Two highly accomplished professors from the School of Nursing in UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Health and Social Development are among the inaugural class of Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Nursing, announced Sept. 9 by the Canadian Nurses Association.

Nursing Prof. Marie Tarrant, director of the School of Nursing, and Nursing Prof. Joan Bottorff, director of the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention, will be officially inducted as inaugural Fellows at a virtual ceremony and celebration on Nov. 20.

The academy is the first pan-Canadian organization dedicated to identifying, educating, supporting and celebrating nursing leaders across all the regulated categories and domains of practice. The Fellowship program recognizes and celebrates the most accomplished nurses in Canada and represents the highest honour for Canada’s nursing leaders.

“This is a historic step forward in Canadian nursing,” said Tim Guest, Canadian Nurses Association president. “I am delighted to finally have the opportunity to announce the inaugural Fellows. Each individual has displayed outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing the nursing profession in Canada and globally.”

To find out more, visit: cna-aiic.ca/en/news-room/news-releases/2020/stellar-group-of-nurses-named-the-first-fellows-of-canadian-academy-of-nursing

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Two highly accomplished professors from the School of Nursing in UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Health and Social Development are among the inaugural class of Fellows of the Canadian Academy of Nursing, announced Sept. 9 by the Canadian Nurses Association.

Nursing Prof. Marie Tarrant, director of the School of Nursing, and Nursing Prof. Joan Bottorff, director of the Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention, will be officially inducted as inaugural Fellows at a virtual ceremony and celebration on Nov. 20.

The academy is the first pan-Canadian organization dedicated to identifying, educating, supporting and celebrating nursing leaders across all the regulated categories and domains of practice. The Fellowship program recognizes and celebrates the most accomplished nurses in Canada and represents the highest honour for Canada’s nursing leaders.

“This is a historic step forward in Canadian nursing,” said Tim Guest, Canadian Nurses Association president. “I am delighted to finally have the opportunity to announce the inaugural Fellows. Each individual has displayed outstanding leadership and commitment to advancing the nursing profession in Canada and globally.”

To find out more, visit: cna-aiic.ca/en/news-room/news-releases/2020/stellar-group-of-nurses-named-the-first-fellows-of-canadian-academy-of-nursing

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Stigma has been called out as the number one silent killer related to substance use and UBC nursing students are working to stop it. From left: Rachel Lee, Brandon Tremblay, Jenna Hunter, Wendy Tan and Shelby Price

As the death toll rises, students work to save lives with anti-stigma campaign

Over the last two years, a group of UBC nursing students have been following the overdose crisis while trying to come up with a life-saving solution. Now that they are in their final year of undergraduate studies, and with the crisis gaining momentum, they see the eradication of stigma as an important way to solve this crisis.

The stigma associated with substance use causes fear of losing employment, housing, friendship, or family. Supported by the UBC Tuum Est student fund, these students have created resources to combat stigma and save lives.

Faculty, staff and students are encouraged to visit the Fipke Centre foyer on November 21 from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. to ‘Think Outside the Stigma’ and take the Stop Stigma pledge. Organizers will have anti-stigma swag to hand out and refreshments to share.

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The Enactus UBC Okanagan team competing at the national exposition included, from left, Kim Duong, Erkki Annala, Nicole Michalewicz, Ishita Ashraf, Tristan Ramsay and Puru Pradhan. (Missing from photo: Milan Hecimovic, Ashish Meghani, Mohammad Al Jamal, and Phoebe Kotulska).

Members of a newly formed Enactus UBC Okanagan team received national recognition competing in their first Enactus Canada National Exposition earlier this month.

Held in Vancouver, the national exposition allowed all Enactus teams in Canada the opportunity to showcase their efforts throughout the year and to compete against one another in business presentations.

Joining a community of Enactus groups at many other Canadian universities and colleges, the Enactus UBC Okanagan team involves student, academic and business leaders using entrepreneurial action to create a better, more sustainable world. A truly interdisciplinary group, the team includes students pursuing degrees in nursing, human kinetics, management, civil and mechanical engineering, economics, philosophy and political science.

