Academic News

Recently, the 2nd year Nursing Students in Community Practice: Health Promotion of the Older Adult NRSG 2811 manned the Flu Vaccine clinics at Red River College campuses. In addition to administering the vaccine, on Nov 1st the students held a health education event to highlight the benefits of getting the flu vaccine. They gave each person who was vaccinated a challenge card citing a benefit of getting the flu shot and encouraged them to give away the card to someone who was not yet vaccinated.

Over 320 students and staff received the Flu Vaccine at the Notre Dame Campus alone! Way to Go!!

Post and photos by Lois Tessier – Nursing Instructor

November is Radon Action Month

Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer, next to smoking, and is found in most residential homes. Exposure to residential radon is linked to 3,200 Canadian deaths every year. Talk to your patients about at-home testing and learn more with this free accredited course from @machealth: http://radon.machealth.ca

Quick Facts about Radon

• Radon is a radioactive gas and a known carcinogen. It results from the breakdown of uranium in the ground and can enter your home undetected. You can’t see it or taste it.
• All homes, in all parts of Canada, have some level of radon. The only way to know what the levels are like is to have your home tested.
• Radon is the second leading cause of lung cancer next to smoking. Long–term exposure to elevated levels of radon in the home increases your risk of developing lung cancer.
• Smokers exposed to high levels of radon have a significantly increased risk of developing lung cancer.

Post written by Jennifer Morin – Nursing Instructor, who is disseminating this information as a Radon Champion on behalf of Health Canada and the College of Family Physicians of Canada.

The idea is to encourage health care providers to talk about Radon in their profession and ideally with their patients. This post provides a link to a free course for health care providers to access as a way to increase their knowledge related to Radon.

Our annual Graphic Design Student Print Show and Sale is on again as part of First Fridays in the Exchange. Friday December 7 from 6:00 pm to 9:30 pm at the Exchange District Campus, Buhler Learning Commons at the corner of William and Princess. Please enter through the William Ave doors.

This year’s print theme will be famous quotes. Prices are $15/print or 3 prints for $40. We also have a limited number of framed prints available at $50 each. Cash only please.

Prints will be on display in the Roblin atrium on Thursday December 6 and Friday December 7. We will be pre-selling unframed prints from 10 am to 2 pm both days. Below are the 46 prints being offered for sale. Each one is approximately 12″ x 15.75″.

On Monday October 29th, students in Family Nursing 2701 participated in a simulation along with nursing faculty. The simulation occurred in a community setting (i.e. the home of an older adult who had experienced a family member misusing her finances, who is considering moving to an assisted living complex as she has dementia). The family is present to help the client with the decision making process. Faculty members played the role of the family, and the students were members of the interprofessional team who came to visit the home and collaborate with the family to identify their most pressing concerns in order to provide them with appropriate support and services.

The objectives of this simulation activity were to provide students with the opportunity to practice the following family nursing skills:

1) participation in therapeutic conversation
2) application of relational family nursing skills
3) exploring the experience of the family
4) reflecting on the experience of the family and personal relational skills
5) discussing the benefits of an interprofessional team approach towards caring for the older adult and their family
6) to utilize teaching opportunities to enhance the functioning of an older adult and their family.

Students and staff participated in a pre-briefing prior to the simulation to learn their roles and de-briefed as a whole group about the experience.

Thank you to all nursing instructors who offered their time to make this activity a success and to our students who participated with such enthusiasm to make this a great experience!

Post and photo by Sandy Alguire RN MN – Course Leader Family Nursing 2710

On Tuesday, June 5th, 2018, we kicked off our BIT 50th Anniversary celebrations with a Block Party. The Business Information Technology program, formerly both Computer Analyst/Programmer (CAP) and Information Systems Technology (IST), is celebrating 50 years of our program at Red River College.

Here are some of the highlights from the day:

• Tara Brown  introduced our event, welcomed our guests, and engaged the audience.
• We enjoyed the sweet musical talents of Justin LaCroix as he performed multiple sets throughout the event.
• Thank you, for sharing your time with us, to our visitors, alumni, and retired faculty and staff, a number of whom drove into the city to partake in our festivities.
• We appreciate our industry friends who chose to set up booths and attend our event, including: ICTAM; Relish Branding; Cisco Canada; and North Forge.
• We would like to call attention to one family of alumni that came out, who were recently featured by Red River College Alumni Engagement: the Charles family. Thank you to Stu and Heather for coming out, you can read their story in Programmed to Succeed.

Do you have your tickets for the BIT 50th Anniversary Gala Dinner on November 3rd, 2018 yet? If not, visit our Reunion Gala Dinner page for more details.

Thank you to all of our sponsors and attendees for celebrating our 50th Anniversary with us. Stay tuned for details on our upcoming anniversary book and how to purchase your own anniversary mug. We are also offering orders on commemorative anniversary shirts – email acemarketing@rrc.ca for details – orders close November 14th.

View the photo gallery of the Gala Dinner event on Red River College’s Flickr:
View the Gala Dinner Gallery

Date
Saturday, November 3, 2018
5:30 – 11:30 pm

Venue
Club Regent Casino Event Centre
1425 Regent Avenue West (North Entrance)
Winnipeg, Manitoba

On November 3, 2018, we celebrated the 50th Anniversary of the Business Information Technology (BIT) program, formerly Computer Analyst / Programmer (CAP) and Information Systems Technology (IST), with a Gala Dinner.

