June 11 FINALold.bcnu.org/publications_forms/update_magazine/2011/pdfs/Jul_11.… · OUR MISSION STATEMENT BCNU protects and advances the health, social and economic well- being of

ENHANCED DISABILITY PROGRAM LAUNCHED

RNs SUPPORT LPN INITIATIVE

INSITE AT SUPREME COURT

BC NURSES’ UNION JULY/AUGUST 2011 WWW.BCNU.ORG

SAFE PATIENT

CARESAFESTAFFING

YOUR BCNU 2012 BARGAINING TEAM

EQUALS

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DEPARTMENTS

Hazardous workplacesNurses are participating in a Hazardous Substance Training Initiative that is based on best practices and recent BC experiences. 12

LPN InitiativeResolving professional practice conditions for all nurses informs BCNU’s response to welcoming LPNs as members of our union. 8

Power and PracticeBCNU’s fi fth annual practice conference wove a compelling narrative of Canadian nursing history during the two-day event. 22

3 PRESIDENT’S REPORT

4 UNION NEWS

11 COUNCIL PROFILE

12 HEALTH AND SAFETY

22 EDUCA TION

25 OPEN FORUM

26 WHO CAN HELP

27 OFF DUTY

BCNU supports InsiteBCNU is supporting Insite in its legal battle against the Stephen Harper Conservative government, which wants to shut it down. 6

Vernon nurses rallyBCNU’s president and nurses rallied in Vernon in July to raise awareness of the Safe Care Now Purple Ribbon campaign. 5

Patient care surveyA recent nurses’ survey shows serious understaffi ng and excessive workloads are undermining the delivery of quality care. 4

Safe Patient Care Equals Safe Staffi ngSafe patient care equals safe staffi ng was the theme of BCNU’s Provincial Bargaining Strategy Conference, held in May in Vancouver. “We’ll be pushing for real safe staffi ng solutions during the next round of bargaining,” says BCNU President Debra McPherson. 14

BARGAINING STRATEGY CONFERENCE 14

NEWS

IN THE COMMUNITY Nurses around BC are taking their campaigns to the streets to raise awareness about BCNU issues. 24

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NEWS

DEPARTMENTS

VOL 30 NO 3 J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1OUR MISSION STATEMENTBCNU protects and advances the health, social and economic wellbeing of our members and our communities.

BCNU UPDATE is published six times each year by the BC Nurses’ Union,an independent Canadian union governed by a council elected byour 32,000 members. Signed articlesdo not necessarily represent offi cial BCNU policies.

EDITORDan Tatroff

CONTRIBUTORS Bella Brown, Gary Fane, Monica Ghosh, Georgina Hackett, Hanif Karim,Michelle Lavija, Robert Macquarrie,Debra McPherson, Art Moses, Greg Sun

PHOTOS Sharon Costello, Monica Ghosh, Robert Macquarrie, Art Moses, Dan Tatroff

Cover photo: From left, Jessica Celeste, Doreen Fleming, Patt Shuttleworth, Meghan Friesen, Debra McPherson, Gary Fane, Linda Partington, Tina Coletti and Linda Moss.

CONTACT USBCNU Communications Department4060 Regent Street,Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5PHONE 604.433.2268TOLL FREE 1.800.663.9991FAX 604.433.7945TOLL FREE FAX 1.888.284.2222BCNU website bcnu.orgEMAIL Update at [email protected]

MOVING? Please send change of address to [email protected].

Publications Mail Agreement 40834030

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

BCNU is affi liated with the CFNU.

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PRESIDENT’S REPORT

DebraMcPherson

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Do you ever have a day, when like everyone, you fi nd yourself uninspired, questioning why you continue to fi ght for the things you believe in: Medicare, social justice, quality

patient care delivered by nurses who are supported with quality practice environments, safe workplaces and so much more that you hold dear?

Every d ay b rings y et a nother c hallenge, w hether it is overcapacity reports that continue to document the downward spiral of patient care conditions in our members’ workplaces, or the government promising tax reductions that will decrease revenues, and ultimately

their support for our public healthcare system.

Well, I was having one of those days recently, when two things hap-pened t hat s hone a l ight i nto t he abyss, answering my question.

I went to a retirement dinner of a nurse who I greatly respect. I lis-tened as speaker after speaker lauded her many contributions to her work-place, her colleagues and the future of healthcare.

With each word, I was reminded of the qualities that form the character of

our membership: commitment to patients and nursing, caring, hard working, present for everyone they touch as they go about their daily lives in the practice of nursing and the delivery of healthcare.

Then, when I returned home, I read an email from a steward who reported that her workplace had reached an all-time new high in overcapacity. Yes, 193 patients in a 148-bed facility. Was this member complaining, or giving up? No way. Instead, she was calling for a meet-

ing of their campaign committee to continue to build a campaign, a campaign for a better workplace for her colleagues and better patient care. She inspires me.

I am inspired by the over 5,000 members who took the time to fi ll out our pre-bargaining survey and the hundreds of activists province-wide who attended our bargaining conferences in the regions and provin-cially, because they are willing to fi ght for a collective agreement that delivers safe staffi ng, job security and compensation that refl ects their responsibility and con-tribution to healthcare.

Within the pages of this magazine are stories told by members challenging the status quo in their work-places, by joining together and using all the tools at their disposal: grievances, the professional responsibility pro-cess, campaigns, lobbying and the media. They are let-ting the public, the government, the health authorities and their managers know that safe workloads mean safe patient care, and they will settle for nothing less.

Australian nurse Judith Kiejda inspired bargaining conference attendees when she described the courage of the nurses in New South W ales (see page 17) who bargained, campaigned and ultimately went on strike for nurse-patient ratios, and won safer staffi ng for them-selves and for their patients.

Their success tells us that staffi ng plans that are transparent, simple and enforceable are within our reach in this round of bargaining.

Courage, leadership, caring and hope . . . they inspire me, and so does our BCNU membership, each and every one of you.

Together we will make change: safe reasonable work-loads and practice conditions that enable quality patient care in all of our workplaces, because we are in this struggle for the long haul. �

“Courage, leadership, caring and hope . . . they

inspire me, and so does our BCNU membership, each

and every oneof you.”

Nurses areinspirational

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 3


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MAKING NEWS BCNU IN THE HEADLINES

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4 B C N U U P D AT E

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MAKING NEWS BCNU IN THE HEADLINES

BCNU POSITION STATEMENT INSERTYou’ll fi nd the second in a series of BCNU position statements inserted in the middle of this issue. You can pull out the insert or fi nd it and others at bcnu.org.

You’ll also fi nd BCNU’s latest Constitution and By-laws book-let in the middle of this issue.

ATTENTION EMPLOYED STUDENT NURSESMembers who have worked as Employed Student Nurses and obtain a regular nursing position (full-time or part-time) within one year should make sure your seniority as an ESN is properly credited when you start your position.

Under the memorandum governing the ESN program, if you obtain a regular posi-tion within 12 months of your ESN experience, providing it is with the same employer, your time as an ESN shall be recog-nized when you start your new position.

ESN experience does not count as seniority for the pur-pose of bidding for a regular position.

CHECK YOUR PENSION BENEFIT STATEMENT BCNU urges members to check your recorded pensionable ser-vice months on your Municipal

Serious understaffi ng and excessive nurs-ing workloads are undermining the quality of care available to patients in BC’s health-care system.

A province-wide nurses ’ survey shows the worst problems are in the province ’s emergency rooms and medical/surgical wards, where patients are sent for treat-ment and recovery from serious illnesses and injuries.

Also on the critical list are long term care nursing homes and caseloads for long term care case managers who are responsible for helping elderly and disabled citizens get help to stay in their own homes or fi nd suitable residential care.

“Safe patient care can only be achieved through safe staffi ng” says BCNU President Debra McPherson.

“To ensure B ritish Columbia patients get the care they need and deserve,” says

McPherson, “the provincial government and its health authorities must recognize they have some very serious staffi ng prob-lems to address.”

The survey was mailed to about 30,000 nurses in the spring, with more than 5,600 responding.

Results we re reviewed by delegates to BCNU’s recent Provincial Bargaining Strategy Conference. F or more informa-tion on both the survey and the bargaining conference, please turn to page 14.

McPherson says BCNU members are determined to improve patient care by making progress on workload and staffi ng issues when we negotiate a new provincial contract to replace the current one that expires March 31, 2012. �

Nurses were unsung heroes of Stanley Cup riotA brave group of off-duty Peace Arch Hospital emergency room nurses were heralded as “unsung heroes” in The Province newspaper in the days following Vancouver’s Stanley Cup riot on June 15.

The nurses, and a Peace Arch doctor, were publicly thanked by an Abbotsford police offi cer for jumping into action to provide him and others with assistance while the riot raged on all around them on the streets of downtown Vancouver.

“It was like a war. It was surreal,” said RN Jennifer McDuff. “You couldn’t believe the gall of people pushing you

out of the way to put their cameras in an unconscious victim’s face.”

RN Lisa Snider told The Province that when they went to help a stabbing victim they saw a gang of men holding knives.

“We saw a group of girlfriends carrying the stabbing victim . . . with blood leaking out.”

The nurses laid the victim’s head down on Snider’s purse and used Canucks fan towels to stop the bleeding.

“People were throwing eggs and garbage at us while we were working on the stabbing victim,” said McDuff. “We were covered in blood.”

The Vancouver Sun and Global BCTV also carried several positive stories about

SURVEY SHOWS PATIENT CARE SUFFERS FROM UNDERSTAFFING AND EXCESSIVE WORKLOADS

BCNU POSITION STATEMENT on PROVISION OF NURSING CARE

604.433.2268 | 1.800.663.9991

www.bcnu.org

May 2011


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J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 5

BCNU President Debra McPherson joined with nurses and hospital staff at a noon rally in early J uly to focus attention on critical overcrowding and chronic understaffi ng at V ernon J ubilee Hospital. McPherson helped spread the word about the nurses ’ Safe Care Now Purple Ribbon campaign.