The team had just 17 minutes on stage to present their group’s projects at the national competition. They highlighted two of the three projects created so far:

• Inventathon, a semi-annual 24-hour case competition allowing students the ability to learn new skills and take their ideas further, launched in February with the next Inventathon taking place in the fall 2017 term.

• Project Roots, soft-launched in April with a full-scale roll out planned for September 2017. An ambitious project designed to address the concern of food security, Roots is a social enterprise that will allow students on campus to access fresh and nutritious produce at prices 40 to 60 per cent below retail prices while supporting local farmers.

They were winning ideas.

The team won the Hellman’s Best Project Solution award for their food security project proposal and received the Enactus National Competition Opening Round Runner-Up Award and the National Rookie Champion award as the best new team in Canada.

A third project — not presented at the exposition — is Project FLOW, which involves a smart sensor suite being designed to allow for maximizing irrigation efforts for all farms, big and small.

“At the time of the competition, the team was officially only three months old,” said Enactus UBC Okanagan president and co-founder Erkki Annala, who just completed his first year in the Bachelor of Science in Nursing program.

“We are deeply motivated to make a difference in the world around us,” Annala said. “Our team is led by students eager to leave the comfort of the classroom and apply our growing knowledge to real challenges that affect real people.”

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From the Toronto Blue Jays winning their first World Series, to Dr. Roberta Bondar became the first Canadian woman in space, to the world first SMS/text message — 1992 was a year of firsts.

1992 was also the first year that 11 individuals — who were recognized last week at the university’s annual Long Service Recognition Reception — started as employees at what was known as Okanagan University College.

“This region has a great history in post-secondary education. We can trace the history of both UBC Okanagan and today’s Okanagan College to the creation of Okanagan Regional College more than 50 years ago, said Pauline Brandes, director of Human Resources.

“This year’s honourees have been part of building a remarkable college and university system for this province — and one that serves the Okanagan in extraordinary ways.”

Those honoured at this year’s reception included:

• Linda Allan, associate professor of psychology
• Robert Belton, associate professor of art history
• Joan Bottorff, professor of nursing
• Carol Boyd, facility coordinator for Athletics and Recreation
• Kim Filice, program assistant for the Southern Medical Program
• Donovan Hare, associate professor of mathematics
• Nina Langton, associate professor of Japanese
• Mary Ann Murphy, associate professor with a cross-appointment in sociology and social work
• Jim Robinson, associate professor of philosophy
• Fred Vogt, deputy registrar
• Greg Wetterstrand, associate professor of education

Deborah Buszard, deputy vice-chancellor and principal of UBC Okanagan, and Lisa Castle, vice-president of Human Resources, were also at the event to celebrate the honourees.

To see more photos of the event, visit: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1894716313887313.1073741906.133596536665975&type=1&l=9478665257

The post 11 recognized for more than 25 years of dedicated service appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

From the Toronto Blue Jays winning their first World Series, to Dr. Roberta Bondar became the first Canadian woman in space, to the world first SMS/text message — 1992 was a year of firsts.

1992 was also the first year that 11 individuals — who were recognized last week at the university’s annual Long Service Recognition Reception — started as employees at what was known as Okanagan University College.

“This region has a great history in post-secondary education. We can trace the history of both UBC Okanagan and today’s Okanagan College to the creation of Okanagan Regional College more than 50 years ago, said Pauline Brandes, director of Human Resources.

“This year’s honourees have been part of building a remarkable college and university system for this province — and one that serves the Okanagan in extraordinary ways.”

Those honoured at this year’s reception included:

• Linda Allan, associate professor of psychology
• Robert Belton, associate professor of art history
• Joan Bottorff, professor of nursing
• Carol Boyd, facility coordinator for Athletics and Recreation
• Kim Filice, program assistant for the Southern Medical Program
• Donovan Hare, associate professor of mathematics
• Nina Langton, associate professor of Japanese
• Mary Ann Murphy, associate professor with a cross-appointment in sociology and social work
• Jim Robinson, associate professor of philosophy
• Fred Vogt, deputy registrar
• Greg Wetterstrand, associate professor of education

Deborah Buszard, deputy vice-chancellor and principal of UBC Okanagan, and Lisa Castle, vice-president of Human Resources, were also at the event to celebrate the honourees.

