-apply for their own jobs. She said BCNU is committed to ensuring that all of these members rights are protected in a new contract – including nonnurse members. “We negotiate for all and we will leave no member behind,”

MOSAIC OF COLOUR CAUCUS GATHERS Members of the BCNU Mosaic of Colour equity caucus gathered over lunch during convention to formally meet their new caucus chair and Okanagan-Similkameen region member Harwinder Sandhu, who takes over from South Islands region member Jessica Celeste. The group discussed issues ranging from the difficulties many internationally educated nurses face when their university degrees are not recognized in BC to systemic racism still felt on the job. Sandhu encouraged members to ask questions, raise concerns and bring ideas to help further the caucus’s efforts.

she said, and promised that BCNU would continue to work for the benefit of all nurses – whether LPN, RN or RPN. Duteil reminded delegates about the $25 million in damages that BCNU won and used to pay for members’ 2016 college registration fees, and reported that the union would be fighting to have them covered in all future years. “The college protects the public. Why are the nurses paying for that?” she asked.

Duteil reported that BCNU is committed to building on its recent bargaining achievements and called on delegates to start planning for the union’s next provincial bargaining conference that will be held in January 2018. “Now, we must rise up together to ensure success at the next round of bargaining,” she said.

In the meantime, Duteil reported that BCNU is continuing to grow its role as a key stakeholder in health care system policy development. She said the union’s professional practice and advocacy department is an important new resource that will provide nurses with evidence-based research to advance professional best practices at the bargaining table and within the newly established Nursing Staffing Secretariat (NSS) and Nursing Policy Secretariat (NPS).

Duteil noted that BCNU’s work on the NPS helped establish a provincial perioperative education initiative that has seen funding for 850 specialty-educated FTE positions per year while optimizing scopes of practice – all to help

SHARING EXPERIENCES BCNU Mosaic of Colour caucus members from the Vancouver Metro share lunch on day two of convention.

From left: Eleen Leung, Vilma Somera, Crista Laurel, Emma Carmino and Ivy Velasco.

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tackle the worst nursing shortage BC has seen in over 20 years. “We are the professional voice of nursing,” she said.

“When something happens in the province of BC that affects health care, nursing or patient care, it’s the BC Nurses’ Union that’s looked to for comment.”

Duteil pointed to the province’s escalating opioid overdose crisis as one example of an issue where BCNU’s voice is making a difference – for both patients and nurses, and joined delegates in applauding the work of nurses at Vancouver’s Insite supervised injection facility and St. Paul’s Hospital.

She acknowledged the overwhelming workload that has resulted from the crisis, noting that Vancouver Fire and Rescue received 688 overdose calls in the month of April alone, and said the union stands behind members like Insite’s Len Vaness who reported that he is exercising his right to refuse unsafe work until safe staffing levels are maintained.

Duteil updated delegates on the union’s province-wide violence-prevention campaign, and said nurses’ safety was a key issue throughout the recent provincial election campaign, with over 150 candidates from all three parties signing a BCNU candidate pledge vowing to promote violence-free workplaces for nurses. She also reported that, by year’s end, the union is aiming to see personal protective devices available for all nurses, hands-on safety and security officers on duty in hospitals, and federal legislation that would make an assault on a nurse an aggravating circumstance in sentencing, as it is now for transit operators.

“We of course remain united for safe patient care but now, more than ever, we must be united for safe nurses,” she said.

Duteil concluded her opening address by announcing that BCNU would be demanding nurse-to-patient ratios when bargaining begins

delegates’ view WHY DID YOU ATTEND CONVENTION THIS YEAR?

MARLEE EMERY Mills Memorial Hospital

CAROL-ANN LONSDALE Royal Jubilee Hospital

I came to learn about what’s happening with the union, listen to the electoral candidates, and bring that information back to members in my region so that we can make decisions together.

I’m really interested in bargaining and moving forward and I think the BCNU is absolutely amazing for the things we are looking for – and I have lots of ideas about how we can be creative in bargaining.

LEE FREDERICK Arrowsmith Lodge

LANA WASYLKIW Kelowna General Hospital

We’re a democratic union and I wanted to have a voice in the democratic process.

I wanted to hear the candidates speak in person and listen to what each side had to say.

PATRIZIA FITCH Beacon Community Services

MERVIN ESCANO Royal Columbian Hospital

I’m a steward and I came to learn and be a part of a great union – and to get to speak up about issues that we face in the workplace every day.

I wanted to see what the union is doing and what the plans are for the future – it’s been a good experience so far.

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FEATURE

Resiliency is a practice – integrate it into the work you do.”

COMMUNITY PROFILE

ISHTAR TRANSITION HOUSING SOCIETY BCNU has been speaking out about violence in the health-care workplace.

But it’s important to connect the violence that nurses experience with violence in the wider community and to support efforts to stop it wherever it is experienced. Ishtar Transition Housing Society is one organization committed to ending the cycle of violence and abuse.

The Society provides supportive services to assist women, children and men from all walks of life, race and belief systems who have experienced abuse. Its programs are designed to help individuals become the very best that they can be through counselling, support and empowerment. Society staff and volunteers work with other community agencies such as the courts, the hospital, mental health and social services to ensure that each resident/client is given as many options as possible from which to choose.

Ishtar runs two transition houses in Langley and Aldergrove that provide safe, clean, temporary emergency accommodations for women and their children leaving an abusive relationship.

Open 24-hours, they are secure spaces free from the threat of violence. Staff provide women with emotional support and personal assistance, put them in touch with agencies and resources offering legal, medical or financial help, and encourage them to explore options that will allow them to live without violence.

