Dean’s Corner April 2022
Dean’s Message: April 2022
With the sounds of spring in the air, and the sun starting to provide us with some warmth, I’m delighted to share some welcome news in anticipation of National Nursing Week.
From May 9 – 15, 2022, Bloomberg Nursing will host a series of events focused on our theme Revitalizing the Global Nursing Workforce, drawing further attention to the current crisis facing nurses both here in Ontario and globally.
Professor James Buchan of the International Council of Nurses (ICN), a renowned scholar with expertise in labour and economic relations in the nursing workforce, will present our much-anticipated keynote address and will be joined for a discussion by Donna Duncan, CEO of the Ontario Long-Term Care Association and Ru Taggar Executive VP and Chief Nursing and Health Professions Executive at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre. I invite you to read our profile of Professor Buchan and his thoughtful Q & A, discussing the impact of the pandemic on nurses, and the ways in which policy makers and health care leaders, should be focusing on retention and improvements to the nursing profession.
Bloomberg Nursing’s Professor Linda McGillis Hall is also set to examine the state of the nursing profession here in Ontario. She and her research team have received a grant from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research to fund their new study, which aims to interview nurses directly and give them a voice in improving the future of nursing.
This past month, our Doctor of Nursing (DN) students shared some of their projects that aim to shape and improve nursing practice, health systems, and education, in our first in-person residency in over two years. This inaugural cohort of DN students from across Canada and around the world, have illustrated their exceptional capacity as nursing leaders, and I invite you to read more about their work and experience in our April newsletter.
Registration for Bloomberg Nursing Week events is now open, and I encourage all who can to participate in this week of collective recognition and celebration of the complexity of the nursing role.
As we hope to soon exit the acute phase of the pandemic, it is nurses, our students, our faculty and alumni all over the world, who will continue to be leaders as we rebuild our health care system for the better.
Stay safe, stay well, and Happy Nursing Week.
Sincerely,
Linda Johnston, PhD FEANS FCAHS FAAN
Dean, Lawrence S Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing
University of Toronto