Kimberley Kearsey

While visiting the toronto island this summer, I found myself in the same First Aid station where I once worked as a summer student. As I looked around and reminisced, the young man now occupying the role asked me if I had ever been to the island before. I used to sit right where you’re sitting, I told him. We laughed at the coincidence.

I admitted the job was not the most stimulating one I’d ever had, and he agreed, but added he was grateful for the quiet periods it sometimes provided so he could catch up on his studying.

Of course, my first question was “What are you studying?” When I learned it was nursing, my next question was automatic: “Are you a member of RNAO?” He looked at me as if the answer was obvious. Yes, of course he was. We chatted about his aspirations to get into emergency nursing before our focus turned to RNAO more specifically, and its advocacy work. He said he is grateful for the association’s voice, and I suggested he consider getting involved in the AGM or a policy placement. I hope he considers it and our paths cross again.

Running into an aspiring nurse is not particularly surprising to me. It happens more than you might think. In fact, the connection to nursing is never far from my everyday life, even though I’m not a nurse myself. And every time I run into an RN, NP or nursing student, one of the things I talk about most is RNAO’s Best Practice Guidelines (BPG) program, and its influence and growth over the time I’ve been working for the association. I began in the communications department in 2001, just as the program was gaining momentum. It’s quite remarkable how it’s grown from just two or three people in the early years to a staff of 49 today, and ties to countries around the world.

In this issue, we celebrate 20 years of BPGs with a special pull-out section dedicated to the work of BPSOs (starting on page 9). It wasn’t easy to condense such tremendous work into 16 pages, but we hope we’ve compiled a great sampling of the important initiatives that are playing out across Ontario, the country, and the world.