To see more photos of the event, visit: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1894716313887313.1073741906.133596536665975&type=1&l=9478665257

The post 11 recognized for more than 25 years of dedicated service appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

Health-care professionals are hesitant to administer the flu vaccine to pregnant women, despite the potential life-saving benefits, according to a UBC study.

The study also shows that pregnant women who were eager to get vaccinated had difficulties because health professionals turned them away.

“The World Health Organization and Health Canada have classified pregnant women as one of the highest at-risk groups of having serious complications following influenza infection,” says Marie Tarrant, director of nursing at UBC’s Okanagan campus. “Given this, the health-care community should work together to protect these moms and their infants. Flu vaccination is one of the best ways.”

“This was a surprising finding.”

Tarrant and her team, including co-author Valerie Wong of the University of Hong Kong, embarked on a research campaign to assess the effect of a brief flu vaccination education program targeted to pregnant women. The study was conducted in Hong Kong where vaccination rates are particularly low and there are two flu seasons.

The researcher found that one-to-one education interventions significantly increased vaccination rates yet the uptake was still low. Upon follow-up with the women, they discovered that some doctors refused to vaccinate or that the vaccines were unavailable.

“Even with the knowledge of benefits of vaccination, there still is this long-held belief that pregnant women should minimize exposing the fetus to any unknown substance, especially those injected into the body,” says Tarrant. “I believe this reluctance is common worldwide.”

“Targeted interventions to health-care professionals and enhanced maternal education may help to address concerns and fears about flu vaccination, and lead to optimal and improved vaccination coverage.”

The flu is a respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses. Canadians typically contract the flu during the late fall and winter. Symptoms may include high fever, chills, sore throat, cough and tiredness. Most people recover within a week but some, including pregnant women, the very young and those over 65 years old, are at increased risk for severe complications. Globally, annual epidemics result in an about one billion cases of influenza, three to five million cases of severe illness, and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths.

Almost 30 per cent of Canadians were vaccinated against the flu last year. This is substantially below Health Canada’s target of 80 per cent.

The study, recently published in Vaccine, was funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. To find out more, visit: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X16308325

Marie Tarrant, director of nursing at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

—30—

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Health-care professionals are hesitant to administer the flu vaccine to pregnant women, despite the potential life-saving benefits, according to a UBC study.

The study also shows that pregnant women who were eager to get vaccinated had difficulties because health professionals turned them away.

“The World Health Organization and Health Canada have classified pregnant women as one of the highest at-risk groups of having serious complications following influenza infection,” says Marie Tarrant, director of nursing at UBC’s Okanagan campus. “Given this, the health-care community should work together to protect these moms and their infants. Flu vaccination is one of the best ways.”

“This was a surprising finding.”

Tarrant and her team, including co-author Valerie Wong of the University of Hong Kong, embarked on a research campaign to assess the effect of a brief flu vaccination education program targeted to pregnant women. The study was conducted in Hong Kong where vaccination rates are particularly low and there are two flu seasons.

The researcher found that one-to-one education interventions significantly increased vaccination rates yet the uptake was still low. Upon follow-up with the women, they discovered that some doctors refused to vaccinate or that the vaccines were unavailable.

“Even with the knowledge of benefits of vaccination, there still is this long-held belief that pregnant women should minimize exposing the fetus to any unknown substance, especially those injected into the body,” says Tarrant. “I believe this reluctance is common worldwide.”

“Targeted interventions to health-care professionals and enhanced maternal education may help to address concerns and fears about flu vaccination, and lead to optimal and improved vaccination coverage.”