“Healthcare decisions should be guided by putting the safety of patients and those who care for them fi rst,” said McPherson.

“We’re asking everyone concerned about the quality of healthcare services in Vernon to stand with us. W e’re committed to pro-viding quality nursing care for our patients when and where they need it.”

The latest rally follows several public

actions led by concerned nurses in 2011, including a presentation to Vernon City Council in M ay. The mayor and council responded with unanimous support.

BCNU Thompson North Okanagan chair Christine Sorensen pointed out that “we need long term care beds with appropriate staffi ng, plus the necessary supports in the community.

“Nurses are advocating for safe patient care through safe staffi ng. It ’s time for decision-makers at the highest levels to see this crisis and work towards a permanent solution,” says Sorensen.

Local nurses are asking their community to help support the Safe C are Now Purple Ribbon campaign by getting their message out through items such as purple ribbons, car magnets, window clings, decals and shirts.

The campaign aims to educate the pub-lic about the need for appropriate staffi ng and resources for acute care, long term care and community services in the North Okanagan.

“It’s a question of priorities,” said McPherson. “Nurses are working short with too many patients. W e hope the people of BC will stand with nurses to demand that patients come fi rst.” �

Concerned Vernon nurses rally for safe patient care in their community

or Public Service pension benefi t statements to determine if there is an opportunity to purchase missing service.

Members can only purchase service for periods of time that ended less than fi ve years from the purchase date. That same deadline applies if you reinstate previously-removed service.

If you were on maternity leave in 2009, you can apply to purchase the time by March 31, 2013. If you don’t apply to purchase by then, you will be unable to do so in the future.

If your statement shows pensionable service as 11.75 months, and you worked the full 12 months without any leave of absences, contact your employer. If the missing time was the result of a leave of absence, you can apply to purchase pensionable servicefor that time.

You will receive a purchase quote and then may decide within 90 days whether or not the purchase works for you. You can use your own RRSP funds to make the payment.

If you plan on taking an unpaid leave, apply to your employer immediately (before or after returning to work) to ensure you get the full year’s worth of pension service.

NEW WEBSITE LAUNCHED

BCNU recently launched a new website, bcnulpn.org, to help answer important questions that nurses are asking aboutthe benefi ts of LPNs joiningour union.

LPN leaders are confi dent that a province-wide majorityof LPNs will sign cards in 2011.

LPNs working at hospitals, in the community and in long term care facilities can begin signing BCNU membership cards in September 2011.

PURPLE RIBBON CAMPAIGN Vernon area nurses hoisted a massive purple ribbon in front of Vernon Jubilee Hospital in May to help publicize their Safe Care Now campaign.

nurses and other healthcare workers at both St. Paul’s Hospital and Vancouver General Hospital who continued to treat hundreds of injured people long after the riot ended.

The Sun also praised Vancouver Jail nurses who “tirelessly tended to about 120 detainees” who were brought to the facility during the riot.

“It was mostly young people,” nurse Roger Croteau told the paper. He said his jailhouse experience “taught him to maintain composure and focus on his job” that night.

“The jail nurses are there to treat. I don’t think any of us have a place to be judging. They were arrested, and the judicial system is dealing with that.”

BCNU PRESIDENT VISITS VERNON JUBILEE HOSPITALTO HELP RAISE AWARENESS ABOUT UNDERSTAFFING


BCNU took on a high profile role at the Supreme Court of C anada in M ay, intervening in support of Insite, Vancouver’s supervised injection clin-ic, in its legal battle against the federal Conservative government.

Even though the scientif ic evidence proves that Insite has reduced public disorder and the spread of disease, saved lives and helped move drug users on to detox and recovery , the Conservatives want to shut it down, because harm reduction contradicts their “get-tough” war on drugs.

Arguing on behalf of BCNU, lawyer Marjorie Brown told the Court that Ottawa’s position violates the Charter of Rights and F reedoms by seeking to stop nurses from performing lawful work in a provincially-sanctioned healthcare facility and ensuring users stay safe and don ’t fall victim to injec-tion drug overdoses that can be fatal.

Earlier, several of the justices put federal government lawyers on the defensive, questioning the use of crim-inal law to deal with people battling the

disease of addiction, and suggesting that the government’s failure to extend an exemption from federal drug pos-session laws to Insite may violate the right to health and safety for clients.

Justice Ian Binnie, who announced he will be retiring from the bench this summer, suggested “the criminal law goes too far when it gets into the intri-cacies of the C anadian healthcare sys-tem. . . .”

Chief J ustice Beverley McLaughlin referred to a recent article in The Lancet, which showed Insite has saved lives in V ancouver’s Downtown Eastside since it opened in 2003.

Other justices e xpressed concern that a decision supporting Insite could open the floodgates to supervised injection centres everywhere. They wondered how that right could possi-bly be limited.

The hearing lasted a full day, involv-ing a raft of organizations intervening on behalf of the Portland Hotel Society, which operates the facility with the Vancouver Coastal H ealth A uthority.

[ LEGAL ACTION ]

BCNU SUPPORTS INSITE ATSUPREME COURT OF CANADA

JUSTICE FOR ALL From left: Insite RN Tim Gauthier, BCNU lawyer Marjorie Brown and Thompson North Okanagan chair Christine Sorensen at the Supreme Court of Canada.

Among the other intervenors were the Province of BC, the BC Civil Liberties Association, the Dr . Peter Centre and the Canadian Nurses Association.

The justices reserved their decision, with a ruling not expected for several months. They have to decide whether or not to uphold a decision of the BC Supreme Court – upheld by the BC Court of A ppeal – which supported Insite.

Three days earlier, at a news confer -ence held in V ancouver, BCNU V ice President Janice Buchanan told report-ers: “It is simply disgraceful that the federal government continues to try and outlaw this legitimate healthcare service and in the process attempts to make criminals out of nurses who are saving lives and providing quality care to this vulnerable population. It ’s time to end the uncertainty for Insite, for its clients and its staff.”

Tim G authier, a registered nurse and the clinical care coordinator at Insite, said he regularly helps drug users in the clinic who are overdosing.

“Overdoses are like when someone is drowning, the intervention must be immediate,” he said. “Often at the end of an overdose episode, I ask myself, why would someone not want this per-son to live?”

RN G authier sees enormous value in the primary healthcare services that are being provided to a marginalized population, such as: infection control, psychiatric assessment, referral and placement in detox and other pro-grams.

“At the end of the day ,” he says,“I do this work because it is effective nursing practice and because we ’re saving lives.” �



ABORIGINALLEADERSHIP CIRCLEQ&A

HOW TO CONTACTYour Human Rightsand Diversity reps

BCNU Human Rights and Diversity Caucus Mabel TungCHAIR

C 604-328-9346E [email protected]

Aboriginal Leadership Circle Michelle MartinsonCHAIRE [email protected]

Marnie HewlettCOUNCIL LIAISON


Disability CaucusKelly WoywitkaCHAIRE [email protected]

Jacquie NaultCOUNCIL LIAISON


LGBT CaucusCynthia ReidCHAIRE [email protected]

Kath-Ann TerrettCOUNCIL LIAISON


Men in Nursing Group Jim LordCO-CHAIR E [email protected]

Jonathan SalkenCO-CHAIRE [email protected]

Deb DucharmeCOUNCIL LIAISON


Workers of Colour CaucusFelicia WongCO-CHAIRE [email protected]

Jessica CelesteCO-CHAIRE [email protected]

Mabel TungCHAIR


UPDATE Who does the Aboriginal Leadership Circle represent?MARTINSON The group represents First Nations, M etis and Inuit nurses who are BCNU members.UPDATE Why d id y ou j oin t he A boriginal Leadership Circle?MARTINSON I joined the A boriginal Leadership Circle because I was wanting to meet other Aboriginal nurses and was curi-ous what the caucus was all about. Once I attended my fi rst meeting, I knew that I needed to get more involved in the advocacy that I saw occurring in the group.UPDATE What does your group hope to accomplish?MARTINSON To e ducate o thers ab out Aboriginal issues, to ensure First Nations cur-riculum are included in schools of nursing, to promote nursing to Aboriginals as a feasable career choice and to mentor and support these nurses.

As chair of the A boriginal Leadership Circle, I am particularly interested in gaining representation from each region of the BC

Nurses’ Union and to promote and support leadership in these individuals.UPDATE What are the biggest challenges your group faces?MARTINSON The biggest challenge is t o accept that change takes time and hard work and to not get discouraged. I can see the gains that members of the A boriginal Leadership Circle have already accomplished and the growth and leadership blossoming out of the members there.UPDATE What are your group’s plans for the coming year?MARTINSON The A boriginal Leadership Circle plans on providing education to all regions of BCNU. We are going to continue to build relationships and allies. We are hop-ing to engage/educate communities by being present at Aboriginal community events.

We will be presenting at the A boriginal Nurses Association of C anada 2011 Forum in September and the Transcultural Nursing Society C onference i n O ctober. W e a lso continue to build alliances b etween oth er Aboriginal groups and work together. �

An interview with Aboriginal Leadership Circle chair Michelle Martinson

[ HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY ]

Aboriginal Leadership Circle chair Michelle Martinson says it’s important “to educate others about Aboriginal issues and to ensure First Nations curriculum are included in schools of nursing.”

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 7


Helena Barzilay’s nursing career h as spanned almost 20 years. And during that time she’s seen a lot of changes in both the nursing profession and in her own professional practice.

Since Barzilay graduated as a regis-tered nurse in 1992, sh e’s worked i n more than a dozen units in six communi-ties throughout Alberta, BC and Florida. She currently works in the dialysis unit at the East Kootenay Regional Hospital and does casual work as a community nurse.

Seeing different models of nurs-ing care ea rly in her career l ed her to become a strong supporter of LPNs join-ing BCNU. Barzilay i s convinced that when RNs, LPNs, RPNs and nurse prac-titioners are in the same union, practice conditions will improve for all nurses.

