TMU’s director of nursing on why it’s important to celebrate nurses
After three years of the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s time to truly acknowledge the important role that nurses play, celebrate all they do and give them the chance to shape the future of nursing.
Monday, May 8 marked the beginning of Nurses Week, an annual celebration of nurses across Canada. And for professor Maher El-Masri, the director of the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing (DCSN), the occasion is an opportunity to celebrate the many contributions nurses make to society, especially in the past three years of the pandemic.
“2020 was supposed to be the year of the nurse and the midwife. We were getting ready for a global celebration recognized by the World Health Organization,” El-Masri recalled. “We had to put off the celebrations and instead nurses went to work during COVID-19 to take care of everyone, knowing they were putting their lives and the lives of their loved ones at risk.”
In the past three years, students, faculty and staff in the DCSN have stepped up to join the front lines and addressed the changing workforce. As El-Masri puts it, “we do our best to fulfill our social responsibility of training more nurses while ensuring they are well-prepared to lead the way forward.”
“I'm very proud of everything that nurses do, whether they're nurse practitioners or nursing leaders, or nursing educators. We do great things. And we will continue to answer the call because this is what we do best,” he said.
Beyond celebrating nurses, El-Masri hopes that Nurses Week puts a spotlight on the nursing crisis - the increase in cases of people leaving the profession (external link) due to burnout and low pay - so that policymakers, politicians and health-care leaders realize that the profession deserves better.
“The federal and provincial governments have made meaningful investments in the nursing profession,” acknowledges El-Masri, referring to the appointments of Canada’s Chief Nursing Officer (external link) and the Provincial Chief Nursing Officer. “These are important steps. But they aren’t enough.”
El-Masri says part of the solution to the nursing shortage is to have wholesome engagement with nurses at all levels. “It’s time for the government and policy makers to respect the leadership of nurses and give them the opportunity they deserve to use their knowledge and expertise to come up with innovative evidence-based solutions” he said.
Glass half full
Despite being in the middle of a sector-wide shortage, El-Masri says that TMU’s School of Nursing continues to do its part to ease the crisis through innovative initiatives. They’ve increased enrolment, are working on the establishment of compressed paths of study, engaged in strategic partnerships and encouraged their students to participate at the government- sponsored externship program so that students can provide relief to hospitals.
“I cannot be prouder of our students, they have been part of the solution,” he said. “The future of nursing is bright.”
The DCSN is hosting a Nurses Week event on Wednesday, May 10 for staff, instructors and faculty. The event is a small way to thank all nurses and those who support them in the school’s community who support the DCSN.
El-Masri’s message for all nurses celebrating Nurses Week: “Together, we can come out of this crisis better and stronger than we have ever been.”