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A curriculum that cultivates leadership
“Historically, the image of a good nurse was based on gender hierarchy - someone quiet and self-effacing, an angel of mercy who advocates for her individual patients but not for herself,” says Natalie Stake-Doucet, President of the Quebec Nurses Association and Faculty Lecturer at ISoN. Nurses, she explains, are not superhuman, and the expectation that they submit to forced overtime without complaint, for example, has led to burnout and the exit of thousands of nurses from the public health care system. “If we want conditions to improve, we have to let go of the mythology that no longer serves us well and see nurses in a more realistic light.”
In her course entitled Leading Change: Policy and Practice, Professor Stake-Doucet focuses on the broad systemic issues affecting the lives of nurses, providing undergraduate BSc and BNI students with the tools to articulate these issues and to advocate for the healthcare system in general as well as for themselves. The course includes seminars on patient safety, systemic racism and nursing politics. “We talk a lot about translating the issues they face at the clinical level into policy. For example, time-management isn’t just a personal issue, it’s a systemic one.”
Activism in nursing is not a new concept. More than 100 years ago, nurses were at the forefront of advocating for birth control and for women’s suffrage. Professor Stake-Doucet drives home to her students that as nurses, they are experts whose voices are essential for good decision-making. She is heartened by their engagement with the course and hopeful for the future. “Today’s student nurses are much less inclined to feel guilty about speaking up. This bodes well for both the nursing profession and the healthcare system.”
For Professor Laurie Gottlieb, the Strengths Based Nursing and Healthcare (SBNH) value-driven philosophy that she developed and continues to champion is all about “using our voices to humanize care through compassionate, knowledgeable nursing.” In effect, SBNH (Strengths-Based Nursing | Ingram School of Nursing - 91ÉçÇř) provides a framework, a language, and an approach that, according to Gottlieb, “actualizes care that is deeply person-centered, relationship-based, involves processes of empowerment, and capitalizes on a person’s innate and acquired strengths to promote health and facilitate healing.” She asserts that, “SBNH helps nurses use their voices at every level, whether at the bedside, in positions of leadership or in education. Thus, SBNH also provides direction and clarity to advocate on behalf of patients, families, staff, and the nursing profession.”
Student leadership in action
As she takes on the duties of President of the Nursing Undergraduate Society, Enora Ledieu hopes to use her voice to create an effective and collaborative work environment between undergraduate students and ISoN faculty and staff. She believes that her experiences as a mentor to junior nursing students and as a class representative on student council have prepared her well for her new leadership role. “Watching how others lead and learning from them has made this a comfortable progression for me,” she explains.
As the newly elected President of the Nursing Graduate Students Association (NGSA), Sydney Wasserman is grateful to ISoN for encouraging and nurturing student leadership. “The school creates a space where student voices are heard, whether it concerns academics or extra-curricular activities,” she notes. Ms. Wasserman, who has been involved in student governance for the past two years, is particularly proud of the NGSA’s successful 91ÉçÇř24 campaign, which raised funds to support a week of special wellness activities being offered to graduate students during Nurses Week. She balances her studies in Advance Practice Nursing with her work as a nurse in the Emergency Room at the Montreal General Hospital and understands firsthand the stress that nurses and nursing students have been under since the COVID pandemic began. “Leadership is about advocating for those who don’t have a voice, but it’s also about asking for what we deserve,” she says.
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