And she’s far from alone. As more RNs learn the mutual benefi ts of LPNs join-ing BCNU, the movement to unify our

profession is growing among all nurses.“My diversity of nursing experience

has been very rewarding for me both per-sonally and professionally,” says Barzilay. “I’ve worked with some great nurses, and I’ve a lso s een h ow i mportant i t i s f or nurses to collaborate so we can deliver quality patient care and learn new skills.”

The time Barzilay spent working in Florida helped shape her perspective on how various nursing professionals

should work together. And that transfor-mative experience now drives her desire to see LPNs join the BCNU.

“When I was a new grad I worked on a cardiac unit in Sarasota, Florida,” says Barzilay. “It was also my fi rst experience of LPNs working to full scope, because at

that time in BC and Alberta LPNs tended to perform a lot of work that care aides now do.

“The nurse who helped me the most on my cardiac unit was an experienced LPN. She was great at sharing knowledge and that helped me learn a new specialty and consolidate my skills in cardiac care.”

That milieu sh owed Barzilay a good model for nursing collaboration.In Florida both RNs and LPNs work to

full scope. They freely share knowledge and collaborate closely so the whole team excels and develops best practices.

“I really liked that model of nursing care,” says Barzilay . “And the best way to build that in BC is for LPNs to join BCNU.”

Improving collaboration shapesRNs’ desire for LPNs to join BCNUResolving professional practice conditions forall nurses informs BCNU’s response to welcomingLPNs as members

LPNs JOINING THE BC NURSES’ UNION

BUILDING ON PREVIOUS SUCCESSIn 2009, LPNs almost achieved their goal of joining a nurs-es’ union. More than 3,000 LPNs signed BCNU member-ships, which was a huge expression of professional nursing solidarity.

LPN leaders are confident that a province-wide majority of LPNs will sign BCNU memberships in 2011.

CAN LPNs LEGALLY CHANGE UNIONS?Yes, it’s perfectly legal. Section 19 of the BC Labour Code allows employee groups to change unions and in 2010 nine employee groups changed union representation.

WHEN CAN LPNs JOIN BCNU?LPNs can sign BCNU membership cards in September, October or November 2011.

HOW DO LPNs JOIN BCNU?BCNU membership cards will be available startingthis September.

RNs Sebastien Pisterzi, Julie Brandly and Helena Barzilay support the LPN Initiative.



Barzilay frequently sees how diffi cult it is for LPNs because their professional practice issues are not well under -stood by their non-nurse workplace representatives.

“I often see the discomfort LPNs have after they’ve taken a course in a new area of practice,” says Barzilay. “After training, LPNs are expected to perform expanded-scope tasks right away without adequate mentoring. And that’s not fair.”

Barzilay says that some LPNs try to avoid taking new training because man-agement won’t give them the post-training support to consolidate their new knowl-edge. And their non-nurse workplace representatives don’t understand the pres-sure they’re under so it’s harder for them

to get this kind of problem resolved than if they were BCNU members.

Victoria G eneral Hospital RN Sebastien Pisterzi agrees with Barzilay ’s observation and also sees mutualbenefits for all nurses when LPNsjoin BCNU.

“LPNs are sometimes caught in a tough place, and more RNs are begin-ning to see their dilemma,” says Pisterzi. “When LPNs become BCNU members they will have the support they need to develop their practices and get the pro-fessional workplace representation that nurses need.”

Pisterzi sa ys t hat m any m ore R Ns understand that their own practice c on-ditions will improve by LPNs joining the nurses’ union.

“LPNs clearly see the benefi ts of join-ing BCNU because our contract is better and we have more focus on professional development,” says Pisterzi. “B ut RNs also see that they will gain benefi ts by unifying the nursing profession.

“As a professional union, BCNU advo-cates getting the right nurse to the right patient. And when BCNU represents all nurses, we will have greater power to insist that changes to healthcare are done collaboratively and nurses are consulted in the development of new care-delivery models,” says Pisterzi.

“And when management tries to impose models that aren ’t good for patients, all nurses can act together and say ‘No, this isn ’t good for us and it ’s not good for our patien ts – you need to improve it.’”

Vancouver General Hospital RN Julie Brandly also believes it will be better for all nurses when LPNs join BCNU.

“I’m passionate about resolving the

problems that nurses have when our workload is too heavy ,” says Brandly . “Heavy workload impacts our ability to properly care for patients and our PRF process is a tool we can use to solve that.

“The whole nursing team needs to be together on things like PRF s. But it’s

tough to do that when LPNs aren’t part our union, can’t sign our PRF s and are not part of our PRF discussions. They need to be part of the process with RNs, and the only way we can fi x that is by LPNs joining BCNU.”

Barzilay believes the best way to build truly collaborative practices for nurses is to move to a structure like M anitoba. There, LPNs and RNs are members of the Manitoba Nurses’ Union and have different classifi cations within the same collective agreement.

“Manitoba has always led the way in nursing solidarity,” says Barzilay. “They successfully brought the profession together and got LPNs paid prop erly for their increased scope of practice and responsibilities. That ’s the model we need to follow in BC.” �

LPNs who signed BCNU membership cards in 2009 must sign a new one during September, October or November 2011.

WHY DO LPNs WANT TO JOIN BCNU?BCNU is one of the most successful nursing organizations in North America. We provide strong advocacy, excellent collective agreements and quality representation.

LPNs know they have more in common with RNs and RPNs than with other members of their current unions, who are not licensed professionals.

LPNs are members of nurses’ unions in Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Quebec.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR RNs THAT LPNs JOIN BCNU?When all nurses are members of the same union we will have more bargaining and workplace power.

Together, Registered Nurses and Licensed Practical Nurses will be better able to improve collective agree-ments, resolve problems like heavy workload and better influence changes in healthcare.

In Florida, both RNs andLPNs work to full scope.

They freely share knowledge and collaborate closely sothe whole team excels and

develops best practices.

“I really liked that modelof nursing care,” says

Barzilay. “And the best way to build that in BC is for

LPNs to join BCNU.”

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 9


Members across the province helped celebrate BCNU’s30th anniversary on June 10. In Vancouver, for example, stew-ards and Council members at VGH organized an event that attracted over 100 nurses. There were several information booths, draws for lots of great prizes, a birthday cake, informa-tion about the LPN Initiative and a speech by BCNU President Debra McPherson.

“We’ve accomplished a lot in the past 30 years because of our members,” McPherson told the crowd. “But we’re a rela-tively young organization with a bright future ahead of us and so much more to achieve.” �

HAPPYBCNU DAY

Pictured clockwise from top left: VGH members, BCNU staff and (at far right) BCNU President Debra McPherson. Patsy Aplas with Central Vancouver chair Judy McGrath. Lesley Reichert and Maria Oliverio. Bernie Chung, Jasmine Valouche, Harpreet Bains and Elizabeth Gatcho. Maria Villacrusis, Salima Adatia, Bo Jeanne Brennan, Ann Shiho, Bev Roche, Debra McPherson, Judy McGrath and BCNU Treasurer Mabel Tung.

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Since becoming chair of the North East in 2008, Jackie Nault has had great success in expanding the region’s activist base. The countless hours she

has spent on the road, travelling across the vast region in all kinds of weather, have certainly paid off and she’s now recruited at least 28 new stewards.

Nault says the North East region she represents sees more than its share of challenges around safe patient care and nursing workload issues.

Nault and her growing team of stewards have focused on mobilizing members by encouraging nurses to take advantage of the many meetings and educational opportunities provided by BCNU.

Due in part to her unrelenting travel schedule and to her enthusiasm, meeting participation in the North East is up 27 percent since she became chair. The Building Union Strength program participation rate is running at an all-time high, with a dozen North East members attending the most recent course. Both are positive indicators of an energized and active regional membership.

Last yea r, BCNU mem bers at Princ e G eorge’s University Hospital of Northern BC spearheaded Safe Care Now, an ongoing information campaign. Frustrated with the Northern H ealth A uthority, UHNBC nurses decided to take action. Supported by members of their community, they took to the streets at rallies outside NHA board meetings, mounted a Wear Black campaign in the hospital and participated in public outreach events to spread their message and gain the public’s understanding and support.

“Prince George is the regional referral centre for the North,” says Nault. “If we don’t have beds at UHNBC, then we can’t properly look after citizens across the North. They should be getting the safe patient care they deserve and northern nurses will continue to fi ght until they do get it.”

Some would say Nault ’s knack for union activism is in her blood. Born in the mining community of Sudbury, Ontario, she clearly remembers how union membership and activism were sacrosanct in her fam-ily. Her father encouraged his children to be engaged in their trade unions, urging them to attend meetings

QUICK FACTSName Jackie NaultGraduated in 1971, Red River College Union Position North East chairWhy I support BCNU? “BCNU speaks out for high quality healthcare for all Canadians.”

and teaching them the signifi cance of exercising their democratic rights.

“No matter what side of an argument you were on,” recalls Nault, “it was not good enough to criticize, you had to earn the right to have a say. If you have a voice, use it.”

Indeed, Nault’s voice has been heard at BCNU. “I fi rst became a steward when I observed a member get railroaded out of his profession,” she says. Since then, she has held every position on her regional executive and sat on numerous Council committees.

Nault graduated in 1971 from Red River College in Winnipeg, Manitoba. She began her nursing career in Thompson, M anitoba and was able to practice many types of nursing, from ward work to teaching. She moved to Quesnel in 1988 and is currently a fi eld supervisor for home support in the area.

Nault credits her husband with a measure of her current success. “He’s so supportive. He’s really been my strongest ally and always keeps me grounded. My children are also proud of the fact that I stand up for nurses and public healthcare.”

Nault feels that serving North East members as their regional chair has allowed her to learn and grow as a person. Speaking out in the media for publicly-funded healthcare for all Canadians also brings her a great sense of satisfaction.

“Everyone in BC deserves safe care now,” says Nault. “That’s why we won’t stop fi ghting until everyone in the province has it.” �

North East chair Jackie Nault sayshealth authorities must listen to

nurses’ patient safety concerns

SAFE CARE NOW

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 1 1


A FARM WORKER arrives at the emer-gency room. H e is experiencing respi-ratory irritation and he is vomiting. H e complains of headache and dizziness, and says it ’s been worsening since a pesticide he was working with spilled. He shows the burns on his hands and clothes to the ER nurses.

