CNA's Work
Over the past two years, the Canadian Nurses Association has continued its journey to advance the nursing profession, both nationally and internationally. The strength of our work comes from the vibrancy of our vision, mission and goals and the relevancy of our organization's structure grounded in four policy sectors: public policy, regulatory policy, nursing policy and international policy and development.
In the area of public policy, CNA continues its efforts to ensure that the voice of nursing is present in the issues and debates around health system renewal, especially in light of two major reports on the health system (Building on Values: The Future of Health Care in Canada and The Health of Canadians - The Federal Role). The resulting 2003 Health Accord provides a blueprint for health system renewal and CNA will continue to monitor its implementation. Of particular interest is the area of health human resources and addressing the nursing shortage and retention of nurses.
Our work in regulatory affairs continues to support our provincial and territorial jurisdictional members. We have remained committed to fostering consistent regulatory policies across the country to ensure that the trust that Canadians have in registered nurses continues. This has involved developing a new registered nurses exam, advancing work on a national exam for the nurse practitioner and enhancing opportunities for nurses to demonstrate their continued competence through our certification program.
Promoting quality practice environments is an area of priority for our nursing policy sector. We continue to advance quality worklife indicators and to promote the nursing perspective with respect to the patient safety agenda. We must continue to be vigilant with respect to improving practice environments. Many nurses have reported that increased workloads, time pressures and frequent work interruptions are affecting their health and, consequently, their patients.
Our international work continues to build partnerships with our colleagues around the world in an effort to improve global health and social justice. Over the past two years, CNA continued to play a leadership role in fostering national and international networks for Canadian nurses and international health interest groups. We asserted the importance of nursing in the World Health Assembly and channelled the expertise of Canadian nurses through our overseas development program.
