Happy National Nursing Week to all nursing professionals across Canada!

Every day, your hard work improves the lives of Canadians. During this special week, the theme of “Yes This Is Nursing,” reminds us of the diverse work that nurses take on from monitoring patients’ health to performing critical diagnostic tests and administering lifesaving, innovative treatments.

On behalf of the Professional Institute, I want to thank the over 3,000 nurses who work in a variety of departments and institutions across the country.

To celebrate this occasion, I’d like to share a profile of PIPSC member Valerie Emery who explains the challenges and benefits of her work in a Whitehorse emergency room:

Watch the video.

As she expresses so well:

“In the emergency room, people come in and it’s the worst day of their lives. So just meeting them where they’re at and being able to help them through their crisis for the day…it gives me joy to be able to do that for them and their families.”

To Valerie and all her colleagues across the country, thank you again for your invaluable contribution to the well-being of Canadians and for bringing the principles of caring, and community to our health care system.

Better together!
Debi Daviau
 

May 7-13 is the Canadian Mental Health Association's (CMAS) Mental Health Week. Every May for the last 67 years, Canadians in communities, schools, workplaces and the House of Commons have joined forces to #GETLOUD by speaking out and challenging the stigma and discrimination that too often accompany mental illness.

One in five Canadians experience a mental health issue or illness each year. That impacts all of us, in our communities, at home and at work. Countless Canadians aren't getting the care they need and then end up in emergency rooms looking for help.

With most adults spending more of their waking hours at work than anywhere else, addressing mental health in the workplace is especially critical. For many years, Canadian unions have been involved in building workplaces that support mental as well as physical health and safety.

What unions like PIPSC are doing

We:

• Promote awareness of mental health and negotiate access to mental health benefits and employee assistance programs to ensure workers get the help they need. Unions also help ensure workers with mental illnesses are accommodated at work.
• Work to address workplace harassment and bullying, directly with employers and with courses for members.
• Challenge discrimination at work, recognizing that sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia and ableism are risk factors for poor mental health.

What you can do

You can:

• Download your copy of PIPSC Mental Health Resource Guide! The Guide is a comprehensive tool-kit that will help you recognize the signs of mental illness, provides advice on starting these difficult conversations and includes information on where to access resources for support. 
• Speak up. Talk openly about mental health. Talking openly about mental health, with people you feel safe with, can end the silence and shame around mental health problems.
• Be a friend to someone you know is struggling. You can be the friend who opens up a conversation.
• #GETLOUD on social media: check out the CMHA toolkit for shareable images and sample posts and tweets.

We all have an important role to play in ensuring that our workplaces are mentally healthy and with this guide you will be better equipped to deal with what is quickly becoming the mental health epidemic.

Together we can break the stigma!