RNS demonstrate leadership as health care system evolves
Saskatchewan’s Registered Nurses (RNS) are working hard to help address the complex issues in the province’s health care system.
RNS are self-regulated health care professionals who have attained at least a four-year baccalaureate degree in nursing and have passed the national registered nurse licensure exam.
There were 11,699 RNS in the province with a practicing membership as of 2017. This includes 231 RN Nurse Practitioners (RN[NPS]) – RNS who have completed advanced education and provide a broader range of health care – and 94 RNS with Additional Authorized Practice, who work exclusively in northern Saskatchewan and can diagnosis and treat individuals with limited common medical disorders.
“RNS make a significant contribution to the health care system and demonstrate leadership when it comes to direct care, education, research, administration and policy development,” said Jayne Naylen Horbach, interim executive director of the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association (SRNA), the professional regulatory and advocacy voice for nurses.
“We’re one of the most valued, trusted health care professionals and we embody the RN values, which involve providing safe, compassionate, competent and ethical care.
We’re educated to be strong critical thinkers and I think we’re also committed to understanding the complexities not only of our system, but the complexities of society nowadays and we take our role of leadership within the system and supporting our patients very seriously.”
At the SRNA Conference and Annual Meeting in May, some key steps were taken to shape the direction of RNS. One of these steps involved adopting a new code of ethics that emphasizes how RNS should demonstrate leadership, support collaborative
efforts and help foster a sense of community.
At the meeting, nurses also voted to give RN[NP]S the ability to prescribe medication to help people addicted to opioids and methadone for palliative pain management. The bylaw has since been approved by the Ministry of Health in Saskatchewan and the SRNA will be moving forward with it later this fall or early in 2019. Opioids are medications that relieve pain, but when misused they can cause addiction, overdose and death. There were 63 opioid-related deaths in Saskatchewan
in 2017.
“From our perspective, it’s huge,” Horbach said. “We definitely hear from our patients who are struggling with this crisis and in talking with our partners and colleagues at the table I think that we all have an important need to respond to this problem to ensure that we meet the needs of our population. This new bylaw will allow for improved access to important care.”
Another complex issue in the health care system concerning RN[NP]S is medically assisted deaths. Since Bill
C-14 was passed in June 2016, eligible Canadian adults are able to request medical assistance in dying. RN[NP]S are one group of health care professionals who can perform this procedure.
“That’s a real point of discussion out in society right now; it really is a different way of thinking about nursing,” Horbach said. “The active involvement of RN[NP] s means that those nurses need to understand the laws and respond to their patients in a real dignified manner that holds to our values as professionals.”
A new issue that RNS will need to address has just arrived. Non-medical cannabis became legalized in Canada on Oct. 17, 2018. Horbach said this has a diverse set of implications for the professional nursing practice.
“There are so many components and variables to cannabis,” she said. “We’re engaged in conversations about how we’re going to move forward as a RN body here in Saskatchewan. We’re also engaged in discussions nationally with our RN colleagues. We need to ensure we have all the regulatory processes and measures in place to ensure that we are fulfilling our mandate of protecting the public.”
It has been nearly one year since Saskatchewan underwent a transition from 12 Regional Health Authorities to the single Saskatchewan Health Authority. While Horbach noted that moving to one health region is a big change for RNS, care providers and patients alike, she said it’s provided RNS with an opportunity to show initiative.
“I believe that with change comes opportunity. RNS are leaders and this is an opportunity for us to lead throughout this change,” she said. “I’m reminded of how RNS are not only resilient, but we’re innovative and we really are true partners and we will be there alongside our colleagues caring for the people of Saskatchewan and working to create the best health care system we can.”