The pesticide that put his life at risk now also poses a health risk for the ER staff caring for him. That ’s because as “first receivers ” of patients contami-nated with chemicals and other haz-ardous substances, ER staff are placed at risk of exposure.

It is situations just like these that Judy Bushe, a clinical nurse educator at Abbotsford Regional Hospital &

Cancer C entre’s ER, is educated to respond to. Over the past six months, Bushe and her colleagues have partici-pated in a H azardous S ubstance Training Initiative sponsored by the BC Ambulance Service, the health authorities and the health ministry.

Through this initiative, B ushe par -ticipated in a training session, learning how to ensure worker safety while pro-viding optimal care for up to f ive self-presenting chemically contaminated patients.

Based on best practices and recent experiences in BC, the training covered a wide range of topics, including roles and responsibilities when responding to a hazardous substance situation, site

This clinical trial being conducted at UBC’s Division of Sports Medicine will test how well two common therapies reduce heel pain.

• participants will be adults between 19-60 who have had heel pain (plantar fasciitis) for at least 12 months and have to

stand for six hours or more during a typical work day

• involvement in this study will require a single two-hour initial setup appointment, followed by two 30-minute follow-up vis-its six weeks apart

• all participants receive personal one-on-one exercise instruc-tion, detailed ultrasound imaging of their foot and access to a

sports medicine specialist

• therapies being tested are: a novel home-based physiothera-

py program versus a steroid injection with stretching exercises.

FOR MORE INFO CONTACT JAMIE HARTWELL AT604-619-0211 OR AT [email protected].

Hazardous To Your Health

[ HEALTH AND SAFETY ]

and staff preparation, hazard recogni-tion, safe use of personal protective equipment and ongoing management of the patient.

Bushe’s worksite, like all participat-ing facilities, also received personal protective equipment kits and guid-ance documents to support the imple-mentation of hazardous substance response plans.

“The course is four hours long and prepares our ER staff on the processes to take when a patient presents to the emergency department and has been exposed to a chemical contaminant,” says B ushe. “Staff feedback has been very positive.”

Bushe points out that knowledge of chemical contaminants is particularly important in A bbotsford, where “76 percent of the land is in the Agricultural Land R eserve, m aking o rganophos-phate the most common and danger -ous pesticide used.

“As a clinical nurse educator for a very busy emergency department,” she adds, “knowledge and recognition of hazardous waste materials and its implications on the outcome of health is important and much needed in order to prevent injury and/or fatalities.”

To f ind out more about this issue, please contact your worksite OH&S steward or visit www .health.gov.bc.ca/emergency/projects/index.html. �

Clinical trial for Plantar Fasciitis looking for participants



An innovative new pro-gram aimed at helping ill and injured members of the N urses’ Bargaining Association return to

work was launched across BC in April. The Enhanced Disability M an-

agement Program is a joint union/management initiative.

In recent months, representatives from BCNU, the H ealth Sciences Association and employer groups deliv-ered joint presentations to affected healthcare workers in Nanaimo, Kelowna, Vancouver and Prince George.

More than 100 people attended the Vancouver EDMP presentation in M ay. BCNU’s Executive Director of Neg-otiations and Strategic Development Gary Fane explained the urgent need for a province-wide program that helps healthcare workers return to work as soon as it is safe.

“BCNU currently has 900 open Duty To A ccommodate f iles,” said F ane. “EDMP will make it easier for injured and ill members to return to work.

“The program ’s goal,” added Lara Acheson, BCNU’s Director Disability Management and Health and Safety, “is

to provide early , appropriate and on-going support to our ill and injured members. EDMP will help maintain their connection with their workplace and ensure they return to work in a safe and timely manner.

“We want to get injured and ill nurs-es back to work as early as possible, using a collaborative, supportive pro-cess. We’re developing policies and pro-cedures to ensure there is province-wide consistency and to make sure members get the help they need.”

EDMP is intended to provide a more seamless process for employees return-ing to work or requiring support from the Long Term Disability plan while in receipt of benef its. There is a huge financial and social loss suffered by employees on LTD: social isolation, sub-stance abuse and depression are com-mon. The probability of returning to work after being off for one year is only 10 to 25 percent.

EDMP participants will benef it from a holistic C ase M anagement Plan that may include medical intervention, tran-sitional work, a graduated return to work, workplace modif ications and vocational rehab and/or retraining. �

EDMP highlights include:

• All regular employees who are off work with a work-related illness or injury, or who are off work for five consecutive shifts with a non-work related illness or injury, participate in the pro-gram.

• Casual employees and regular employees who are struggling but contin-ue to work may self-refer, but participation is volun-tary for employees and at the discretion of the employer.

• Case Management Plans are developed jointly between the employer,the employee and a unionrepresentative. The pro-cess varies dependingon whether the Case Management Plan is straight-forward orcomplex.

• Disputes over Case Man-agement Plans are ref-erred to a specialized expedited dispute resolu-tion process.

• The program will be evaluated and at least 50 percent of any cost savings are used for further pre-vention initiatives and dis-ability management improvements.

• Operated by a joint pro-vincial steering committee. Joint working groups will oversee the operation of the program at a local level.

Enhanced DisabilityManagement Program helps ill and injured members return to work

“We want to get injured and ill nurses back to work as early as possible, using a collaborative, supportive process.”

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 1 3


BARGAINING 2012 Your 2012 bargainingteam, from left, Jessica Celeste, Doreen Fleming, Patt Shuttleworth, Meghan Friesen, Debra McPherson, Gary Fane, Linda Partington,Tina Coletti and Linda Moss.

SAFE PATIENT

CARESAFESTAFFING

YOUR BCNU 2012 BARGAINING TEAM

EQUALS



Nurses wonder how they can provide decent care when they’re run off their feet coping with unmanageable work-loads and not enough staffi ng.

They’re also wondering how patients will benefi t if nurses lose more jobs through workplace restructuring schemes that are designed to reduce costs and place even more of a workload burden on the nurses who remain.

“Safe patient care equals safe staffi ng” was the theme for BCNU’s provincial bargaining strategy conference, held on M ay 25 and 26 in V ancouver. About 500 dele-gates discussed the many issues members are facing in their worksites, heard from several expert speakers and brainstormed solutions that might help improve practice conditions.

“We’ll be fi ghting for safe patient care through safe staff-ing. That’s what bargaining will be all about,” says BCNU President Debra McPherson.“We’ll be pushing for real solutions at the bargaining table and we’re determined to achieve something meaningful for our members this time around.”

DIFFICULT BARGAININGDelegates supported job action next year, if necessary, to gain control of workloads and to ensure safe staffi ng.

The bargaining platform approved at the conference suggests several possible ways to improve workload and staffi ng levels, including mandatory ratios of nurses to patients, a binding mechanism to resolve workload and staffi ng disputes, strengthening the PRF and SWAT pro-cesses, converting casual work to full-time positions, pro-viding members with the ability to change job status and requiring managers to backfi ll nurses with employees of

like classifi cation, when they are off on sick leave or when they are off on vacation.

CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGEDelegates also heard from eight BCNU members wh o have helped organize campaigns to address workload and staffi ng issues. They discussed various techniques used to mobilize member support and get management ’s atten-tion. They also assessed the successes and failures of vari-ous tactics and strategies. (See page 18 for their stories.)

JOB SECURITYThe push for safe staffi ng comes at the same time as mem-bers are increasingly concerned about their job security. The government claims it added about 2,000 nursing FTEs to the system from 2008 to 2010. But BCNU has received displacement notices for 600 nurses since M arch 2009, with most of them coming after the government admitted a massive budget defi cit immediately after the May 2009 provincial election.

And while the government invested heavily in educat-ing more new nurses, the opportunity for regular nursing jobs for new nursing grads has virtually dried up. A bout all that’s available for new grads these days is casual work.

Results from the bargaining survey show that 10 per -cent of respondents said they had been displaced from their jobs in the last two years as a result of workplace staffi ng changes.

Some 83 per cent of respondents replied “yes ” when asked whether BCNU should pursue an agree ment to “guarantee employment security to RNs/RPNs through education and job placement services, to ensure they can

BARGAINING2012

an the provincial government afford to leave patients unsafe because of inadequate nurse staffi ng? That’s the key question employers will be asked as BCNU prepares to bargain a new provincial contract to replace the one that expires on March 31, 2012. C

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 1 5


move to other positions when dis-placed as a result of employer -driven workplace changes.”

MEMBERSHIP SURVEYDelegates reviewed the results of the membership survey that was mailed to members in April and tabulated about a week before the bargaining confer -ence began. Based on that survey – and reports from the regional bargaining conferences t hat w ere h eld d uring the winter – delegates set priorities for bargaining and elected members to the Nurses’ Bargaining Association bargaining committee.

The survey painted a picture of what’s happening on the frontlines. While a staggering 80 percent of those responding said workload is a problem in their workplace (38 percent called it a “major problem”), the percentages increased dramatically when applied to areas of nursing work t hat nor -

mally report the most serious issues.The percentage reporting workload

is a problem jumped to 91 percent in med/surg u nits ( where 5 5 p ercent called workload a “major problem ”) and to 90 percent in emergency wards (where 52 percent called workload a “major problem”).

In addition, over half the members responding (51 percent) reported that their r egular n ursing s taff c omple-ment (baseline staffi ng) is not ade-quate for the number of patients, residents, clients and the level of their acuity. That number jumped to 64 per-cent in med/surg and emergency.

At the same time some 35 percent of members reported their staffi ng fell short of even that inadequate baseline staffi ng most of the time.

When it comes to treating patients in hallways, 43 percent said they have had to care for patients in hallways, closets or “closed” beds (unfunded beds

The province-wide survey painted a picture of what’s happening on the frontlines, with 80 percent of respondents stating that workload was a problem.

When it comes to treating patients

in hallways, 43 percent said they

have had to care for patients in

hallways, closets or “closed” beds.

