We Americans have chosen to leave 47 million of our citizens . . . . . .WITHOUT HEALTH COVERAGE.

We Americans have chosen to leave 47 million of our citizens . . . . . .WITHOUT HEALTH COVERAGE. We have chosen to rank 37th in infant mortality and 46th in life expectancy. And the good news? We can choose to change all of this. Let’s start by facing a long-ignored truth: America’s health care “system” isn’t one; it’s a chaotic non-system. Almost nothing is integrated. Even elements that excel by themselves do not work effectively with each other. Health care is inequitable, inefficient, and each year more costly—all because we are not working together. Honest collaboration is the only path to real solutions. So in the spirit of partnership, I offer you several stories from Group Health physician leaders. These examples illustrate the potential of Group Health’s uncommon model: integrating both health care and medical coverage within the same organization. Instead of the profit driven incentives exacerbating the national crisis, our system allows physicians, researchers, and staff to use scientific evidence, clinical savvy, and system connectivity to improve quality, reduce costs, and enhance the patient experience. I believe there are lessons here for us all. My hope is we can learn together, and together become the change we seek. For more please Click here. Updated: Aug 31 2009

Spotlight Universal Healthcare Message to Americans from Canadian Doctors & Healthcare Experts Canadian Doctors for Medicare hosted a celebration of Medicare in Canada. The speakers included Roy Romanow, former Saskatchewan Premier and Commissioner on Health Care in Canada; Steven Lewis, a trusted health policy advisor to Premiers and Ministers; Linda Silas, the head of Canada's nurses unions and several physicians. They tell Americans that Canadian universal healthcare works and encourage Americans to implement a single payer universal healthcare systems. So here it is: Universal Health Care Message to Americans From Canadian Doctors & Health Care Experts.

Final Issue of Nursing BC

A sign of the times

This issue marks the end of Nursing BC. I have had the privilege of editing this publication for 24 of the 41 years it has been in existence, first as RNABC News and then as Nursing BC.

Throughout those years, I have also had the privilege of talking to hundreds of nurses from all parts of the province and beyond – some who wanted to submit articles to the magazine, others who had an issue about something we published, and many who wanted to connect with a nurse who was featured in one of our stories. Overall, it’s been a great ride.

The reasons for ceasing publication of Nursing BC are not motivated by economics, as some believe. Rather, they have more to do with communicating more effectively with you about the regulatory issues that affect your practice as a nurse in B.C. If you have been a long-time reader of Nursing BC, you likely noticed that the content of the publication has changed significantly in recent years. There have been fewer articles about nurses and their practice and more emphasis on Standards of Practice, registration requirements, legislative changes that impact nursing practice and other regulatory matters. This has been necessitated in order to meet the requirements of the provincial legislation that created CRNBC as a regulatory college. Unlike the former RNABC, CRNBC is not an association.

In June, most of you received our first e-mail newsletter. Some of you thought it was informative and useful; others said they would never read it and preferred to read the printed version of Nursing BC. Those of you for whom CRNBC does not have an e-mail address may not have seen this newsletter unless you opened it from the CRNBC website.

The e-mail newsletter is now one of CRNBC’s official methods of notifying you of important regulatory information. It will be e-mailed to you 6-8 times a year. If you do not have an e-mail address or choose not to provide one to CRNBC, you can still find the information on the CRNBC website. CRNBC is currently redesigning its website to make it more user friendly and useful to you. We will let you know when the redesigned website is ready.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all of the nurses who submitted letters and articles to Nursing BC over the years (sorry we weren’t able to publish all the articles) as well as to CRNBC staff members who vetted and wrote articles for the magazine. Finally, thanks to all the nurses and employers who let us tell their stories.

Bruce Wells
Editor



READ CRNBC’S NEW E-NEWSLETTER ONLINE
Have you read our new e-mail newsletter? If not, you can find it on our website at www.crnbc.ca It’s one of our official methods of notifying you about important regulatory information that impacts your nursing practice.

Do we have your current e-mail address?

To receive the e-newsletter, we need your current e-mail address. You can update your e-mail address by going to the Contact Us section of the CRNBC website www.crnbc.ca and clicking Change Your Address.

If you do not have an e-mail address, please refer to the CRNBC website regularly for registration information and other information that may impact your nursing practice.

Universal Healthcare Message to Americans from Canadian Doctors & Healthcare Experts

Spotlight

Universal Healthcare Message to Americans from Canadian Doctors & Healthcare Experts. go to: http://www.longwoods.com

Canadian Doctors for Medicare hosted a celebration of Medicare in Canada. The speakers included Roy Romanow, former Saskatchewan Premier and Commissioner on Health Care in Canada; Steven Lewis, a trusted health policy advisor to Premiers and Ministers; Linda Silas, the head of Canada's nurses unions and several physicians. They tell Americans that Canadian universal healthcare works and encourage Americans to implement a single payer universal healthcare systems.