March/April 2019

To raise awareness about concussion and its related symptoms, Nipissing University nursing students Jacob Belanger and Selena Sciuk led a one-hour presentation to Grade 12 biology students in February to talk about how to identify a concussion, and what to do if you have one.

In her mid-30s and raising three kids on her own in London, Ontario, Farnaz Hamedi-Fijani applied to nursing school on a lark, then reacted quickly in 2006 when offered a spot at Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing at Western University.

“I said no,” she recalls. 

On Feb. 26, Ontario Health Minister Christine Elliott announced her plan for health system transformation. It includes the creation of Ontario Health (OH) with five regional offices, the formation of local Ontario Health Teams (OHT), and the consolidation of 35 public health units into 10 regional public health entities.

Queen’s Park Day in February included 160 members, 60 per cent of whom were first-time attendees. They met with 60 MPPs. RNAO members have a powerful collective voice. We are able to achieve great things for nursing, the health-care system and the health of Ontarians when advocating for healthy public policy.

Last fall, RNAO’s communications and IT staff gave a presentation to assembly members and the board of directors about the planning and initial design for RNJ digital (RNJ.RNAO.ca).