Nursing 4210 - Health: Transitions

Learning Activity #1 (Online)
Transitions in Health, Health Care & Nursing

Overview:

“People’s experiences in the world are influenced by powerful and often invisible political, cultural, ethnic, social and gender values and beliefs that have been in practice for so long that they are taken for granted and presumed “real”,”

(Guba & Lincoln, 1994).

Throughout your studies in the Collaborative Nursing Program, you have explored concepts such as transition, health promotion, the changing health care system and so on. In this final health course, the concept of transition will be explored once more, to ensure you feel equipped both in knowledge and skill to adapt well to the myriad of changes that you will experience and share with other nurses and your clients in your nursing career. This is an exciting time for nurses in Canada to be involved, vocal and active as the new, changing health care system unfolds.

Historically, our health care system has responded to the changing needs of society. For example, public health boards and quarantine practices prior to Confederation (1867) were initiated in response to epidemics of infectious diseases introduced by colonization. Organizations such as the Victorian Order of Nurses and the Red Cross were developed in response to industrialization and the consequent shift away from close community and family networks. The current wave of health care reform has initiated a focus on primary health care as the foundation of the twenty-first century Canadian health care system.

Basically, primary health care is 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, accessible, quality care offered by multidisciplinary coordinated teams of health care professionals. Front-line professionals focus on health promotion, chronic illness management, and the prevention of illness and injury in a collaborative and cost-effective way. Basic principles of primary health care include: accessibility, public participation, health promotion, appropriate technology, and intersectoral cooperation.

Societal and health care system changes have a profound effect on nursing. Internal changes within the profession itself also promote change within the practice and roles of Canadian nursing. You are preparing to enter nursing at a time of critical internal and external change. In order to successfully practice nursing in Canada, it will be necessary to equip yourself with the knowledge and skills to function effectively within an ever - changing environment.