BCNU members raised $8,000 for Ishtar through the sale of convention apparel. This amount was generously matched by the law firm Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould for a total of $16,000. •

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Dr. Jeff Morley

next year, and said that this kind of contract language is needed in order to truly address BC’s chronic nurse shortage and tackle the difficulties that come with providing safe patient care in facilities that are full to the brim with patients.

“Rise up for respect of our collective agreement rights! Rise up for safe, violence-free worksites! And rise up for ratios!” was her message to members.

Update Magazine and in favour of an amended resolution that will see BCNU discontinue the use of single-serve bottled water at events whenever possible.

KEYNOTE SPEAKERS

Convention delegates began the last day of their provincial gathering taking in an engaging presentation by retired RCMP staff sergeant and registered psychologist Dr. Jeff Morley, who has been running BCNU’s popular personal

RESOLUTIONS AND BYLAW AMENDMENTS

The last two days of convention saw delegates debating resolutions and proposed bylaw amendments. An amendment to Article 2 – Membership was carried that now prevents members who are employed by other Nurses Bargaining Association unions from attending BCNU meetings, holding elected office or filling BCNU staff positions.

A proposed amendment to Article 15.01 (a) – Conventions of the Union that would have increased the number of intervals used to calculate the distribution of regional delegates to future conventions did not receive enough votes to be carried.

Another proposed amendment to Article 2 – Membership that would have restricted non-nurse BCNU membership to only those allied health care workers in wall-to-wall certifications was tabled to a future convention.

Delegates voted against a resolution calling for an obituary column in

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PROMOTING RESILIENCY Dr. Jeff Morley shares his insights on post-traumatic stress.

RENAISSANCE WOMAN Keynote speaker Dr. Roberta Bondar shared her diverse life experience with delegates on the last day of convention.

resilience workshops for the past two years. Morley shared his research and expertise on post-traumatic stress and psychologically healthy workplaces, and told delegates that resilience is a practice, and to be proactive about accessing a range of therapies that are available to help nurses safely do the work they do.

The afternoon saw delegates welcome Dr. Roberta Bondar, best recognized as Canada’s first woman in space after travelling on a 1992 Space Shuttle mission. Bondar shared her career story which began with her studies and research in neurobiology and her later work with NASA heading an international space medicine research team tasked with finding new connections between astronauts recovering from space flight and neurological illness on Earth, such as stroke and Parkinson’s disease.

An accomplished photographer, Bondar reflected on her more recent passion for capturing images of Canadian nature and landscapes, and shared images from several of her published books. She encouraged delegates to keep learning from their mistakes and find inspiration in the success of others.

MOVING FORWARD

Duteil closed Convention 2017 by calling on delegates to look after themselves and each other in the year ahead, and to prioritize personal resiliency while focusing on moving forward. “Let’s pick people up when they are down,” she said. “Let’s support each other, our families and our communities during difficult times.” •

WORKING FOR INDIGENOUS EQUITY BCNU’s Aboriginal Leadership Circle met during convention to share ways to connect and support Aboriginal nurses and further outreach efforts in their communities.

LEADERSHIP CIRCLE Back row (standing l-r): Glynis Wilson (BCNU staff), Lori Pearson (BCNU Council Liaison), North East region’s Leona Clark, West Kootenay region’s Erin Roulette, Simon Fraser region’s Lisa Noel, Simon Fraser region’s Sherry Ridsdale, Pacific Rim region’s Charlene Copley South Fraser Valley region’s Allison Stockbrocks and RIVA region’s Michael Scott. Front row (l-r): Thompson North Okanagan region’s June Shackley, ALC chair Diane Lingren, JB the First Lady and Okanangan-Similkameen region’s Miranda Haupt.

MEN IN NURSING MEET BCNU’s Men in Nursing (MIN) network met over lunch on the second day of convention to discuss priorities for the next round of collective bargaining, including how to build on the paternity leave success achieved in the previous round. The need to counter stereotypes encountered by male nurses as a minority within the profession was also discussed. MIN also recommitted to participate in this year’s Movember fundraiser, with a view to using it to both raise money and grow awareness of men’s health needs and overcoming men’s reluctance to talk about their health.

NETWORKING (l-r) West Kootenay region chair and MIN Council Liaison Lorne Burkart, Pacific Rim region’s Lee Frederick, North West region’s Jas Gill, and MIN network chair Walter Lumamba.

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convention 2017 postcards 1. BCNU President Gayle Duteil speaks to the media after delivering her opening address.

2. Convention delegates march through downtown Vancouver on May 17 to demand safe communities and safe worksites. 3.

East Kootenay region's Sharon Rakebrand casts her ballot in the BCNU Nominations Committee election. 4. BCNU Simon Fraser region’s Lilibeth Colet, Lydia Agpalo and Deb Picco chat during a break from business. 5.

BCNU Aboriginal Leadership Circle members welcome delegates to their booth. From left: Thompson North Okanagan region's June Shackley, North East region’s Leona Clark and Simon Fraser region’s Lisa Noel. 6.

BCNU Thompson North Okanagan members Nannette Chenard and Evelena Wieler on convention floor. 7. Coastal Mountain region delegates get settled in. From left: Rose Tariga, Carol Nakano, Dan Desmarais and Jose Seva. 8. BCNU South Islands region member Ken Giles chats with Vancouver Island University nursing students Tanys Latham (l) and Serena Gaiga (r). Both students presented their community placement research project on climate change as a determinant of health during Monday’s education day. 9.

BCNU North East region’s Jackie Nault sells 50-50 draw tickets to Pacific Rim region’s Rick Carlson. 10. BCNU South Fraser Valley region’s Engel Soliva receives information from BC Pension Corp’s Sandy Robilliardi.

