Federation of Medical Women of Canada condemns Libyan Action

Ottawa - December 21, 2006 The Federation of Medical Women of Canada joins other Canadian National Medical Organizations in expressing their outrage against a Libyan court decision to sentence a Palestinian doctor and five Bulgarian nurses to death.

Members of the Federation were distressed to learn that the court did not investigate conditions at the Benghazi hospital where the physician and nurses worked. As well, the scientific evidence that the children had contracted HIV prior to these health professionals working there was disregarded.

“Our members working on behalf of Medical Women’s International Association have traveled to Africa to assist in projects related to HIV. These health care workers are our colleagues and we will not stand for scientific ignorance with respect to HIV-AIDS,” says President, Dr. Gail Beck, “We urge all Canadians, and especially health care professionals to ask Foreign Minister Peter MacKay to vigorously take up this issue with the Libyan Ambassador to Canada.” Mr. MacKay can be reached here:peter.mackay@international.gc.ca

For Further Information:
Dr. Gail Beck, President
613-722-6521 ext. 6288

Andrée Poirier, Executive Coordinator
613-569-5881

From: Federation of Medical Women of Canada
Fédération des femmes médecins du Canada
780 prom Echo drive, Ottawa, Ontario, K1S 5R7
Tel: (613) 569-5881 or/ou 877-771-3777;
Fax/Téléc: (613) 569-4432 or/ou 877-772-5777
E:fmwcmain@fmwc.ca
W:www.fmwc.ca

Interdisciplinarity and leadership. Whewww

What constitutes leadership in research units? Leading a group of researchers is a very different proposition than leading in healthcare organizations, and the product is different. How do research leaders attract researchers to work in their units particularly under circumstances when the unit does not pay the salaries of the unit members? What is the relationship between leader and unit members? How does the agenda for research get developed and what is the role of the leader in setting the agenda? Are there some leadership styles that are more effective in research units than others and how do effective leaders figure this out?

Interdisciplinarity has become the watchword for research funding in Canada; however, it may not be as dominant in other countries. What is the interdisciplinary constitution of research units, how was that reached, and what are the advantages and disadvantages? Is there a difference in attracting nurse researchers and non-nurse researchers to nurse-led research units?

Read the whole article here.

Dorothy Pringle PhD
Editor in Chief
Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership

House of Healing, House of Disrespect: A Kantian Perspective on Disrespectful Behaviour among Hospital Workers

Respect toward patients is one of the most fundamental and central tenets guiding both modern bioethical practice and the everyday behaviour of all healthcare professionals. However, similar courtesy and respect is often breached in day-to-day interactions between hospital workers. Many examples are relatively minor, while egregious examples such as gender discrimination and physical abuse do occur. The more egregious transgressions may be handled by formal processes, even legal proceedings. However, the innumerable smaller examples of disrespectful behaviour are ubiquitous and insidious in their erosion of a productive collaborative approach to patient care and other aspects of functioning within the institution.

Mark Bernstein and Rita Fundner

To see the full article click on the title or here

Nursing Practice Models: Time for Change

The organization of nursing care in acute care hospitals is increasingly challenging. The traditional models of primary, team and functional nursing, or even total patient care and combinations thereof, are insufficient in today's complex healthcare environments. Patient units in acute care are now characterized by extremely ill patients who require high levels of technical and assessment skills on the part of nurses; significant numbers of novice nurses who do not have these skills but must be integrated into these units; student nurses who require mentoring from experienced nurses; lack of continuity in patient assignments; short lengths of stay on any given unit, hindering nurses' ability to develop relationships and to negotiate patient participation in care decisions; 12-hour shifts that test nurses' energy and enthusiasm; lack of technology to support nurse-to-nurse and interprofessional communication within and across shifts; and increased pressure for evidence-based and outcomes-oriented practice so that individuals and cohorts of patients achieve the highest possible outcomes of care. And these are just a few of the pressures confronting the average unit.

Dorothy Pringle, PhD
Editor-in-Chief, Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership

[full article is available by clicking on the title above]