Exemplary Care: Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses Working Together

The Association of Registered Nurses of PEI, the Licensed Practical Nurses Association of PEI, and the PEI Health Sector Council today announced the release of Exemplary Care: Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses Working Together. This publication highlights the guiding principles shared among RNs and LPNs and clarifies some of the key differences between RNs and LPNs in clinical practice. The discussion and examples presented in the report reflect the practice of typical nurses and is intended to promote an understanding of:

• the scope of practice of each group,
• the practice expectations when both groups work together, and
• the contributions that both groups bring to the care setting.

Having a full understanding of the different health care contributions of RNs and LPNs will enhance and improve the process of collaboration and effective decision-making in the clinical setting.

RNs and LPNs are two health professions that work very closely together. This document represents an important milestone in fostering mutual knowledge-sharing and increased collaboration between the two professions to relieve some of the tremendous human resource pressures on the health system and create an exemplary health care workplace. A more efficient, collaborative nursing practice benefits all of us – nurses, other allied health professionals, and clients of the health system. An efficient, collaborative nursing practice enhances our ability to recruit and retain nurses and leads to better utilization of human resources and, consequently, savings in financial resources.

I hope you get a chance to read and comment on this document.

Cheers,
Mark

Recruiting men to nursing

I was checking out a few university websites yesterday looking for information on programs in dentistry, wondering what kind of entry requirements there were and whether my BA would give me the necessary background to get into one of them. Simply out of curiosity, of course; I’m not thinking of leaving the Health Sector Council.

Not surprisingly, the courses I took on Maritime Archaic Prehistory, Old English and Medieval Art and Architecture may not have prepared me for a doctorate in dental surgery. Apparently dentists need some sort of science background...go figure. So I was chatting to James about this (again, this is all hypothetical) and he said, “What about becoming a dental hygienist?”

I hadn’t considered a dental hygienist program, and that made me wonder why? Did it have something to do with dental hygienist being a primarily female profession? Was I conditioned to omit dental hygiene as a consideration for this reason? Dental hygienists are in-demand after all, work regular hours as far as I know, and get paid well. It sounds like a great profession with great opportunity.

James sent me a CBC article on the challenges of recruiting men into nursing professions, another field represented primarily by women. Here is a link to that article. The article points out that although men make up about 10-13% of students in nursing programs, only 5% of practicing nurses are men. Additionally, male students are more likely to drop out of nursing programs than female students. Why is that?

The article also points out that there is no shortage of people applying to nursing programs. In that light, should we be concerned with recruiting men into nursing programs (or other traditionally female occupations)? While I’m not sure that recruiting men into occupations traditionally practiced by women is important just for the sake of creating gender balance, I do think it is important to encourage people to pursue the career path of their choice.

It’s a tricky subject, and one that is difficult to discuss wearing my PEIHSC cap and trying to stay on the path of political correctness. So, as usual, I will turn the question back on you and get your take. Why aren’t more men becoming dental hygienists, RNs, LPNs, etc.? Is it important to recruit more men into traditionally female occupations? Click on the comments link below this entry to let us know.

Cheers,
Mark

CUPE Article on RPNs' Scope of Practice in Ontario

The article reproduced below (find the original here) gives another perspective on an issue that’s very similar to the one affecting health facilities in rural communities on PEI. What’s your take? Do you think that some of the pressures facing rural hospitals and their emergency rooms in particular could be eased by expanding LPNs’ scope of practice as this article suggests? Are we even at a stage where we can consider expanding LPNs’ scope of practice when they are limited by their scope of employment?

RPNs can ease ER crisis at Huron Perth’s Seaforth – Another rural hospital cuts services as McGuinty government turns its back

January 28, 2009 11:09 AM

LONDON, Ont. – Expanding the scope of practice for Registered Practical Nurses (RPNs) can ease the Emergency Room (ER) crisis at Seaforth Community Hospital, says Michael Hurley, President of the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions OCHU/CUPE, which represents 40 workers at Seaforth. “We have to respond to the shortage of nurses,” Hurley says. “But cutting emergency room (ER) services is not an acceptable way to respond to inadequate resources or staffing.”

Hurley encouraged hospitals to expand the scope of practice of RPNs, graduates of a two-year program, to better serve the public.

“By realigning nursing duties across the Huron Perth Healthcare Alliance and using RPNs appropriately, we can address the nursing shortage at Seaforth,” Hurley says.
As of February 7, Seaforth Community Hospital will cut its 24-hour ER down to 12 hours, and remain open only from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM. Hospital officials say that ambulances will be diverted to other hospitals during the shut-down times.

But Hurley warned that it is the chronic underfunding of the health system underlies ER closures at Seaforth, and elsewhere, and not just the nursing shortage.

“Cutting ER services is a direct response to the financial pressures on the health care system,” Hurley says. “This is yet another example of a rural hospital losing services in a wave of underfunding and restructuring that the McGuinty government is forcing onto hospitals.”

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Contact:
Michael Hurley, President, OCHU/CUPE, cell: 416.884.0770

David Robbins, CUPE Communications, cell: 613.878.1431