11. Simon Fraser region’s Sherry Ridsdale speaks at the mic during a discussion on resolutions. 12. BCNU Servicing Coordinator Bella Brown stops to chat with Workers with Disablilities caucus chair Kelly Woywitka. 13.

Pacific Rim region’s Holly Gale and North

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East region’s Shaun Whyman chat at the BCNU Men in Nursing booth. 14. Nurses take to the streets for the May 17 march to the Vancouver Art Gallery. 15. BCNU South Islands region delegates on convention floor: From left: Janice de Groot, Daphne Wass, Shelley Thompson and Robert D'Andrea. 16. Members of the BCNU Aboriginal Leadership Circle are joined by singer JB the First Lady who sang about the plight of missing and murdered Indigenous women and the resilience of the survivors of colonialism. 17. Say cheese!

Hundreds of delegates dropped by the BCNU communications department selfie station to post their photos on the union's new Instagram account. 18. BCNU President Gayle Duteil and members of the union’s provincial executive committee lead delegates on a spirited march through downtown Vancouver on May 17. 19. BCNU Coastal Mountain region member Rajnish Ramdoyal (l) and Vancouver Metro region’s Eleen Leung (r) pay a visit to BCNU Young Nurses' Network chair Sarra Smeaton. 20. Convention hosts and South Fraser Valley co-chairs Jonathan Karmazinuk and Michelle Sordal present a cheque for $16,000 to Ishtar Transition House Society executive director Laurie Parsons. James Gould (r) of law firm Hamilton Howell Bain & Gould matched the funds raised by BCNU delegates. 21. BCNU Nominations Committee members Kevin Barry, Carol Rocker, Paul Terpstra and Michelle Nelson. Terpstra was the winner of a special election held May 17 to fill the vacant positon on the committee.

22. BCNU Men in Nursing Network members gather over lunch.

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FEATURE

education day Members focus on practice issues ahead of convention Before the BCNU Convention officially kicked off on May 16, union members from around BC gathered a day earlier to take in a day-long practice-focused conference featuring experts from across North America.

The May 15 education day featured keynote speaker and University of Alberta professor Christy RaymondSeniuk, who shared her experiences advancing collaborative practice models in her province while providing advice to nurses in BC. RaymondSeniuk talked about how nursing contexts affect nurses’ ability to impact health outcomes, and stressed the importance of fostering affirmative environments through leadership and lifelong learning. She also shared her research on strategies for cultivating a

strong nursing future by strengthening how we educate nurses and by studying how nurses can best lead change in health systems.

Education day participants also attended breakout sessions on a variety of topical practice issues, from dementia care, to clinical management of opioid-use disorder and social media use, among others.

The day wrapped up with an inspiring presentation from Minnesota’s Cynthia Vlasich, who is Director of Education and Leadership at the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International. Vlasich used the metaphor of storms to describe the challenges nurses face throughout their careers, and how strength and resiliency can be cultivated in the most difficult of circumstances. She asked participants to never forget the real reason they go to work every day, and noted that resiliency – the ability to bend and not break – is a common trait in nurses. Vlasich also shared her work on the Nurses on Boards Coalition in the US as an example of a model that helps nurses leverage their inherent leadership skills to effect change beyond the health care setting. •

STUDENT NURSES MEET Dozens of student nurses from schools around the province had the opportunity to sit down with BCNU President Gayle Duteil and South Fraser Valley region co-chair Michelle Sordal and compare

EXCELLENCE IN LEADERSHIP University of Alberta Professor Christy RaymondSeniuk kicked-off education day sharing her experiences advancing collaborative practice models in her province and providing advice to nurses in BC.

experiences over lunch during convention’s education day. Duteil welcomed the group and explained the need for nursing grads at a time when the province is dealing with a staffing crisis.

The group also discussed the NCLEX exam and the challenges many student nurses are having as they work to complete this requirement.

GENERATIONAL EXCHANGE BCNU South Fraser Valley co-chair and council student liaison Michelle Sordal, Desiree Cosman, BCNU President Gayle Duteil, Stephanie McCusker, Candy Tran and Paula Stone.

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WEATHERING THE STORM Nursing Leader Cynthia Vlasich spoke to delegates about the value of cultivating resilience throughout nurses’ careers.

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BREAKOUT SESSION Elyse Magee of the BC Centre on Substance Use talks to BCNU members about the shifting treatment paradigms surrounding opioid-use disorder and the implications for nursing practice.

MEMBER PROFILE YOUR COLLEAGUE CLOSE-UP

SELFLESS ACT PAM EASTON DONATES KIDNEY TO FRIEND IN NEED NURSES ARE KNOWN for giving themselves to their patients, but Pam Easton took that commitment literally, after recently donating a kidney to a local in need.

Family friend Dale Langford suffered acute renal failure in 2015.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t the first time. “When we first met him he had received a transplant from his brother a couple of years prior, so he was awesome and doing well,” she recalls. “In the last few years, his health started to fail and you knew it was coming and he was back on dialysis for about a year-and-a-half.”

Easton works in the emergency room at 100 Mile District General Hospital.

Langford’s wife also works there as a lab tech, and the families became friends over the years.

An individual with kidney failure has three treatment options: dialysis, a transplant from a deceased donor or a transplant from a living donor. While transplantation is the preferred option, there are not enough deceased kidney donations to help everyone who needs a transplant,

LIVING DONOR 100-Mile House’s Pam Easton didn’t hesitate to use the Canadian Blood Service’s national registry in order to donate a kidney to her friend.

and many patients on the wait list never receive a kidney.

The national Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry (LDPE) was established to allow incompatible donor-recipient pairs to exchange donors. Operated by Canadian Blood Services, the LDPE registry can search a large number of pairs from all over Canada for potential donor exchanges. Without this database, only a small number of pairs can be evaluated at one time, making matches more difficult to identify.

