Blog Viewer

https://www.infirmiere-canadienne.com/blogs/ic-contenu/2025/05/15/infirmiere-et-fiere-de-letre

Senator Joan Kingston embodies the spirit of National Nursing Week by ‘amplifying the professional voice of nursing in the health-care system’

By Joan Kingston
May 15, 2025

Editor’s note: National Nursing Week takes place from May 12-18, 2025. This year’s theme is The Power of Nurses to Transform Health.

“I am proud to be a nurse because we make our mark on the world every day. I have had the experience of meeting parents of babies that I have cared for many years ago and they have said to me: ‘Do you remember that day?’ and, without saying another word, we could each recall the critical incident that connects us. I felt proud because on that day I hadn't made headlines, but I had made a difference.”

With these words, I began my speech following my installation as president at the 77th annual meeting of the Nurses Association of New Brunswick (NANB) in May 1993.

My career as a nurse began in 1978 in neonatal intensive care and I spent several years in direct care of young families, including during labour and birth. During that time, I listened to the advice of nurse mentors, including professors and other leaders, and became involved in professional nursing associations, both in my own province and nationally and internationally in my area of specialty. It was involvement with these groups that inspired my commitment in, and passion for, amplifying the professional voice of nursing in the health-care system and in the broader areas of equity and social justice.

I became involved with the NANB board of directors as a chapter president. In the early 1980s, I was part of a team that successfully lobbied for the modernization of the Nurses Act in New Brunswick. As president-elect of NANB in the early 1990s, I was the chairperson of the strategic planning committee when NANB added advocating for healthy public policy to the mission of the organization. These experiences paved the way for my involvement in advocacy on a more public stage. Throughout my career, I have advocated for a more comprehensive, integrated, and effective system of health care based not only on providing traditional services but addressing the social determinants of health.

My time on the NANB board also planted the seed that the political arena had a need for more nurses and their perspectives, but that came a bit later. Before entering elected politics, I served as chairperson of the Advisory Council on the Status of Women, where my focus was on economic independence and pay equity in recognition that income is the most important determinant of health.

I was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick in 1995 and held the portfolios of Minister of Environment, Minister of Labour, Minister responsible for the Human Rights Commission and the Minister’s Committee on Multiculturalism. As Minister of Labour, one of my accomplishments was securing start-up funding for women on social assistance, helping them launch small businesses built on their strengths and supported further skill development. I am proud to say that these women moved on to achieve economic independence and a more fulfilling life.

A decade after elected politics, as Principal Secretary in the office of the Premier, I was a key player in the development of Overcoming Poverty Together: The New Brunswick Economic and Social Inclusion Plan. The plan led to an act of the Legislative Assembly that created the Economic and Social Inclusion Corporation to develop, oversee, coordinate, and implement initiatives to reduce poverty and assist thousands of New Brunswickers to become more self-sufficient.

I returned to a more traditional nursing role in 2011 and became a nurse educator. Given my previous experience, I was also asked to address the sustainability needs of a small community clinic that had been created by the University of New Brunswick Faculty of Nursing. This led to the conception and establishment of the Fredericton Downtown Community Health Centre (FDCHC), a novel partnership between the University of New Brunswick and Horizon Health Network.

The FDCHC is an interdisciplinary, nurse-managed facility providing primary health care to people without access to primary care, including vulnerable populations. This teaching facility is unique in Canada, providing an integrated program of health service delivery, education, and research in a primary health care setting with a harm reduction approach. The FDCHC serves as a living laboratory for interdisciplinary student education and the leveraging of community partnerships to address the social determinants of health. The FDCHC advances exploration and innovation in community-based health service delivery and applied health research and is recognized for providing transformative learning experiences and research opportunities a variety of disciplines while offering continuous primary health care, including outreach programs in collaboration with community partners.

Related article

For the love of nursing: as we kick off National Nursing Week, I wanted to reflect on why I entered this profession

Throughout my unusual career path, I have maintained my identity as a nurse and my registration to practise, including since my appointment to the Senate of Canada in 2023. Senators come from diverse professional, ethnic, socio-economic, and cultural backgrounds; they use the wisdom gleaned from their own experiences to give minorities a strong voice in Parliament. Applications for Senate appointments are reviewed by the independent advisory board, which provides recommendations to the Prime Minister. I believe that the strength of my application, in large part, was because I am a nurse and that my perspective as a nurse is valued. Nurses should be at every table and in every room where decisions are being made. As a parliamentarian, I am able to influence many important issues, most recently, the introduction of the Pharmacare Act.

Our health-care system is ever evolving. We are the backbone of the health-care system. Without nurses it cannot move. With nurses working within their full scope of practice, the system will stand straight and strong. As the Canadian Nurses Association has recently suggested, we can build a healthier Canada, powered by nurses.

Just as nursing is the backbone of the health-care system, nurses providing direct care are the backbone of nursing. As I stated recently in the Senate:

“Nurses are working everywhere in the health-care system — almost 55% work in a hospital. If you should find yourself there one day at 2 a.m., I can guarantee you that the health professional who will most likely be there for you is a nurse.”

Primary care is an area where RNs are making a difference and the NP profession is one of the fastest growing in health care.

I believe the greatest potential for improving health outcomes in the future is to increase the presence of RNs and NPs working in primary care settings in the community, improving access to primary health care and the management of chronic disease. Nurses in the community understand the impacts of the social determinants of health and the importance of population health as they address the needs of individuals and families with other health professionals and community partners. They are skilled advocates and collaborators and help create a more integrated, intersectoral system of care that addresses the needs that contribute to overall health in a comprehensive way.

Within the profession, nurses must create a sense of equality of value and influence. Nurses working in non-clinical roles, including academic and administrative positions, must collaborate with nurses and nurse practitioners providing direct care across all settings to create a supportive and fulfilling framework that strengthens and enhances their work.

As Canada’s chief nursing officer Dr. Leigh Chapman stated recently:

“Nurses are the backbone of our health-care system, yet too many in Canada are struggling with their mental health, experiencing burnout, distress and feeling overworked, and unappreciated, causing them to leave their jobs. … Nursing leadership and health system administrators [have] an opportunity to contribute first-hand to making changes in our health-care system, including improving mental health and wellness supports for nurses so they can stay mentally, emotionally, and spiritually healthy, and so that they can keep caring for us.”

Promoting a spirit of equality among members of the profession makes it possible for nurses to occupy strategic positions thereby promoting nursing and its value within the health-care system and beyond. Self-regulation for our profession enhances equal partnerships for nurses with the public and within society. A profession that does not seek the confidence of the public will soon lose its social force. However, fulfilling a regulatory function alone is not enough to provide the public with the best that nursing has to offer. A strong, autonomous professional voice should be supported by both regulatory bodies and unions to serve nurses and fulfil their responsibility to the public by promoting and influencing healthy public policy and advocating for the optimization of nursing roles that can transform health systems.

I believe in us, and I am proud to work with you to help shape the future of our profession.

I want to conclude by saluting my fellow nurses across Canada: Celebrate National Nursing Week! Be proud! Stay strong and forge your nursing career path. You make a difference every day!

The Hon. Joan Kingston, RN, FCAN, BN, Senator for New Brunswick, has extensive experience in nursing, health care, and human resource management. She was a member of New Brunswick’s Legislative Assembly from 1995 to 1999 and has served in the Senate since October 2023.

#career
#advocacy
#career-stage
#community-health
#government-legislation
#health-policy
#leadership
#nursing-roles
#social-determinants-of-health