The flu is a respiratory infection caused by influenza viruses. Canadians typically contract the flu during the late fall and winter. Symptoms may include high fever, chills, sore throat, cough and tiredness. Most people recover within a week but some, including pregnant women, the very young and those over 65 years old, are at increased risk for severe complications. Globally, annual epidemics result in an about one billion cases of influenza, three to five million cases of severe illness, and 250,000 to 500,000 deaths.

Almost 30 per cent of Canadians were vaccinated against the flu last year. This is substantially below Health Canada’s target of 80 per cent.

The study, recently published in Vaccine, was funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund, Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. To find out more, visit: www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0264410X16308325

Marie Tarrant, director of nursing at UBC’s Okanagan campus.

—30—

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UBC professors, Rachelle Hole (left) and Kathy Rush have shown that older adults who have been discharged from the hospital following serious ailments tend to minimize or even lie about the risks related to their condition.

Everyone lies, including seniors.

According to a new study from UBC, older adults who have been discharged from the hospital following serious ailments tend to minimize or even lie about risks related to their condition and its management in order to avoid being seen as vulnerable.

“These patients want to return to a “normal” pre-hospitalization life immediately, even if it is no longer possible” says Rachelle Hole, associate professor of Social Work at UBC’s Okanagan campus and the study’s co-author. “This will lead them to downplay, hide or mask their risks. These strategies may backfire and result in rehospitalisation, relapse, or worse.”

The study involved profiling older adults—with an average age of 82 years—recently discharged from the hospital, following a heart-related event, such as a heart attack. When asked about their post-hospital health risks, capabilities, and their self-perception the participants preferred to highlight their abilities rather than discuss their risk for future health issues, complications or relapse.

The group associated the admission of a health risk with being disabled, incompetent and no longer independent.

“These findings suggest that the type of conversation health care providers have may significantly influence the patients’ well-being,” says co-author Kathy Rush, associate professor of Nursing. “Seniors equate risk with loss and it may be more beneficial to change the conversation to focus on strengths.

“It may also be useful to communicate standardized instructions with the family present to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home.”

Today, one in seven Canadians is aged 65 or over. By 2036, this will increase to almost one in four. Many older adults are at risk of rehospitalisation, during the first weeks following discharge, a risk often associated with physical weakness, new and unfamiliar medications and new psychological issues

This research, recently published in The Gerontologist, was funded by UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Health and Social Development.

The post Risky business: Seniors don’t acknowledge post-hospitalization vulnerability appeared first on UBC's Okanagan News.

UBC professors, Rachelle Hole (left) and Kathy Rush have shown that older adults who have been discharged from the hospital following serious ailments tend to minimize or even lie about the risks related to their condition.

Everyone lies, including seniors.

According to a new study from UBC, older adults who have been discharged from the hospital following serious ailments tend to minimize or even lie about risks related to their condition and its management in order to avoid being seen as vulnerable.

“These patients want to return to a “normal” pre-hospitalization life immediately, even if it is no longer possible” says Rachelle Hole, associate professor of Social Work at UBC’s Okanagan campus and the study’s co-author. “This will lead them to downplay, hide or mask their risks. These strategies may backfire and result in rehospitalisation, relapse, or worse.”

The study involved profiling older adults—with an average age of 82 years—recently discharged from the hospital, following a heart-related event, such as a heart attack. When asked about their post-hospital health risks, capabilities, and their self-perception the participants preferred to highlight their abilities rather than discuss their risk for future health issues, complications or relapse.

The group associated the admission of a health risk with being disabled, incompetent and no longer independent.

“These findings suggest that the type of conversation health care providers have may significantly influence the patients’ well-being,” says co-author Kathy Rush, associate professor of Nursing. “Seniors equate risk with loss and it may be more beneficial to change the conversation to focus on strengths.

“It may also be useful to communicate standardized instructions with the family present to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home.”

Today, one in seven Canadians is aged 65 or over. By 2036, this will increase to almost one in four. Many older adults are at risk of rehospitalisation, during the first weeks following discharge, a risk often associated with physical weakness, new and unfamiliar medications and new psychological issues

This research, recently published in The Gerontologist, was funded by UBC Okanagan’s Faculty of Health and Social Development.

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