Five hundred delegates attended BCNU’s Bargaining Strategy Conference. Below: Becy Seet at the microphone.

continued on page 20

BARGAINING2012



JUDITH KIEJDA, Assistant General Secretary of the New South Wales Nurses Association, delivered an inspirational keynote address that focused on the NSWNA’s historic cam-paign for mandatory nurse-patient ratios. The Australian state of New South Wales recently became one of the few jurisdic-tions in the world to achieve mandated nurse to patient ratios.

“Safe staff ing has been a huge issue for many years,” Kiejda told delegates. “In focus groups our members told us staffing issues were hopeless . . . they overwhelmingly believed the union could not do anything about it.

“Union leadership knew it would only be member action that could change this dire situation and so we commis-sioned academics to research the current staff ing situation and f ind out what staff ing nursing unit managers thought necessary to provide safe patient care.

“Our bargaining demands claim was then formulated from that research: a very comprehensive nurse to patient ratio claim for medical and surgical units, palliative care and rehabilitation units, EDs, mental health, ORs, maternity units and community health services.”

Kiejda and other union leaders hit the road in mid-2010 to discuss the campaign with their 54,000 members. “W e decided to target the 10 largest metropolitan hospitals that had the majority of our membership. However , it soon became obvious that our members state-wide were passion-ate about being involved.”

The NSWNA developed campaign material that included stickers, postcards and flyers. They also held information sessions, rallies and lobbied politicians. And, as the cam-paign gathered momentum, they ran radio, TV and print ads and organized members to write letters to the editor and call radio talk shows.

But the government refused to even discuss ratios. “Our members were incensed,” said Kiejda. “They voted to strike – our first state-wide strike in 10 years.”

The union then escalated the campaign, calling for beds to be closed and community health services to be reduced if the government failed to make an acceptable offer by November 30.

“Our members decided if the government wouldn ’t or couldn’t provide enough nurses to deliver safe patient care then they would close inpatient beds and reduce community heath services so that the resources they did have would pro-vide safe patient care.

“We waited till the holidays were over and, on J anuary 4, facilities right across the state started to close beds as patients were discharged.

“NSW nurses had never done this before and I was so proud that our members had gone from thinking the prob-lem was hopeless to f ighting for the health system. S ix hun-dred beds were closed across the state by J anuary 11.

“The government was adamant we were not getting ratios. They couldn’t even utter the word. They said ratios were too inflexible, too expensive and too hard.

“We were equally insistent that we needed a staff ing

mechanism that was simple, transparent and enforceable. “Many hours of super -stressful negotiations ensued, but

ultimately we got to a consensus and the government f inally made us an offer built on nursing hours per patient day con-verted to a ratio,” said Kiejda, adding that the initial offer still wasn’t good enough.

“The NSWNA Council, which was meeting on an almost daily basis, kept urging us to continue and f inally we had an offer worthy of a member vote.”

The package included a 9.7 percent pay increase over three years, 1,400 FTE nurses required to meet the new ratios and a ratio framework for medical/surgical, palliative care, reha-bilitation, OR, mental health, maternity and ED.

Eventually 90 percent of members voted Y es to the pro-posed package, which also included a “commitment to replace ‘like with like ’ to address the increasing skill mix problems – if an RN takes sick leave, they have to be replaced with an RN. In smaller rural facilities you must now have two RNs physically on duty where there is an ED open – a huge improvement for nurses working in the bush.”

Although NSW nurses are happy with their historic win, Kiejda said the fight for safe staffing levels continues.

“It’s not over yet – not by a long shot. We didn’t get every-thing but we did get a massive block upon which to build for the future. Our members now know how to control their workload so that patients get the best care – when there are not enough nurses to do the job safely they just shut beds as patients are discharged and don ’t re-open them until staff ing is appropriate.

She says their victory means “safe staff ing is now regu-lated in NSW and no longer subject to management whim. Ratios give nurses control backed by law to manage their workloads and patient safety.”

The Australian nurse concluded her speech with words of encouragement for BCNU members. “I wish you every suc-cess in achieving similar advances for safe patient care in your upcoming bargaining campaign. If we can do it so can you. We support you.

“Remember you are doing this for your patients – a nurse’s job is to advocate for those in their care – you will succeed as no politician can argue against safe patient care.” �

HISTORIC CAMPAIGN BRINGS SUCCESS IN NEW SOUTH WALES

Aussie nurse Judith Kiejda delivered an inspirational speech that focused on a successful campaign for safe staffi ng levels.

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 1 7


Jen WatneyUHNBC, Prince George

University Hospital of Northern BC nurse Jen Watney described how she and other concerned members at the under-staffed Prince George facility launched their Safe Care Now campaign last sum-mer to ensure their patients receive the care they deserve.

“When I started nursing 15 years ago,” said W atney, “it was unheard of to have double ventilated patients. B ut over the last 10 years that abnormal has become the normal. W e now see not only one assignment being doubled, but every assignment in our unit being dou-bled. This is real. P atients’ lives are on the line and our nurses are overworked and stressed out.”

Watney pointed out that workload problems exist throughout the hospital. “There are serious problems in other areas, including the consistently over -crowded ER.”

To address the problems, nurses have fi led some 250 PRFs, spoke out in the media, brought the BCNU bus and President Debra McPherson to town to raise their campaign’s profi le, talked with local politicians, wore buttons and

black T -shirts and rallied outside an NHA board meeting.

“We haven’t got everything we want,” said Watney. “But I’m going to celebrate our successes. We’ve developed a steer-ing committee to deal with our PRF s, we have better communications with the health authority, we have built up mem-ber support , w e have a hard-w orking

steward team and we ’ve mobilized the community.”

Christine SorensenVernon Jubilee Hospital

Thompson North Okanagan regional chair Christine Sorensen told delegates how V ernon J ubilee Hospital nurses are spearheading a publicity campaign to address the grim overcapacity issues that plague the facility.

“The overcapacity campaign has a long history, dating back 10 years,” said Sorensen. “Four years ago, 18,000 sig-natures were collected from the public who demanded government put more resources into our community.

“On February 3, 2011, the hospital had 192 admitted patients in a 148-bed funded facility. Patients were waiting in chairs, hallways and ambulances.

Surgeries were cancelled. Nurses said it was like a war zone.”

Sorensen said a “small but energetic steward t eam s tarted w orking w ith members on a campaign to bring their concerns to the forefront.” After a PRF educational, members began fi ling PRFs that identifi ed their concerns. They also “reached out to other healthcare pro-viders” because “this is not just a VJH issue.” The concerned nurses also met with health authority offi cials and new BC Health Services Minister Mike de Jong. In M ay they tied a large purple ribbon to a tree outside the hospital.

“Our successes include focusing our message on safe patient care. It’s gained a lot of media at tention and support from l ocal p oliticians. T he c ampaign has helped build a strong steward team.

“However, we continue to struggle. So we will continue to fi le PRFs and workload grievances and use the tools that are in our collective agreement.”

Nancy VosThe Richmond Hospital

“About 18 months ago my colleague Annelise H enderson had been going through t he P RFs f iled f rom 6 N,” Richmond Hospital steward Nancy Vos told conference delegates. “It is a busy surgical fl oor that also holds a four-bed pediatric unit.

“The PRFs fi led by 6N nurses were related to overwork, workload issues and the high acuity of surgical patients, par-ticularly on night shift. They were con-stantly over-census. And whenever there was an empty pediatric bed it would be fi lled by an adult. We were looking at up to seven more surgical patients without an extra RN.”

But the 6N nurses refused to accept the situation. Vos said they “fi led more and more PRFs, had discussions wit h senior management and threatened a workload grievance. The unit also utilized the Synergy Model to defi ne patient equity. Through the documen-tation in the PRF process, nurses were able to show trends over time.

“Our nurses were persistent, and management fi nally agreed we needed another permanent full-time nurse on night shift. The 6N nurses are satisfi ed about that and now other units are encouraged to write PRFs to

CAMPAIGNING FOR CHANGEEight BCNU activists from facilities across the province shared their inspirational workload stories with bargaining conference delegates. Although the names and faces were different at every site, all eight stories share a common theme: fi ling PRFs and workload grievances, and even launching public campaigns, can pro-vide overworked nurses with real solutions to their ongoing workload concerns.

WORKLOAD STORIES Delegates heard eight members describe how nurses managed to resolve workload problems. From left: Rachel Kimler, Jen Watney, Fiona Dunn, Nancy Vos, Lorne Burkart, Christine Sorensen, Laurie Munday and Helen Ho.



address their workload issues. So fi l-ing PRFs actually does work and it is empowering.”

Laurie Munday Kelowna General Hospital

Although Kelowna General Hospital ER nurses didn’t launch their worksite cam-paign until 2006, they had been deal-ing with Code Purples on a daily basis since 2004, Okanagan-S imilkameen chair Laurie M unday told conference delegates.

“Ambulances couldn’t unload their stretchers, mental health patients were in regular ER spots, there was excessive overtime and sometimes there were up to 30 patients in ER waiting for beds.

“After starting their campaign in 2006, the ER nurses fi led approximately 200 PRFs. They also fi led workload and violence grievances and one of our stew-ards gathered data for us.

“The PRFs went to the Assessment Committee and from that came 35 rec-ommendations. The employer hasn ’t implemented them all. But we have had some small successes.

“They created a streaming area so patients needing minor procedures can come and go through a back hallway . They also created a larger waiting room and hurry-up beds. And because of the nurses’ efforts, a new, much larger ER is included in our new out-patient tower.

“We still have some work to do,” added Munday, “but fi ling PRFs and grievances can work.”

Helen HoFHA LTC case managers

For long term care case managers like Helen Ho, overcapacity means con-tending w ith 7 50-850 c lients d ivided between 7.8 FTEs. The case managers are supposed to fi nd ways to help people stay in their own homes and reduce reli-ance on residential care and the ER.

But “in case management, overca-pacity means failure to rescue,” Ho told delegates. “It means people go to emergency and acute care.”