Easton used the LDPE in order to donate to Langford.

“We were entered into the computer system and it was basically a chain, they didn’t exactly tell us how many people were in our chain but I’m thinking probably three to four pairs,” she says. “So they sort of cross over and mine

went to somebody and he got his from someone else.”

Easton confesses that she did not consult her family before making her decision.

“I have two daughters who turned 20 and 18 this spring.

They were supportive but like typical girls they were very worried,” she says. “And my husband’s biggest thing was, ‘What if our kids need a kidney?’ Well, I was like you can’t live on ‘what if.’”

She feels that if her children do need a kidney, someone will donate to them. “But they were very supportive, emotional about it all, and very proud in the end.”

Both Easton and Langford received their surgeries at St.Paul’s Hospital in January.

As a nurse, Easton is aware that all surgery comes with the risk of complication, no matter how routine. But she

says that fact did not worry her. “Maybe my medical knowledge made me less apprehensive than someone who has no knowledge,” she reflects. “I honestly didn’t think it through. I went in fairly relaxed and it was fine.”

Easton’s matter-of-fact telling of her experience is perhaps a reflection of a nurse’s perspective. Back at home, she says she doesn’t think about the donation.

But that hasn’t been the case for Langford. “He tries to buy my dinner too much and, in the beginning there were more phone calls, more chats and stuff,” reports Easton.

“But I’ve tried to avoid that.

You don’t want it to be awkward. I don’t want him to feel like he owes me.”

She says that the friends’ relationship is now returning to normal. “We have busy lives with our families. We try to get together when we can and share a few more jokes, but it’s all good.”

But one permanent change has come about as a result of Easton’s donation. “I was contacted by the Kidney Foundation and they’re going to be starting a mentor program,” she reports. “They plan to train people who have donated so that others who are thinking about it can talk to us and get first-hand knowledge to help them decide if they want to do it.

So that’s kind of cool.” • FOR MORE INFORMATION on the Canadian Blood Service’s Living Donor Paired Exchange Registry visit: blood.ca/organsandtissues

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HUMAN RIGHTS & EQUITY Q&A STRONGER TOGETHER

DECOLONIZING THE HEALTH-CARE WORKPLACE UNBC RESEARCH TEAM SEEKS TO MAKE HEALTH CARE MORE INVITING AND INCLUSIVE FOR INDIGENOUS PEOPLES A NEW AND INNOVATIVE research project aims to make northern BC’s health-care sector a more inviting and inclusive place for Indigenous peoples and Indigenous ways of knowing and being.

The study is run out of the Health Arts Research Centre at the University of Northern BC. The research team includes UNBC professors Dr. Sarah de Leeuw and Dr. Margo Greenwood, as well as research manager Charis Alderfer-Mumma.

Their project is supported by a wide range of organizations including the Northern Health Authority, the First Nations Health Authority, and BCNU. Dr. de Leeuw, who heads up the research team, says they want to learn more about how to best recruit more Indigenous peoples to become nurses, doctors, dentists and other health care professionals in northern BC. “We’re looking at changes within education, support services and human resources that will make a difference,” she says.

“We want to talk with

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anyone, including patients and nurses, willing to share their experiences and knowledge about making the Northern Health Authority a more inclusive environment,” adds AlderferMumma. “We’ll be doing one-on-one interviews by phone or in person. And we’ll be using art-based activities, which we think is an untapped resource, to help people better express themselves.

“We’ve already had several community-based consultations, including in Terrace and Moricetown. We saw some fantastic and amazing art being created by the participants. Their art often says more than words can.

We also heard many suggestions about how to make Indigenous health-care providers and patients feel more comfortable. And we recently had a very informative meeting with members of BCNU’s Aboriginal Leadership Circle.”

ALC chair Diane Lingren supports the project’s goals of building a more inclusive environment for Indigenous workers and patients. “It’s

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obvious that we need to change the current system,” she says.

Lingren has been delivering care at Royal Inland Hospital in Kamloops, near her hometown of Monte Lake, for the past 10 years.

“I’ve noticed a tremendous increase in racism towards Indigenous people over the past decade, either from patients or from nurses or other health-care workers.”

“I honestly believe,” says Lingren, “that it is at least partly linked to the rising acuity of our patients, less staff, and the ever-increasing workloads that lead to stress for everyone, including our patients and visitors. People tend to blow up easier today than in the past.

“For example,” she says, “I remember caring for an elderly gent. I got along wonderfully with him, his wife, and daughter – until one day the patient’s wife saw my tattoos, which were designed by a friend and are very unique and important to me. She immediately lost her mind and grabbed my wrist violently, pointed her finger in my face, and yelled

‘You people don’t deserve a job like this.’ She told my charge nurse that I shouldn’t be allowed to look after her husband.

“I know that 99.9 percent of my co-workers are amazing. But it really hurt that no one stood up for me while this woman was screaming abuse. It hurts me to the core that this type of incident happens again and again. When will it end?”

Lingren, who is Metis, says that because she doesn’t “look” Aboriginal, she frequently overhears other health-care workers making racist comments. “If an Indigenous patient misses an appointment, you’ll often hear comments about them living on Indian time – even if the patient may have been late because they’d driven more than 100 kilometres from a remote community to Kamloops in the middle of a snow storm.

“I’ve also often seen First Nations people get hauled out of our ER in handcuffs by the police and tossed into jail, when that usually doesn’t happen to other people acting in the same way.

INCLUSIVE ENVIRONMENT BCNU Aboriginal Leadership Circle chair Diane Lingren participated in a University of Northern BC research project that aims to building a more inclusive environment for Indigenous workers and patients.

