Media Advisory: Ontario nurse leader shares clinical expertise in Spain

TORONTO, Nov. 5 /CNW/ - A representative from Ontario's top professional nursing organization is in Spain to celebrate a partnership that will allow Spanish speaking nurses from around the world to take advantage of the latest evidence-based practices that have benefited nurses and their patients in Ontario.

Doris Grinspun, executive director of the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) was invited by the government and will visit Madrid, Barcelona and Burgos, to share nurses' expertise in clinical and healthy work environment best practices. Grinspun's visit will also highlight the central role nursing plays in the health and well-being of patients, and the health system's safety, effectiveness and efficiency.

In Burgos, Grinspun will deliver a keynote address focusing on her doctoral thesis titled The Social Construction of Caring in Nursing. In this study, Grinspun joined registered nurses in their practice settings and explored what happened during their shifts, bringing out the opportunities, challenges and tensions nurses encounter day in and day out as they carry out their work.

In Burgos, Grinspun will join a panel on evidence-based practice. In Madrid, Grinspun will participate in a press conference with senior representatives of the government of Spain, to share the progress to date on an agreement signed earlier this year in Toronto between RNAO and the Spanish government. The partnership will see all of RNAO's evidence-based best practice guidelines (BPGs) translated into Spanish. The initiative means up to half a billion people who live in Spanish speaking countries stand to benefit from RNAO's nursing guidelines.

"The results of these guidelines on patients' health speak for themselves and that's why the Ontario government and Health Canada support this program," says Doris Grinspun, adding that governments and health-care organizations all over the world, including China, Japan, Australia, South Africa and now Spain are approaching RNAO to share its expertise.

RNAO's Best Practice Guidelines Program began in 1999 and in 2003 was expanded to include not only clinical guidelines but also healthy work environment BPGs. To date, 42 have been developed, including ones focused on health promotion such as breastfeeding, prevention of child obesity, and reducing falls in older persons. Guidelines have also been developed in the area of chronic disease management such as diabetes. There are also BPGs to support nurses working with patients who are ill with various conditions, such as hypertension and asthma.

Grinspun, a native of Chile, and fluent in Spanish, is thrilled about RNAO's official partnership with Investén-isciii, a Ministry of Science and Innovation Research Institution that is overseeing the translation of all BPGs into Spanish. "This agreement will enrich the nursing profession because it will provide nurses in Spain with the most up-to-date evidence to support their clinical, administrative, and educational and policy practices. It will also benefit patients," says Grinspun.

"I want to congratulate and thank our own government for supporting us in leading nursing provincially, nationally and internationally," says David McNeil, RNAO's president, adding special thanks also goes to the government of Spain and to Dr. Teresa Moreno Casbas from Investén "for their leadership in bringing these BPGs to life in another language."

Highlights of the visit include:

November 8, Madrid - Meeting with the RNAO guidelines' translators and government officials.

November 9, Burgos - II Jornada del centro Colaborador Espanol JBI. Grinspun's presentation topic: "Estrategias de Implementacion y evalaucion de las guias de buena practices de cuidado RNAO" (Strategies for Implementation and Evaluation of RNAO's Best Practice Guidelines."

November 10,  Burgos - XIV Encuentro Internacional de Investigacion en Enfermeria. Grinspun's Keynote Address: "La construccion Social del cuidado de Enfermeria" (The Social Construction of Caring in Nursing).

November 11 and 12, Burgos - Participation in a conference, press conference and meetings with stakeholders from various countries.

November 15, Barcelona - II Jornadas de Investigacion en Enfermeria. Grinspun's Keynote Address: El conocimiento es poder: liderando una practica clinica basasa en la evidencia (Knowledge is power: leading evidence-based clinical practice).

November 16, Madrid - Meetings with nurses and hospital officials at the Hospital Universitario de Getafe to discuss partnership in RNAO's BPG implementation.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has lobbied for healthy public policy, promoted excellence in nursing practice, increased nurses' contribution to shaping the health-care system, and influenced decisions that affect nurses and the public they serve.

RNAO's ambitious Best Practice Guidelines Program is funded by the Ontario government's Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. It was launched in 1999, under Grinspun's leadership, to provide the best available evidence for patient care across a wide spectrum of health-care areas. The 42 guidelines developed to date are a substantive contribution towards building excellence in Ontario's health-care system. They are available, free of charge, to nurses, other health-care professionals and organizations across Canada and abroad. To learn more about RNAO's Nursing Best Guidelines Program or to view these resources, please visit www.rnao.org/bestpractices.

For more information about RNAO, visit our website at www.rnao.org. You can also check out our Facebook page at www.rnao.org/facebook and follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/rnao.

For further information:

To arrange an interview with Dr. Grinspun, please contact:

Marion Zych
Director of Communications Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO)
158 Pearl Street
Toronto, ON
416-408-5605 (office)
647-406-5605 (cellular)