Ho and her colleagues at Chilliwack Home Health have worked diligently to put their concerns forward through their managers and the CRNBC. They’ve also raised the issues at union-management meetings and fi led PRFs.

More recently, Ho and her colleagues have joined case managers from across Fraser H ealth and across BC in the Peoplework Not Paperwork campaign to give a higher profi le to their cause.

Ho said their campaign has made a difference: “We’ve grown as a team. We have support. We’ve built some net-works. But the bottom line is we need more teeth in Article 59 [Professional Responsibility Clause].

Lorne BurkartKBRH, Trail

“An exhausting process, an exhausting fi ve years.” That ’s how Trail RN Lorne Burkart described efforts to tackle chronic understaffi ng, increased acuity and over-census at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital.

Members used PRF s (at one point fi ling 79 PRFs in one year from a work-site membership of about 240). They spoke with management, called in a Strategic Workload Assessment Team, fi led grievances and mounted a highly-visible campaign.

Burkart told delegates that KBRH nurses did achieve some positive results. For example, a fl oat LPN was moved to the surgical fl oor.

“Unfortunately,” he added, “we ’ve also had the negative of losing staff, and had the roller coaster where we try to get back the staff we lost. The surgical unit is certainly now better as a result of the work we ’ve done,” said B urkart. “The medical unit is not back to where we were, but it’s certainly doing better.

“It is something we just had to do. There was just no choice. Our nurses needed it, and our patients needed it.”

Rachel KimlerNRGH, Nanaimo

Nurses can sometimes feel that fi ling a single PRF has no effect. B ut accord-ing to Rachel Kimler , PRF chair at Nanaimo Regional G eneral Hospital, you can accomplish a lot by combining that single PRF with many more PRF s and other available initiatives.

Kimler says that ’s what “ an incred-ibly persistent and dedicated group of nurses ” at the NRGH Inpatient Psychiatric Unit proved with a relent-less decade-long drive to address chal-lenging working conditions.

The i ssues: w orkplace v iolence, a toxic mix of patients, a lack of security and inadequate staffi ng. The nurses were also expected to leave their unit and respond to Code Whites anywhere in the hospital.

The c oncerned nur ses have fi led more than 75 PRF s since 2005. They took the issues to an Assessment Committee in 2009.

“But they didn’t just fi le PRFs. They also lobbied the VIHA board, fi led inci-dent reports and engaged WorkSafeBC.

“The approach was really multi-fac-etted. It was just a constant pushing, with one PRF, after another PRF, after another PRF, after another W orkSafe order, that they achieved something.”

The nurses were eventually removed from the Code White respon se team. They’re now sitting with physicians on evaluation reviews and VIHA has included plans for a new PIC/PES unit as part of an ER expansion. “Our nurses also achieved a sense of pride and own-ership over the process,” said Kimler.

Fiona DunnVictoria General Hospital

It’s Round T wo at V ictoria G eneral Hospital’s pediatric unit, where nurses “are wall-papering the walls with PRF s” to back their demand for a fi fth and sixth nurse.

Fiona Dunn, VGH’s full-time stew-ard, said nurses are hopeful they ’ll get them “because of the sense of empower-ment they gained from the fi rst round” in 2009.

“Not only did they start fi ling PRFs, we had PRF meetings and PRF edu-cation. The end result was that after a lot of cam paigning and m eetings, they achieved what they thought they’d never achieve. It gave them such as sense of power . . . and they were so proud.”

What they achieved was a fi fth nurse and a psychiatric care aide.

Unfortunately, in 2010, the fi fth nurse was assigned to replace sick calls, forcing nurses to take out those PRFs again, this time demanding not just a fi fth, but a sixth nurse on the unit.

Dunn says experience shows that “it’s so important to change the PRF lan-guage in this round of bargaining,” so that once nurses achieve increased staff-ing, management can’t roll it back.” �

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 1 9


with no additional nurses assigned).That number for hallway nursing

jumped to 72 percent for emergency room nurses, 69 percent in med/surg and 50 percent in psychiatry.

Some of the most critical work-load problems appear to come from long term care and in the community among long term care case managers.

When asked “ how reasonable do you consider your patient load,” 66 percent of long term care case manag-ers replied either “very unreasonable” or “somewhat unreasonable,” com-pared to 44 percent of long term care nurses, 34 percent in home care and 29 per cent of acute care nurses.

When it came to bargaining pri-orities, members put measures to relieve workload and increase staffi ng at the top, followed by job security and improved compensation.

Delegates also received informa-tion comparing wage rates for nurses in W estern C anada a nd a cross t he country. The data indicates that wage rates in BC are now the fi fth highest in C anada, b ehind S askatchewan, Alberta, Ontario and Manitoba.

THE ART OF NEGOTIATINGArbitrator Peter Cameron was invited to the conference to describe how he helped negotiate a similar employ-ment security agreement with health-care unions in 1993 on behalf of the provincial government and health

BARGAINING2012

When it came to bargaining priorities, members put measures to relieve work-load and increase staffing at the top.

Public health and community nurses discussed issues of concern. From left, RIVA chair Marnie Hewlett, Iris Zeller, Karen Peters, Romy de Leon, Jane Smith, Cheryl Knott, Annemarie Plumridge and Kay Shay.

From left, former HEABC head Gary Moser, BCNU Executive Director of Negotiations and Strategic Development Gary Fane and arbitrator Peter Cameron address delegates; BCNU Executive Councillor (Pensions) Deb Ducharme at podium.

continued from page 16



employers. The deal C ameron helped negotiate – while an assistant deputy minister of labour in the then-NDP government – facilitated the down-sizing of acute care facilities and the displacement of hundreds of employ-ees, while guaranteeing job security through education and other job place-ment options.

G ary Moser , former head of the Health Employers Association of BC, also spoke to delegates. Although Moser has locked horns with BCNU during past negotiations, he was well-received as he reviewed how manage-ment negotiators consider the issues in b argaining. H e r ecommended nurses maintain their “high ground ”

as advocates for better patient care.

NURSING SECTORSDelegates broke into small groups dur-ing the conference to develop propos-als of special concern to members in long term care, community care, pub-lic health, supervisory positions and in small, medium and large acute care facilities.

BARGAINING COMMITTEE ELECTEDDelegates also elected BCNU represen-tatives to the nurses ’ bargaining com-mittee. Elected representatives are:Large Acute Doreen Fleming (S urrey Memorial) and M eghan F riesen (St. Paul’s).

Medium Acute Patt Shuttleworth (East Kootenay Regional Hospital).Small A cute Tina C oletti ( Kootenay Lake Hospital). Community J essica Celeste (VIHA), Linda Partington (IHA).Long Term Care Lynda Moss (IHA).

ELECTED TO THE PROVINCIAL JOB ACTION COMMITTEE:Long Term Care Liz Ilczaszyn (Fraser Health).Community Rhonda Croft (IHA).Acute C are Becy Seet (V ancouver Coastal).Members At Large Jackie Drummond (Kamloops Public Health), Fiona Dunn (Victoria General Hospital). �

“We’ll be fi ghting for safe patient care through safe staffi ng,” said BCNU President Debra McPherson. “That’s what bargaining will be all about.”

Clockwise from top left: Interim nomina-tions committee members, from left, Marco Gnoato, Brenda Regelous, Janice Canning, Tracy Mailey-Baur and Lanie Fajardo. Executive Councillor (OH&S) Marg Dhillon wearing an “I’m No Surely” T-shirt from Bargaining 2001; Barb Connolly and Valentina Maliarenko at the 50/50 table; and sergeant-at-arms Kathy Thorlakson.

1

23

4

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 2 1


Conference participants Salima Adatia, Jodie Salter, Lesley Reichert, Maria Villacrusis and Sarah Cuzzetto.


There were two main themes woven through Power and Pract ice: A dvancing a Community of Care, BCNU’s fi fth annual practice confer -

ence, held in Vancouver in early May. One theme was the power of history to inform the workscape of the present and the sec-ond was the centrality of compassionate action in remaking our communities.

Notwithstanding the seriousness of those themes, if you happened to arrive late at the opening plenary you could have been excused for thinking that you’d inadvertently stumbled into a stand-up comedy routine – minus the drinks and heckling. There was Diana M ansell, from the University of C algary, weaving a compelling narrative of Canadian nurs-ing history with a double shot of slapstick and enough bawdy naughtiness and skil-ful storytelling to keep participants riv-eted (and in stitches). It was a fabulous way for the 130 participants to begin thetwo-day conference.

In a talk entitled I See and I am Silent – the motto of the fi rst nursing

school in Canada founded in 1874 in St. Catharines, Ontario – Professor Mansell reminded the audience of the immea-surable but often unacknowledged value of nurses in Canada’s national develop-ment: through the brutality of the First World War and the devastating conse-quences of the Spanish Flu to the pres-ent challenges facing public healthcare.

And yet it is as if that nursing school motto of long ago continues to haunt the profession – with a proliferation of silences defi ning the centrality of nurses’ work. For Diana M ansell these silences should ideally be fi lled with the voices, ideas and stories of nurses: articulated with a sense of a common purpose and informed by a sense of historical continuity.

The t heme o f l ocating o urselves i n the broader narrative of nursing his-tory, through the stories we tell about ourselves and our work, was continued in the presentation of Professor Sonja Grypma from Trinity Western University. She related an ancient Chinese belief that suggests we are all born with an invisible

red thread attached to our navel that con-nects us to all the people we will meet in our lifetime – thus creating a rich tapestry of stories and connectedness as our life unfolds. She used this motif to tell the story of how she came to discover the presence of C anadian nurses in China during t he l atter 1 9th a nd e arly 2 0th centuries.

Professor G rypma e xplained h ow Canadian missionary nurses helped establish the fi rst schools of nursing in Henan, China. It is a story of their heroism and also a story of how Chinese nurses built upon the legacy established by the Canadians.

Professor G rypma left us with a n appreciation of the way in which the past can inspire a re-engagement with the present – through refl ecting on our own often unconsidered legacies and cultivating a shared vision of the future of our work.