“And I routinely hear comments about Indians getting everything handed to them on a platter. People mistakenly think all Indigenous people don’t pay taxes, that they get free education and cheap cigarettes. ‘What else do you want?” people ask.

Authority: A Decolonizing Humanities-Based Approach.

It includes numerous examples of the inequalities and health inequities faced by Indigenous people when dealing with our health-care system, either as patients or workers, when compared

“Unless you experience it yourself, you just don't know how bad the situation really is in BC and across Canada.”

ALC Chair Diane Lingren

“It happens all the time,” she explains, “including at work, on Facebook, in the grocery store, and when dealing with the police. It’s everywhere. It’s cruel, and unless you experience it yourself, you just don’t know how bad the situation really is in BC and across Canada.”

The UNBC research team recently released a 30-page backgrounder Increasing First Nations Employment Participation and the Responsiveness to Indigenous Well-Being within BC’s Northern Health

to non-Indigenous peoples that primarily stem from social, political, cultural and economic inequities that are rooted in a history of colonialism. While these disparities and related barriers are experienced by Indigenous peoples throughout Canada, they are particularly felt in rural areas such as northern BC.” The backgrounder also explains how northern, rural and remote communities “experience a broad range of health inequities that include decreased life expectancy,

higher rates of chronic illness such as diabetes and obesity and decreased access to health services. Indigenous peoples continue to be marginalized…both as users of it and employees in it.”

The UNBC researchers point out that although disparities and discrimination are widespread, there have been several encouraging signs that offer hope for the future, such as the establishment of the First Nations Health Authority and reported improvements in the areas of life expectancy, mortality rate, youth suicide rate, and diabetes prevalence.

Lingren says a number of projects are currently helping to improve the delivery of health care for Indigenous patients at Royal Inland Hospital. “We now have two patient navigators who provide patients with cultural and social care, and make sure they have housing and help when they return to their communities,” she says. “It’s a good idea that should be introduced across the province.”

The report states that “by increasing the cultural safety of health-care systems for Indigenous people, by diversifying and Indigenizing the workplace environment, Indigenous people will feel safer participating as employees in, and accessing as patients, health-care services. This in turn may lessen health disparities experienced by Indigenous peoples in Canada, an area with significant cost implications to the health-care system as a whole.”

Alderfer-Mumma says the

researchers want to hear from Indigenous health-care professionals about how they could be better supported in your their environment or how their cultural knowledge and perspectives might be better incorporated into existing knowledges and practices. The research team is also interested in learning from educators, students, and anyone else who can contribute to the project.

When the interviews are completed, analysis of the UNBC team’s research will be conducted in partnership with Indigenous peoples and organisations so that results are generated using a partnered and consensus-building approach.

“People have been very supportive so far,” says Dr. de Leeuw. “But we still want to hear from anyone interested in participating. We’re open to strategies that address the anti-Indigenous racism we all know exists in our country.”

“I recommend that any member interested in this issue should participate,” says Lingren. “Talking openly about racism can really help. I know that I wouldn’t be where I am today, comfortable in my own skin, without help and support from members of BCNU’s Aboriginal Leadership Circle.” • IF YOU’RE INTERESTED in participating in this project please contact Charis Alderfer-Mumma, Research Manager, Health Arts Research Centre at UNBC. You can reach her at Charis.Alderfer-Mumma@ unbc.ca or 250-960-5438

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YOUR PENSION SECURING YOUR FUTURE

ANSWERS TO YOUR PENSION QUESTIONS IF YOU’VE BEEN WORKING IN BC’S PUBLIC HEALTH CARE AND SOCIAL SERVICES system (health authorities and affiliates, and community social service agencies) chances are you’re part of the Municipal Pension Plan (MPP) or the Public Service Pension Plan (PSPP).

Even if retirement is the furthest thing from your mind, it’s a good idea to have an understanding of how your pension plan works, and make sure you are getting the most of this important benefit.

Here are the answers to some of our members’ most frequently asked questions about the MPP and PSPP, the two plans to which most BCNU members belong.

How is my retirement benefit calculated and how do I know how much I will receive when I retire?

Your actual pension benefit at retirement is not based on contributions.

It is based on a formula that takes into consideration your age and your spouse’s age (if any) at retirement, your highest average salary (HAS), your years of pensionable service and the pension option you choose at retirement.

Section 3 of your Member Benefit Statement provides an estimate of your monthly pension benefit at retirement.

The plan will give you a lifetime pension, starting when you retire. After your death, depending on what kind of pension option you chose, the plan may continue to pay pension benefits to your spouse (if you have one) for his or her lifetime or to

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another beneficiary for a set period, or it may pay a lump sum payment to your estate.

To increase your pension, you can increase your salary and/or your pensionable service.

Your member benefit statement also notes your pensionable earnings and your pensionable service for the previous calendar year (Section 4). If you want to review your pensionable service history or estimate what your pension might be based on your current personal information, you can access the “My Account” page on the BC Pension Corporation website and use the general pension estimator tool.

Not all earnings are pensionable. For example, straight time earnings are pensionable, but overtime is not.

If you’re a member of the MPP and the PSPP and work for more than one employer,

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you will contribute on all earnings but will not accrue more than 12 months of pensionable service in one year.

However, the total salary will be used to calculate your fiveyear highest average salary.

Why does my Member Benefit Statement show less than 12 months of pensionable service when I work full time and never take unpaid leaves?

If you work the full number of shifts assigned to you in a year, your pensionable service should be 12 months if you work full time.

