Nurses share their successes during National Nursing Week

TORONTO, May 3, 2018 /CNW/ - Improvements nurses are making to patients' health outcomes will take centre stage at a series of events during Nursing Week (May 7-13).

Five health organizations known as Best Practice Spotlight Organizations (BPSO) will show the success they are having incorporating the latest health research and evidence into their clinical practice with tools developed by the Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO).

Best practice guidelines (BPG) cover a range of topics including managing pain, preventing falls, preventing childhood obesity, and ensuring successful breastfeeding. RNAO also has guidelines for wound care and chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and asthma.

"Registered nurses, registered practical nurses, nurse practitioners and other care providers who implement BPGs stand out as leaders because they are committed to excellence in clinical practice," says RNAO President Angela Cooper Brathwaite. "We are proud of all BPSOs and the 700 affiliated health organizations and academic institutions around the world that are part of this program," she adds.

"We congratulate these BPSOs for making a clear commitment to supporting staff through evidence-based practice. By supporting nurses and other health professionals to implement RNAO's BPGs, they are raising the level of care provided to their patients," says Dr. Doris Grinspun, RNAO's Chief Executive Officer and the founder of the BPG program. "The care needs of patients must always come first and BPGs put patients first and lead to better patient, organizational and health system outcomes."

Nurses from health-care organizations in Ottawa, Toronto, Newmarket, and Kitchener will take part in the following:

• The Perley and Rideau Veterans' Health Centre
  Monday, May 7, 9 – 11 a.m.
  1750 Russell Road, Ottawa, Ont. (Lupton Hall)
  Contact: Jay Innes
  613-526-7170, ext. 2207
  [e-mail]
  
  
• Humber River Hospital
  Monday, May 7, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  1235 Wilson Avenue, Toronto, Ont. (3^rd floor Auditorium)
  Contact: Annette Power
  Telephone [phone] ext. 81607
  [e-mail]
  
  
• Southlake Regional Health Centre
  Tuesday, May 8, 11 a.m. – 1 p.m.
  596 Davis Drive, Newmarket, Ont. (Auditorium)
  Contact: Kathryn Perrier
  905-895-4521, ext. 6068
  [e-mail]
  
  
• St. Michael's Hospital
  Tuesday, May 8, 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m.
  30 Bond Street, Toronto, Ont. (Upper Marketeria)
  Contact: Amber Daugherty
  416-530-6387
  [e-mail]
  
  
• Grand River Hospital
  Thursday, May 10, 1:30 – 3 p.m.
  835 King Street W, Kitchener, Ont. (K-W Campus Cafeteria)
  Contact: Mark Karjaluoto
  519-749-4300, ext. 2788
  [e-mail]

RNAO's Best Practice Guidelines program is funded by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, and was launched in 1999 to provide the best available evidence for patient care across a wide range of settings.  Health-care facilities that successfully implement best practice guidelines receive special recognition from RNAO as Best Practice Spotlight Organizations. The four organizations listed above are among more than 125 BPSOs in Ontario, Canada and around the world.

The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) is the professional association representing registered nurses, nurse practitioners, and nursing students in Ontario. Since 1925, RNAO has advocated 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. For more information about RNAO, visit our website at RNAO.ca or follow us on Facebook and Twitter. During Nursing Week, RNAO will be promoting its BPSO program using the hashtag #RNAOBPSO

SOURCE Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario

or to interview a nurse, please contact: Marion Zych, Director of Communications, RNAO, 647-406-5605 (cell), 416-408-5605 (office), [e-mail]