Conferences open up multiple spaces and opportunities for conversations and many of these exchanges were deepened in a series of workshops that followed lunch on Day One (and which were repeated on Day T wo). The four work-shops explored the issue of HIV, the expe-riences of a nurse practitioner in a remote Aboriginal community, an opportunity to experience a facilitated walk through a portable labyrinth and the develop-ment of a risk assessment protocol by UBC students Aleya Kamani, Michelle Thieu, Tracy Weng and Wenling Shan.

This protocol was designed to pro-vide student nurses and other health-care workers with an algorithm for determining what health and safety strategies they should employ when inter-acting with a patient in a hospital setting.

[ EDUCATION ]

POWER and PRACTICEADVANCING A COMMUNITY OF CARE

BCNU’s fifth annual practice conference wove a compellingnarrative of Canadian nursing history and the centrality of

compassionate action in remaking our communities


POWER AND PRACTICE Clockwise from top left: Fiona Dunn, Elaine Greer and Lisa Rivington; UBC nursing students Tracy Weng and Wenling Shan; and Woynshet Kebede, Gloria Baptiste and Mebrat Kebede.

J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 2 3

For this graduating year project, the students created P owerPoint slides, a poster , a pocket card and a video to illustrate the steps a healthcare worker should take to ensure their own h ealth a nd s afety. I n d oing s o they were able to address a signifi cant gap in UBC’s nursing curriculum.

The fi rst day was brought to a close by Dr. Joy Johnson, a former BCNU steward, and currently a highly accom-plished researcher . She focused on the issue of leadership and remin ded conference participants that they are all in a position to enact change – and that change can and should start now.

Dr. Johnson invoked the story of mak-ing stone soup to illustrate the value of action in the here and now . If it ’s soup you want and all you have are stones, then start with stones and sooner or later someone will arrive with carrots to add to the broth, then another with celery, a third with rice, a fourth with beans and so on until what you have is nutritious and tasty and capable of fortifying you and your community as you strive to affect change.

Day Two began with another dynamic excursion into the history of nursing. UBC Professor V eronica Strong-Boag spoke about the crucial role nurses have played in helping to advance the cause of d emocracy i n C anada. C iting t he specifi c role of Aboriginal nurses and nurses of colour , she illuminated the

many instances when racialised women challenged the colour bar in C anada and ove rcame instituti onal obstacles to become nurses. She highlighted the many ways in which nurses have championed the issue of healthcare, not merely as a minimum requirement of a democratic society, but as a fundamental human right.

Strong-Boag’s talk on nursing and human rights laid the groundwork for a more in-depth look at the rights defi cits experienced by C anada’s First Nations. In a talk entitled A dvancing N ursing Practice with Aboriginal Communities, Charlene Yow a nd S tar M ahara f rom Thompson R ivers U niversity o ffered both a personal and theoretical inquiry into the need to critically refl ect on the social determinants of health that shape Aboriginal wellbeing and the core com-petencies healthcare workers need to cul-tivate to better address Aboriginal health. Yow – of Chinese and Aboriginal ances-try – reminded participants that though Native and non-Native peoples have lived together in BC for centuries “we hardly know each other.”

Yow and M ahara offered a much-needed corrective to this absence of knowing – illuminating th e cultural complexities that inform the reality of Aboriginal peoples and challenging us to work towards dimini shing health disparities and enhancing the equitable distribution of resources.

Frontline caregivers are critically posi-tioned to advance a genuine community of care, one committed to the principles of democracy and equity.

You c an b egin a n ursing p ractice conference with any number of themes or ideas and any engaging speaker to bring these themes and ideas to life, but to close you should ideally bring it back to nursing practice: the small acts of caring that constitute the heart of our work. Keynote speaker Heather Menzies reminded participants of the timeless-ness of such acts as she spoke and read from her book Enter Mourning: a Memoir on Death, Dementia and Coming Home.

As she writes in the book ’s introduc-tion: “At some point, taking care of my aging mother stopped being an impo-sition, or even a series of tasks I man-aged with some semblance of grace, and became an experience that changed my life. It opened me not just to the unknown but to unknowing as a way of living, simultaneously letting go and letting in. I learned to give myself over to the crumbling and ebbing away of life and in doing this, discovered how it fl ows from the tangible, the articulate and the comprehensible to the intangible and the inscrutable.”

Two days of incredible richness were brought to a close with this moving evo-cation of the alchemy of such moments of caring – the essence of nursing power and practice. �


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IN THE COMMUNITYNurses were out in force volunteering at the Cloverdale Rodeo, including (1) LPN Sara Tietz, (2) RN Cathy Robinson and (3) South FraserValley co-chair Cheryl Appleton.

Nurses around BC celebrated Nursing Week,including (4) Burnaby Mental Health Develop-ment Disabilities nurses who were serenaded by their co-workers, including BCGEU member Andrew Neufeld (at front with guitar) with Simon Fraser co-chair Deb Picco and new steward Trinda Messervey at back. (5) Coastal Mountain members marked Nursing Week at a well-attended meeting in Sechelt. (6) Members decorated the Nicola Valley Health Centre with messages to mark the occasion.

Staffi ng BCNU’s information booth at West Kelowna’s Westside Daze fairgrounds are (7), from left, Okanagan-Similkameen chair Laurie Munday, Deb Duperreault, Lynne Eross andTim Fitzsimmons.

BCNU members attending this year’s CFNU Convention in Winnipeg took to the streets to support locked-out postal workers. Pictured here are (8) Nelson RN Tracy Mailey-Baur and regional chairs (9) Colette Wickstrom and Suzie Ford.

Nurses from Cranbrook and Invermere (10) at the BCNU bus with their children and grandchildren.


[ IN THE COMMUNITY ]


J u l y / A u g u s t 2 0 1 1 2 52 5 B C N U U P D AT E

[ OPEN FORUM ]

WRITE ON BCNU members wrote letters about recruitment and retention in Prince Rupert and the dangers of believing false stereotypes.

are valued and respected for what they have to offer at the worksite on an equal basis. Perceptions of the “norm” erode the partnership of all nurses working together for the patient regardless of gender differences.

We tend to assume others will under-stand what we mean to say and will accept a statement or action done as a normal and accepted practice. . . .

Let’s talk about the most important person, our patient. How do you think the patient feels, lying in bed listening to off-hand remarks of someone’s race, gender or sexual preference? Afraid to speak out in fear because if they do, it may affect their care.

The Men in Nursing Group would like to urge every brother and sister to please be mindful of their language and percep-tions for all the members of this union and in their outside lives. Nursing is a career for all walks of life and diversity, where we are all respected as equals regardless of our biology.

Jim Lord, RNMen in Nursing Group co-chair

RECRUITMENT AND RETENTIONThis letter fi rst appeared in The Northern View.I am writing in regards to your June 8 article “Prince Rupert hospital looking ahead to hiring more nurses locally.”

I would agree that it is diffi cult for Northern Health to entice new gradu-ates to move to Prince Rupert for work, but I don’t think weather is the issue. Currently new nursing graduates are being offered only casual work. As casu-als, they are called in when a regular employee is off. Work is offered inconsis-tently, often on very short notice.

This situation presents many chal-lenges for new grads, who need steady, reliable work to consolidate their newly-learned knowledge and skills. As well, casual work fails to provide consistent pay, making it diffi cult for students with loans to repay.

Perhaps the creation of more regular positions would attract local nurses, and also those from outside the region, allow new graduates steady work, allevi-ate workload and make it economically viable for nurses to stay, work and live in the community.

Sharon Sponton, RNNorth West regional chair

BUSTING STEREOTYPESHere is the scenario: you’re working night shift and a patient has become physically aggressive. You have two co-workers with you, which one would you choose as back up? Nurse Arnold is 6’2” and a body builder. Nurse Janice is 4’10” and petite.

If you chose Nurse Arnold, that would have been the wrong choice. Arnold is recovering from disc surgery from improper lifting. He cannot lift more than 10 pounds and is not allowed to make sudden moves. Nurse Janice on the other hand has been practic-ing martial arts for seven years and has a second-degree black belt in self defence. She would have no problem subduing and controlling the patient until security arrives.

This is one of the classic perceptions seen as the “norm”: men are usually called on when a heavy lift is needed or an unruly patient needs to be dealt with. This has been an expected practice for a long time and it needs to see some change. We all must be ever mindful about what we say and do. Even if we have the best of intentions others may view it in a different light.

Another perception of the “norm”: many of us are guilty of making state-ments of a sexual nature. An incident comes to mind at BCNU’s recent bargaining conference when a female nurse made a statement of “I have balls of steel.”

I’m sorry to say my reaction was of passive acceptance and I didn’t really pay it much attention. It was one of the male nurses who approached me. He was very upset about this statement. He felt that if a male nurse made a statement regard-ing a female body part being “tough as steel,” what would be the consequences? Tar and feathering comes to mind, politi-cal suicide (don’t bother running for any position in this union).

I was also approached by two sis-ters who were angry at this statement because they felt it belittled both women and men. Their perception was that if you have “testicles” you were stronger, more powerful than those who don’t have any.

One of the challenges of the Men in Nursing Group is to create a gender- neutral environment where all nurses

“One of the challenges of the Men in Nursing Group is to create a gender neutralenvironment where all nurses are valued and respected for what they have to offerat the worksite on an equal basis.” Jim Lord, co-chair of BCNU’s Men In Nursing Group

BCNU BARGAINING 2012

NURSES MEET NEW HEALTH MINISTER RADIATION EXPOSURE VICTORY

BC NURSES’ UNION APRIL/MAY 2011 WWW.BCNU.ORG

MOVINGMOVINGFORWARDFORWARDOGOGTOGETHERTOGETHER

BCNU CONVENTION 2011


Email your letters to [email protected]

or mail them to Update magazine,

4060 Regent St., Burnaby, BC, V5C 6P5.

Letters may be edited for length or clarity.