There are legitimate reasons why you may be short pensionable service such as: you took more hours off than what was in your bank (such as vacation or sick leave); you swapped shifts and didn’t complete the swap; you really did take an unpaid leave; you took an unpaid

leave and did not apply to purchase that pension time back; or you had a change in rotation mid-year and lost time. The fact that you are paid in January for shifts worked in the previous year should not result in a shortfall in service.

If you feel that your pensionable service is not reported correctly, contact your employer. If you disagree with the report from your employer, contact your steward for assistance.

I take time off without pay (Leaves of Absence – LOA) during the year. Can I contribute to my pension when I am on an LOA and is my employer required to contribute?

Article 37 of the Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial collective agreement (Leave – General) states that members will not lose benefits for the first 20 days (150 hours) of an unpaid leave of absence each year.

In order for your pension benefit to remain whole, you can buy the service for the time you were not contributing to the plan. To do so you must submit a purchase of service form to your employer’s human resources department when you return from the leave.

You have five years to purchase back the service.

However, your employer is only obligated to pay its share of the contribution for the year prior to the application for purchase of service. Note that you must apply prior to March 31 of the year following the year when the leave(s) was

your new employer must enrol you in the plan as a new regular or casual employee. If more than 30 days pass between the last day of your old job and the first day of your new job, you will need to meet the eligibility rules again to rejoin the plan.

I belong to the MPP now and want to take a casual job with another plan employer. What happens to my pension at the second employer?

As you are already a contributing member of the MPP, your new employer is required to enrol you in the plan immediately. taken in order to trigger the employer’s obligation to pay its share. For example, if you apply to purchase service on or before March 31, 2018, you will pay your share and your employer will pay theirs. But if you apply after March 31, 2018 to purchase service for leaves taken in 2017 or before, you will have to pay both your own and your employer’s share of the contribution.

If I apply for a purchase of service for an LOA, do I have to pay my share all at once?

Yes, you will receive a letter from the Pension Corporation advising you of the amount of your share of contribution pay, the date by which it must be paid and of payment options. You can transfer money directly from an RRSP to pay for purchase of pension service and it is considered tax neutral – you

will not be taxed for withdrawing the RRSP early nor will you get a taxable credit for paying into the pension.

I work part time at one facility and started casual in another. Do I have to contribute to the pension plan as a casual?

If you are a member of the Municipal Pension Plan with one employer and start working with another employer, the second employer must enrol you in the Plan at the date of hire.

I am quitting my job and starting to work with another employer who offers the MPP. Do I have to wait another three months to be eligible for enrolment if I take a regular job or meet the criteria in a casual position?

As long as you are hired within 30 days from your termination date,

Can I defer my pension?

Yes. If you terminate employment prior to being able to start your pension, you can defer the pension until a later date.

For example, if you terminate employment at age 50, you can leave your funds in the plan and begin to draw your pension as early as age 55.

I chose a Single Life Pension, guaranteed for 15 years and have a dependent child that is on my Post Retirement Group Benefits (PRGB). What happens to the benefits if I die prior to the guarantee period?

Your dependent can remain covered by PRGBs until the end of the guarantee period only.

If your beneficiary is not listed as a dependent with benefit coverage, they will not be able to enrol for the benefits. •

NEW REPORT HIGHLIGHTS PENSION PLAN PERFORMANCE The Municipal Pension Plan’s 2016 Report to Members is now available online and it features comprehensive information about the financial health of the plan.

The 2016 report shows that the plan remains fully funded and secure despite a challenging environment of low interest rates and muted economic growth over the last year.

The plan earned investment returns of 5.9 percent on an annual basis (below the benchmark of 6.6 percent) but more importantly over the past five years the plan has earned an annualized rate of return of 10.2 percent. This is good news, because it means the plan is meeting its long-term financial objectives.

The report also highlights actions trustees took over the past year to ensure the value and sustainability of the plan. Trustees’ proactive and prudent management of the plan helped the plan’s assets grow to $46.4 billion in 2016.

The Municipal Pension Plan remains the largest public sector pension plan in BC, and the sixth largest in Canada.

Read the report on your mobile device today!

UPDATE MAGAZINE • JULY/AUGUST 2017

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JOIN US 2017 AGM

October 12 10amâ&#x20AC;&#x201C;noon Anvil Centre New Westminster

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Annual General Meeting LEARN HOW YOUR PLAN IS HEALTHY+SECURE

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BOOK REVIEW WORDS WORTH READING

NATIONAL COLUMNIST SUMMARIZES CONTEMPORARY HEALTH ISSUES Matters of Life and Death: Public Health Issues in Canada Author: André Picard Publisher: Douglas & McIntyre Pages: 288 Price: $22.95

REGULAR READERS OF The Globe and Mail – and those who work in health care in particular – know André Picard. For some 30 years, the Montreal-based journalist has focused almost exclusively on health issues. He has won numerous awards for his writing over the years and, in an era of shrinking advertising revenue and resources in the world of print media, has virtually become Canada’s defacto national reporter on the health beat.

Nurses who are not regular Globe and Mail readers may remember Picard for his book Critical care: Canadian nurses speak for change published in 2000. In it he profiled the working lives of many nurses across the country and across sectors through the use of personal vignettes to help illuminate the general reader about the daily professional challenges nurses faced in the late 1990s during a time of radical restructuring and deficit mania-driven budget cuts. It was a sympathetic portrayal

of a profession that is not well understood by most Canadians.

Prior to this he wrote The Gift of Death: Confronting Canada’s Tainted Blood Tragedy for which he received a Science in Society Journalism Award and the Michener Award for Meritorious Public Service Journalism for his coverage of the worst public health scandal in Canadian history.

Picard is by no means the only reporter covering the major public health issues of the day. But it’s his focus on policy that distinguishes his work from those who write on medicine and technology.

