Answering the Call: TBRHSC Celebrates Nursing Week 2021
by Marcello Bernardo
Nurses make up the largest group of employees at Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre and Nursing Week (May 10-16) provides an opportunity to recognize their clinical excellence and their ability to care for patients with compassion and professionalism.During the week of May 10-16, Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (TBRHSC) is celebrating Nursing Week to recognize the vital contributions nurses make to the delivery of quality patient care in Thunder Bay and across Northwestern Ontario. Nursing Week coincides with the birthday of the iconic nurse Florence Nightingale who was born on May 12th. She became known for her work in caring for casualties during the Crimean War and her visionary advancement for the nursing profession.
“We have always depended on the resilience of nurses,” said Dr. Rhonda Crocker Ellacott, President and CEO, of TBRHSC and CEO of Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute, who started her career as a nurse at the Hospital 30 years ago. “But these past 14 months during the pandemic have shown us the passion and professionalism of our nurses. I encourage everyone to join me in thanking them for their incredible contribution to communities.”
Nurses are vital to TBRHSC’s front line response to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to their direct patient care roles, many have taken on additional duties and responsibilities to help protect the health and safety of the community. For example, nurses are leading the testing at our COVID-19 Assessment Centre, administering hundreds of COVID-19 vaccines every day to Hospital staff and members of the community, and learning new and advanced skills to support our pandemic response.
“I am in complete admiration of our nurses’ courage, dedication to patients and the teamwork they so naturally bring to caring for patients and each other,” said Meaghan Sharp, Chief Nursing Executive at TBRHSC. “Even during this time of physical distancing, nurses still provide the human connection patients need to help them heal as they navigate illness and uncertainty. Thank you!”
In recognition of this wide scope of duties during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) has identified this year’s theme of ‘We Answer the Call’. It was developed by the CNA to showcase the many roles that nurses play in a patient’s health care journey. The pandemic brought to light the courage and commitment that nurses work under every day and showed the important role that nurses play in the community.
