2020 Symposium

Posted by in 2020 Year of the Nurse and Midwife

Navigating the Tempest: Nursing Practice During COVID=19

The afternoon symposium explored the impacts of COVID-19 on nursing practice. This year, it was recorded via the online meeting platform, Zoom, and was able to be shared with healthcare practitioners beyond the normal scope.

“There is probably very little disagreement that the COVID-19 pandemic turned into almost this global crisis in which nursing played a very important role both in terms of responding to it and also leading it.”

Moderator
Dr. Farinaz Havaei
Assistant Professor

“A take away [as] we move into a longer term phase of [COVID-19] is ensuring that nursing leadership is present because we really have that strategic vision, we understand practice and models of care.”

Panelist
Dr. Natasha Prodan-Bhalla
Chief Nurse and Professional Practice Officer, Minister of Health

“We were a little bit surprised and a little bit unprepared, with our focus being on ‘this is where it’s going to happen’ that [COVID cases] ended up happening in long-term care first in BC. It exposed a vulnerability we were a little bit blind to.”

Panelist
Ms. Vini Bains
Clinical Nurse Specialist for Critical Program at Providence Healthcare

“It was about making sure that staff had the adequate equipment so they were able to do the work they needed to do and also [ensuring] that they had managers to go for support and help.”

Panelist
Ms. Yvonne Coghill
Director, Workforce Race Equality, NHS London

“[Taking a] holistic look at the impact of the pandemic on society, on people’s health and wellbeing over time, is a really important place for nurses because [they] walk alongside people on that journey.”

Panelist
Dr. Jennifer Baumbusch
Associate Professor, CIHR Sex and Gender Science Chair, MHLP