Picard is preoccupied by the human dimension of the health-care system, and has argued that health policy and health politics matter just as much as medicine.

This perspective may have been formed as a result of Picard’s experience covering the HIV-AIDS epidemic of the late 1980s when he was a junior reporter and where he

witnessed profound prejudice and ignorance from health-care workers toward patients in their care.

Throughout his career, Picard has analyzed and written on almost all of the major health issues of the day and has plied his trade with an awareness of many of the ailments afflicting much health reporting, such as hyperbole (reports of miracle drugs), commercialism (promotional material veiled as news), poor story selection (where cute trumps meaningful) and oversimplification (trans fats bad; omega-3s good). He argues that good health reporting should provide an accessible, comprehensive summary of health issues, avoid the

sensational and always be skeptical. On balance, he has achieved his goal with Matters of Life and Death.

The book is not new material, but a compilation of Picard’s writing for the Globe over the past 10 years, where he publishes a weekly 500-word column. In book form, these pieces make for quick, digestible tidbits that can be easily read in one sitting. The stories are organized into chapters that range over contemporary health issues, such as medicare, mental health, drugs, aging and end of life, reproductive health, Indigenous health, cancer, infectious disease and social determinants of health.

Despite the breadth of issues, Picard has clearly gained considerable knowledge and authority after three decades of writing, and his positions are well informed and thoughtfully presented. But as a columnist he is expressing opinion by definition, and takes clear sides on many health issues where there is much disagreement. For example, he is in favour of mandatory seasonal flu vaccinations and argues that nurses should receive and endorse the shot as a “badge of pride” despite the vaccine’s limited efficacy. But as an accessible lay-analysis, Matters of Life and Death makes for a comprehensive and engaging read on the current state of Canadian health care. •

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WHO CAN HELP? BCNU IS HERE TO SERVE MEMBERS

BCNU CAN. Here’s how you can get in touch with the right person to help you.

CONTACT YOUR STEWARDS For all workplace concerns contact your steward. REGIONAL REPS If your steward can’t help, or for all regional matters, contact your regional rep. EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE For all provincial, national or union policy issues, contact your executive committee.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

REGIONAL REPS CENTRAL VANCOUVER Judy McGrath Co-chair C 604-970-4339 jmcgrath@bcnu.org Marlene Goertzen Co-chair C 778-874-9330 marlenegoertzen@bcnu.org COASTAL MOUNTAIN Kath-Ann Terrett Chair C 604-828-0155 kterrett@bcnu.org EAST KOOTENAY Lori Pearson Chair C 250-919-4890 loripearson@bcnu.org FRASER VALLEY Katherine Hamilton Chair C 604-793-6444 katherinehamilton@bcnu.org

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PRESIDENT Gayle Duteil C 604-908-2268 gayleduteil@bcnu.org

TREASURER Sharon Sponton C 250-877-2547 sharonsponton@bcnu.org

VICE PRESIDENT Christine Sorensen C 250-819-6293 christinesorensen@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR Deb Ducharme C 250-804-9964 dducharme@bcnu.org

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR Adriane Gear C 778-679-1213 adrianegear@bcnu.org

NORTH EAST Veronica (Roni) Lokken Chair C 250-960-8621 veronicalokken@bcnu.org

SHAUGHNESSY HEIGHTS Claudette Jut Chair C 604-786-8422 claudettejut@bcnu.org

SOUTH ISLANDS Margo Wilton Co-chair C 250-818-4862 mwilton@bcnu.org

NORTH WEST Teri Forster Chair C 250-485-7586 teriforster@bcnu.org

SIMON FRASER Lynn Lagace Co-chair C 604-219-4162 lynnlagace@bcnu.org

Jessica Celeste Co-chair C 250-636-9436 jessicaceleste@bcnu.org

OKANAGAN-SIMILKAMEEN Rhonda Croft Chair C 250-212-0530 rcroft@bcnu.org

Wendy Gibbs Co-Chair C 604-240-1242 wendygibbs@bcnu.org

PACIFIC RIM Rachel Kimler Chair C 250-816-0865 rachelkimler@bcnu.org RIVA Lauren Vandergronden Chair C 604-785-8148 laurenvandergronden@bcnu.org

JULY/AUGUST 2017 • UPDATE MAGAZINE

SOUTH FRASER VALLEY Jonathan Karmazinuk Co-chair C 604-312-0826 jonathankarmazinuk@bcnu.org Michelle Sordal Co-chair C 604-880-9105 michellesordal@bcnu.org

THOMPSON NORTH OKANAGAN Tracy Quewezance Chair C 250-320-8064 tquewezance@bcnu.org VANCOUVER METRO Meghan Friesen Chair C 604-250-0751 meghanfriesen@bcnu.org WEST KOOTENAY Lorne Burkart Chair C 250-354-5311 lorneburkart@bcnu.org

COUNCIL PROFILE HERE’S WHO’S WORKING FOR YOU

“BCNU is here to make sure we police the contract language and make improvements to nursing,” says Simon Fraser region co-chair Wendy Gibbs.

READY TO EFFECT CHANGE BCNU SIMON FRASER CO-CHAIR WENDY GIBBS

QUICK FACTS NAME Wendy Gibbs.

GRADUATED 2007, University of Victoria.

UNION POSITION Simon Fraser co-chair.

WHY I SUPPORT BCNU? "I see BCNU as a way to improve nursing conditions, for my daughter and all the other nurses of BC."

MAPLE RIDGE’S Wendy Gibbs found herself serving as co-chair of BCNU’s Simon Fraser region after being appointed to the role in June 2016.

However, she reports being delighted to be officially elected to the position in BCNU’s regional elections held this spring.