An evening of celebration, our evening at the Club Regent Event Centre, celebrated with live musical performances by <<REWiND<<, and live dances from the Aboriginal School of Dance, and Verba Ukrainian Dance Company. The evening was filled with festivities, entertainment, and good company. We were joined by many fellow IT professionals from all industry sectors at the BIT/CAP/IST 50th Anniversary Dinner. The evening started with cocktails and appetizers and a four-course dinner will be served in the state-of-the-art Club Regent Event Centre.

Thank you to all of our sponsors for supporting the Gala Dinner and to everybody who attended and celebrated with us.

Thank you everyone who came out to support our first year Baccalaureate Nursing students’ Blood Pressure Clinic! 

Heart attacks and cardiac arrest affects everyone whether directly or indirectly.  It is great to know your regular BP reading, so when something does happen, you’ll know your normal because normal is different for everyone.

Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack is a great beginning: Light headedness, nausea, vomiting; jaw, neck, or back pain; discomfort or pain to the shoulder or arm; chest discomfort or pain; short of breath.

Did you know cardiac arrest and heart attack are very different from one another?

Cardiac arrest is when the heart is in abnormal rhythm and can’t pump the blood, causing the heart to quiver, causing death within minutes if no life saving treatment is done.

Heart attack is when the blood flow in part of the heart muscle is blocked and, if not treated, can cause sudden cardiac arrest and death.

So please everyone, take care of your heart. You only have one!

Pa Pump Pa Pump Pa Pump!

See you next term!

Post written by

Jennifer Johnson – Nursing Lab Manager

The Nursing faculty at Red River College (RRC) is proud to announce that Tracey Fallak, long time RRC Nursing faculty member, was honoured by the Association of Registered Nurses of Manitoba (ARNM) on Wednesday, October 24, 2018, for her excellence in teaching.

The Award of Excellence in Nursing Education is presented to registered nurses who practice as a nurse educator in a college/university or clinical setting and demonstrate teaching excellence by encouraging critical thinking and innovation. Tracey is the 2018 winner of this award.

Tracey’s drive to provide the most up to date peer-reviewed information in her role as an educator is inspiring. Tracey researches topics extensively and then presents them to students in an understandable manner using anecdotes from her practice and the literature to emphasize her intent. Tracey is the first to try innovative teaching strategies when she believes they will “reach” her students and lead to student success. Tracey is passionate about her life’s work, and this is recognized by her students who consistently identify Tracey’s passion as contributing to their learning and enjoyment in her classes. Tracey’s passion for nursing extends beyond her workplace, as she was integral in resurrecting a professional association for registered nurses in Manitoba.

The Nursing faculty of RRC has benefitted from Tracey’s example of use of a relational approach with her students, her sharing of herself, and her efforts to produce high quality, compassionate, and caring nurses. We all aspire to the standard Tracey provides. We are so very proud of Tracey and congratulate her on this most deserving recognition!

Of note, at the same awards evening, 2017 RRC Nursing graduate Paige Proctor was honoured with the ARNM’s Emerging Leader Award.

This award is presented to registered nurses in clinical practice who have entered the profession as an RN within the past five years, demonstrates excellence in his/her practice area, outstanding communication, and promising leadership qualities.

We are also very proud of Paige!

Congratulations to both of RRC’s honourees!!!

Post and photos by Bernie Mandrick – Nursing Instructor

It is waste reduction week in Canada! This week, spend some time thinking about what you can do in both your personal and professional lives to reduce waste and improve the environment you live in.

Below I have shared five ideas to get you starting to think about waste reduction in terms of the health care system:

1. Get involved with the Sustainability Officer or Green Team in your area. If there is not one already established, now is a great time to advocate for the formation of such a role. This role could include looking at ways to reduce waste and energy in the facility and encourage staff to get involved in greening the health system they are employed in. Save with lighting and water.

2. Recycle better. It is important to separate expensive infectious hospital waste from other, non-infectious hospital waste. Develop office protocols for hazardous waste. This requires a great deal of collaboration from many sectors within the health system.

3. Minimize the amount of waste. Consider the reuse of items that will not compromise patient safety. The hospital procurement officer could opt for green alternatives, such as non-mercury thermometers and recyclable plastics.

4. Reduce transportation pollution. Walk, cycle, or take the bus to work.

5. Encourage healthy and eco-responsible diets. Increase offering of fresh fruits and vegetables; encourage the reduction of red and processed meats. Encourage the use of tap water and reusable containers in place of bottled water. Take the Food Waste Pledge!

For more information, go to the Coalition for Green Healthcare – Green Office Toolkit.

Post written by Jennifer Morin – Nursing Instructor

Photo: Recycling Council of Ontario. (2018). Waste reduction week in Canada. Retrieved from https://wrwcanada.com/en

Each term, third-year BN students from the Gender Studies for Health Professionals course give presentations on gendered nursing stereotypes. The purpose of the project is to have students explore gendered stereotypes about nursing and how they are perpetuated in the media and popular culture. Students are given full freedom in how they show a minimum of 5 examples, allowing them to explore the stereotypes in creative and complex ways. Each student presents on what their stereotype is, how the examples demonstrate the stereotype, how the stereotype reflects gender normativity, and why the stereotype is problematic to both nurses and patients.

On Thursday September 27th, the class shared their projects through informal presentations with any interested nursing faculty. Our guests moved around the room, talking to the students about their projects, as they learned more about the stereotypes that we’re all familiar with but maybe have never explored in depth. With Halloween just around the corner, we can see the stereotype of the ‘sexy nurse’ rearing her head yet again.

Thank you to everyone who came out to learn a little more about these gendered stereotypes, as our students explore how they themselves are what nurses look like, not the stereotypes perpetuated by the media and popular culture.

Post written by Meagen Chorney – Nursing Instructor – Gender Studies for Health Professionals