Canada appoints new chief nursing officer


OTTAWA-

As strains in the health care system continue to be felt across the country, the federal government has appointed Leigh Chapman as Canada’s Chief Nursing Officer. Chapman’s role will be to represent nurses at the federal level and provide strategic advice from a nursing perspective to Health Canada as it is called upon to do more to stem the crisis.

“Many healthcare professionals, including nurses, are currently facing tremendous challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic…In fact, there are already a number of jurisdictions in Canada reporting shortages of nurses, which has an impact on the operation of emergency rooms and other essential health services that Canadians need and deserve,” said Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos, revealing Chapman as the choice for the job.

“With this growing crisis, we need to support our nurses, make sure they are heard and their challenges are met with solutions. We need the right advice and expertise to light our way,” Duclos said Tuesday. . “We are all eager to learn from Dr. Chapman’s vast experience and insight…I am confident that she will increase the visibility, contribution and influence of Canadian nurses nationally.

Chapman – a Registered Nurse (RN) with nearly 20 years of experience and a Ph.D. faculty of nursing at the University of Toronto – will fill a role the Liberals promised to restore earlier this year.

She will participate in the development of broad health system policy, work with regulators and educators, play a convening role with provincial and territorial governments, and represent the federal government at public health forums in Canada. and abroad, said Duclos.

Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Chapman said she looks forward to taking on this role and is committed to working with frontline nurses, regulators and educators to strengthen the profession and amplify the difference it has. view see nurses do in the lives of patients.

“It has been an incredibly difficult time during the pandemic. We had nurses providing end-of-life care by iPad, working very quickly beyond what was imaginable. So first and foremost, my message is a message of thanks to those who have worked in various capacities during the pandemic,” Chapman said. “I really, really hope nurses in the profession find resources to stay, and I hope we can make the workplace conducive to that as well. Because we absolutely need everyone on deck.

Some of the issues she will advise on include workforce planning, long-term care, palliative care, mental health care and addictions. The appointment is for a two-year term, with the possibility of extension.

In February, when Duclos announced that the federal government would restore the position cut in 2012, he highlighted the role that nurses – the largest group of regulated health professionals in Canada – have played during the COVID-19 pandemic. The move was applauded by nursing organizations, who had been pushing for the position to be reinstated.

“CNO will strengthen Canada’s health care system by providing strategic policy advice to Health Canada from a nursing perspective. It will also be essential to support a national response to the significant health human resource shortages that exist across the country and to stabilize the nursing workforce. workforce beyond the COVID-19 pandemic,” the Canadian Nurses Association said in a statement at the time.

Canada’s first Chief Nursing Officer was appointed in 1968, and in 1999 the Office of Nursing Policy was created within the Strategic Policy Branch of Health Canada.

The decision to abandon the post ten years ago was due to the “realignment of resources with priorities”, according to the government.

“However, in the current environment, the NOC is seen as an important role and has been staffed accordingly,” the government said in a statement on Tuesday.