Despite the amount of work involved in the role, Gibbs says she’s feeling optimistic about helping to improve nurses’ working conditions. “I’ve worked with most of the Simon Fraser regional executive and I think we have a really good team”.

Gibbs started serving as a steward over 10 years ago while working at Ridge Meadows Hospital. This led to her getting involved in working with her region’s executive team. “I have also held steward coordinator, OH&S rep and communications secretary roles over the years,” she reports.

Today, Gibbs represents members on the Fraser Health Authority Nurse Relations Committee. Her years as a union activist, as well as being employed as a site leader and patient care

coordinator at her workplace, have helped her in this role. “I think my experience with bedside nursing and my union activism has made me a strong and capable advocate for nurses at the senior executive level with the health authority.”

Gibbs says she hasn’t had any major negative experiences since taking on the co-chair position, but admits she was really surprised about how hard her fellow regional chairs work. But she’s thankful for the flexible hours the role allows for. “I want to visit worksites more often when things might be slightly quieter, and that requires a lot of evening and weekend time.”

When asked about her motivation to lead, Gibbs says she’s driven to make a difference for new and future nurses, and notes that she and several of her colleagues have children who have also chosen nursing as a career path. “I want to effect change – I want to make it better for them,” she says.

Gibbs graduated in 1984 from Vancouver Community College’s LPN nursing school before beginning work in the long-term care sector. A

lifelong learner, she received her RN diploma from Douglas College in 2001. And in her forties, with a fulltime job and a busy home life with children, she pursued her BSN and graduated in 2007 from the University of Victoria. She has also completed specialty education in emergency nursing.

BCNU’s Simon Fraser region supports over 75 stewards. Gibbs is hopeful the new union leave language negotiated in the latest Nurses’ Bargaining Association provincial contract will help increase steward participation even further. “Our region wants to make stewards’ lives easier when it comes to understanding the collective agreement,” she says.

“Giving our stewards the tools and education they require can help with recruitment and retention.”

Gibbs says there is also lots of work to do when it comes to helping members understand and use the professional responsibility process. But she reports feeling up for the challenge and is looking forward to effecting positive change for all nurses. •

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OFF DUTY MEMBERS AFTER HOURS

PET HEAVEN CAROL HINE CARES FOR ANIMALS IN THEIR TWILIGHT YEARS A NURSE-RUN ANIMAL sanctuary has gained a reputation for being a heaven on earth for the dogs, cats, pigs, birds, goats, cows, horses, rabbits, llamas, sheep, and even a turtle, that call the place home.

Located in Mission on three acres of rolling farmland, SAINTS Rescue for senior and special needs animals is run by the nonprofit, donation-funded SAINTS – Senior Animals in Need Today Society – that was founded by BCNU member Carol Hine.

Hine has dedicated her life to caring. When she was seven-years-old, following the death of her grandmother, she focused her attention on Buzzer the family dog. Prayer book on her lap, she performed her own marriage ceremony, committing herself to have and to hold Buzzer through sickness and in health, for better or for worse, for richer or for poorer. It is that devotion and empathy for all domestic animals in need of a home that now sees Hine caring for close to 1,000

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animals on site from the time the sanctuary opened in 2004.

Hine says the need arises from a variety of circumstances, from false advertising of miniature pot-bellied pigs that grow to 90 lbs to animals that are simply aging and develop health complications owners are unable to manage. Hine treats all the animals in her care with patience, compassion and unconditional love. “They are here because this is their last resort. They were not adoptable in traditional shelters and their medical issues can be quite extensive.

JULY/AUGUST 2017 • UPDATE MAGAZINE

Being very elderly, some of the animals have become incontinent, and that’s a lot for people to take on,” she explains.

To help with this incredible responsibility, Hine has hired ten full-time staff members, and relies on the support of close to 70 volunteers. In another act of care and altruism, Hine has partnered recently with the Mission Institution correctional facility to help support low-risk offenders re-integrate into society by giving them an opportunity to work with SAINTS Rescue staff and the animals.

When she isn’t running SAINTS, Hine works at Maple Ridge Home Health as a full-time RN in the community doing everything from changing wound dressings to palliative care support.

The soft skills Hine has developed over the years of caring for these animals have transferred to her

human nursing career. Body language and the ability to read non-verbal cues are critical in assessing animals, especially in the first weeks of transition to SAINTS Rescue. Hine believes this expertise has made her a better nurse. “People have histories and triggers – for some people a wound dressing change is the scariest thing. They might be embarrassed to admit it, and not know how or want to tell you. It’s important to read people’s body language in order to give them the care they need – to put them at ease,” she says.

When asked about the parallels between nursing humans and animals, Hine says it really comes down to the difference between species. “You know humans, when we’re sick, or when we’re injured or when we’re dying, we know it, and we’re fearful of what’s happening to us now, and what’s coming in the future. Animals, because they live in today, they don’t have that. If I had a palliative dog and we’re controlling his pain with all kinds of medication, he’s running around playing with toys, rolling around in the dirt,” she explains.

“They don’t worry about tomorrow.” • To learn more about SAINTS Rescue, visit www.saintsrescue.ca or find them on Facebook.

ANGEL OF MERCY Carol Hine cares for hundreds of palliative animals at her Mission shelter.

Inset: Diesel the bulldog.

AT WORK

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JOIN US Sunday October 1, 2017 You are invited to be part of the BC Nurses’ Union’s CIBC Run for the Cure team as a runner, walker and/or volunteer in your community*.

Visit www.cibcrunforthecure.com to register Click 'Select your Run Location' and choose your community location.

Click 'Register'.

Click 'Join a Team' and choose the team company 'BC Nurses Union' (no apostrophe) from the drop down menu. *choice of 8 locations

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