GIVE US A PIECE OF YOUR MIND

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When you move, please let BCNU know your new address so we can

keep sending you the Update, election information and other vital union

material. Forward us your email address and we’ll send you the latest BCNU

bulletins and news releases. Please contact the Membership Department at

[email protected], 604-433-2268 (local 2192) or 1-800-663-9991.

If your steward can’t help, or for all regional matters, contact your regional rep.

STEWARDS

who can help?For all workplace concerns contact your steward.

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVESIf your steward can’t help, or for all regional matters, contact your regional rep. 2

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE For all provincial, national or union policy issues, contact your executive committee.

MOVING?NEW EMAIL?

When you move, please let BCNU know your new address so we can

keep sending you the Update, election information and other vital union

material. Forward us your email address and we’ll send you the latest BCNU

bulletins and news releases. Please contact the Membership Department at

[email protected], 604-433-2268 (local 2192) or 1-800-663-9991.

BCNU IS HERE TO SERVE MEMBERSHere’s how you can get in touch with the right person to help you

STEWARDS

who can help?1 For all workplace concerns contact your steward.

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE For all provincial, national or union policy issues, contact your executive committee.3PRESIDENT

Debra McPhersonVancouverW 604-433-2268or 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT

Janice BuchananWhite RockC 604-202-6033W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

TREASURER

Mabel TungRichmondC 604-328-9346W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

EXECUTIVE COUNCILLOR

Marg DhillonCoquitlamC 604-839-9158W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]


Deb DucharmeSalmon ArmC 250-804-9964W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

West KootenayCHAIRTina ColettiNelsonC 250-354-5311W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

East KootenayCHAIRPatt ShuttleworthCranbrookC 250-919-4890W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

North WestCHAIRSharon SpontonSmithersC 250-877-2547W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

North EastCHAIRJackie NaultQuesnelC 250-960-8621W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

Pacifi c RimCHAIRJo TaylorNanaimoC 250-713-7066W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

South IslandsCO-CHAIRRonni McCallumVictoriaC 250-213-2401W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRMargo WiltonVictoriaC 250-361-8479W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

Okanagan-SimilkameenCHAIRLaurie MundayKelownaC 250-212-0530W 778-775-5576Voice Mail #[email protected]

Thompson North OkanaganCHAIRChristine SorensenKamloopsC 250-819-6293W [email protected]

Fraser ValleyCHAIRLinda PipeMissionC 604-793-6444W 604-433-2268Voice Mail#[email protected]

Simon FraserCO-CHAIRLiz IlczaszynNew WestminsterC 604-785-8157W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRDebbie PiccoPitt MeadowsC 604-209-4260W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

South Fraser ValleyCO-CHAIRCheryl AppletonSurreyC 604-839-8965W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRLisa WalkerLangleyC 604-880-9105W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

Coastal MountainCHAIRKath-Ann TerrettNorth VancouverC 604-828-0155W [email protected]

Shaughnessy HeightsCHAIRSuzie FordBurnabyC 604-220-7294W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

RIVACHAIRMarnie HewlettSurreyc 604-785-8148H 604-542-1307W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

Vancouver MetroCHAIRColette WickstromVancouverC 604-789-9240W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

Central Vancouver CO-CHAIRJudy McGrathVancouverC 604-970-4339W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRDiane LaBarreLangleyC 604-341-5231W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

PRESIDENT

Debra McPhersonVancouverW 604-433-2268or 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

VICE PRESIDENT

Janice BuchananWhite RockC 604-202-6033W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

TREASURER

Mabel TungRichmondC 604-328-9346W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]


Marg DhillonCoquitlamC 604-839-9158W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]


Deb DucharmeSalmon ArmC 250-804-9964W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

West KootenayCHAIRTina ColettiNelsonC 250-354-5311W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

East KootenayCHAIRPatt ShuttleworthCranbrookC 250-919-4890W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

North WestCHAIRSharon SpontonSmithersC 250-877-2547W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

North EastCHAIRJackie NaultQuesnelC 250-960-8621W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

Pacifi c RimCHAIRJo TaylorNanaimoC 250-713-7066W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

South IslandsCO-CHAIRRonni McCallumVictoriaC 250-213-2401W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRMargo WiltonVictoriaC 250-361-8479W 1-800-663-9991Voice Mail #[email protected]

Okanagan-SimilkameenCHAIRLaurie MundayKelownaC 250-212-0530W 778-755-5576Voice Mail #[email protected]

Thompson North OkanaganCHAIRChristine SorensenKamloopsC 250-819-6293W [email protected]

Fraser ValleyCHAIRLinda PipeMissionC 604-793-6444W 604-433-2268Voice Mail#[email protected]

Simon FraserCO-CHAIRLiz IlczaszynNew WestminsterC 604-785-8157W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRDebbie PiccoPitt MeadowsC 604-209-4260W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

South Fraser ValleyCO-CHAIRCheryl AppletonSurreyC 604-839-8965W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRLisa WalkerLangleyC 604-880-9105W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

Coastal MountainCHAIRKath-Ann TerrettNorth VancouverC 604-828-0155W [email protected]

Shaughnessy HeightsCHAIRSuzie FordBurnabyC 604-220-7294W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

RIVACHAIRMarnie HewlettSurreyc 604-785-8148H 604-542-1307W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

Vancouver MetroCHAIRColette WickstromVancouverC 604-789-9240W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

Central Vancouver CO-CHAIRJudy McGrathVancouverC 604-970-4339W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

CO-CHAIRDiane LaBarreLangleyC 604-341-5231W 604-433-2268Voice Mail #[email protected]

REGIONAL REPRESENTATIVES2


[ OFF DUTY ]

itimat RN Edwin Empinado has been speaking out for patients and nurses for years. Now he wants to advocate on behalf of everyone in his community as a city councillor.

Last November, just fi ve months after becoming a Canadian citizen, Empinado tossed his hat into the political ring and ran against six other candidates in a hotly-contested Kitimat by-election. The OR nurse came a close second in that race and hopes to win a council seat in this November’s municipal election.

“I’m running under the slogan Promoting A Healthy Community,” says Empinado. “Healthcare issues are very important to Kitimat voters. They ’re particularly concerned about staffi ng levels at the local hospital and overcrowding in our ER. But the voters and I are also concerned with creating jobs, keeping our streets clean and our recreational facilities open, addressing drug and alcohol problems and all the other social determi-nants that promote healthy communities.”

Empinado says he quickly fell in love with the north-west community after moving there in 2005 with his wife D oris, w ho i s a lso a n R N a t K itimat General Hospital, and their young daughter.

“People really welcomed us into their hearts and made us feel right at home. I got to know a lot of peo-ple quickly through my involvement with the Filipino Canadian Association in Kitimat, my church and the Kitimat Health Advocacy Group.”

Empinado says it was his participation with BCNU that got him interested in speaking out on health issues. “The education I received from BCNU opened my eyes, mind and heart to new ideas,” says Empinado, who became a steward and now also serves as the North West region’s steward liaison and mem-ber educator. “I have learned about nurses’ rights and how to speak out for myself and others.”

Empinado says it was several local physicians he ’d

PROMOTING A HEALTHY

COMMUNITY

KITIMAT NURSE EDWIN EMPINADO ISRUNNING FOR A CITY COUNCILLOR POSITION

IN NOVEMBER’S MUNICIPAL ELECTION

met through the Kitimat Health Advocacy Group who fi rst suggested he run in last year ’s civic by-election. “My fi rst reaction was No, I could never do that. I’m not experienced. I’ve only lived here for fi ve years.”

But rather than rejecting the idea out of hand, Empinado sought advice from his wife, friends, hos-pital staff, North West regional chair Sharon Sponton and M able Elmore, who in 2009 became the fi rst Filipina-Canadian elected to the BC legislature.

“After deciding to run,” says Empinado, “I received a lot of help. And even though I lost, I learned so much that will help me in the next election.”

Empinado says he was pleasantly surprised to learn that BCNU offers assistance to members campaigning for political offi ce. (Members who run as candidates for any political party and who support BCNU policies and positions may receive four days paid union leave toward their election expenses. If you ’re considering a run for political offi ce, including this November’s province-wide municipal elections, please email [email protected] for more information.)

Empinado launch ed his n ursing caree r in the Philippines after deciding not to enter the priest-hood. After obtaining his Masters in Nursing degree, Empinado worked as a clinical nursing instructor before moving to Ireland to work as an OR nurse. He met and married his wife there and, after their daugh-ter was born, moved to C anada where they cared for patients at Vancouver’s St. Paul’s Hospital before mov-ing north in 2005.

“Kitimat is a great community that deserves quality healthcare,” says Empinado. “I’m going to make sure that healthcare remains a top issue in the upcoming November election.” �

POLITICAL ASPERATIONS “Healthcare issues are very impor-tant to Kitimat voters,” says Edwin Empinado. K

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PM 40834030

CONVENTION 2012 IS SCHEDULED FOR APRIL 2, 3 AND 4

It’s time to submit your proposed resolutions,by-laws and constitutional amendments

BCNU’s Convention 2012 will be held on April 2, 3 and 4

at the Hyatt Regency Hotel in Vancouver. Delegates should

register at the hotel on the evening of April 1, 2012. All members

are urged to attend, either as observers or as voting delegates

from our union’s 16 regions.

Proposed by-law and constitutional amendments must

be received by the By-laws Committee at BCNU no later than

September 30, 2011. Please see your steward for the necessary

forms. Mail them to the BCNU offi ce, attention Marnie Hewlett,

chair of the By-laws Committee, care of Kristy Child, BCNU’s

parliamentarian.

Proposed resolutions must be received by the Resolutions

Committee at BCNU no later than November 10, 2011. Please

see your steward for the necessary forms. Mail them to the BCNU

offi ce, attention Liz Ilczaszyn, chair of the Resolutions Committee,

care of Kristy Child, BCNU’s parliamentarian.CO

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CALL FOR BCNU CONVENTION 2012


Documents

June 11 FINALold.bcnu.org/publications_forms/update_magazine/2011/pdfs/Jul_11.… · OUR MISSION STATEMENT BCNU protects and advances the health, social and economic well- being of