Nursing eHealth Peer Leaders - Making Connections, Increasing Awareness!
Marzena Cran RN, BSc.N
Nurse Peer Leader
Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN 4
Education & Development Clinician-ICT
Hamilton Health Sciences Centre
The Registered Nurses' Association of Ontario (RNAO) has taking the lead in an exciting initiative in partnership with the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care and Canada Health Infoway called the Nursing Peer Leader Strategy. Nursing Peer Leaders have been selected from each Ontario LHIN and began the work of promoting and fostering nurses' awareness of, and involvement in, eHealth in their workplace. The Peer Leaders have been making connections with various RNAO networks and other nursing communities throughout their LHIN to increase nurses' awareness and engagement in eHealth initiatives.
What's Next?
The peer leaders meet monthly via a knowledge exchange teleconference where they share strategies, brainstorm new approaches, and collaborate on various initiatives to continue to build capacity in nursing communities. The Nursing Peer to Peer Strategy is part of the Canada Health Infoway Clinician Peer Support Network which will provide a basis for interprofessional practice including nurses, physicians and pharmacists and will become a part of the Pan-Canadian Peer Strategy.
As part of this work, one focus is to encourage nurses, at all levels, to participate in the Nursing and eHealth education program now available for free to nurses in Ontario, through the RNAO website: www.RNAO.org/eHealth_course. This course provides nurses with a foundational understanding of the role of eHealth in nursing and health care and its link to quality patient care.
Nurse Peer Leader Strategy
The 14 Nurse Peer Leaders at their Orientation Meeting
The Peer Leaders utilized many creative strategies to engage nurses at all levels in an effort to heighten awareness to the role that eHealth will play within nursing practice and improve patient care. Some of these strategies include: presentations to peers and key nursing leaders, poster presentations at LHIN events, eHealth integration into orientation programs, Website links, links within hospital Learning Management Systems, Facebook connections, nursing student engagement in partnership with learning institutions, newsletter submissions, panel presentations and networking at conferences, and videoconferences. All of these efforts have shown a positive impact in eHealth awareness across the nursing communities and a direct increase in the utilization of the RNAO Nursing and eHealth online education course.
What do the statistics show?
Since the Nurse Peer Leader strategy began, there has been an increased enrollment in the online Nursing and eHealth education course. In September, the total number of individuals registered for the course across Canada was 4627 (an increase of 749 since last month). As of January 18, the total number of participants is over 5000. That is a significant increase in nursing engagement within a relatively short time and very encouraging for the Peer Leaders that are hard at work across their Ontario LHINs. Feedback from nurses who have completed the eHealth course have indicated that the curriculum was excellent. We encourage all nurses to take the self-directed online course.
Connect with Your Nurse Peer Leader
Check out the peer leader in your LHIN, make a contact to find out what is happening in eHealth in your area and offer your help in spreading the eHealth message to nurses.
LHIN |
Nurse Peer Leader |
Email Address |
|---|---|---|
1 Erie St. Clair |
Betty Oldershaw |
|
2 South West |
Susan Downs |
|
3 Waterloo Wellington |
Wendy Lang |
|
4 Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant |
Marzena Cran |
|
5 Central West |
Josephine Purslow |
|
6 Mississauga Halton |
Sandra Dowers |
|
7 Toronto Central |
Kambria Ernst |
|
8 Central |
Jeanette Conceicao |
|
9 Central East |
Alison MacDonald |
|
10 South East |
Carol Cooke |
|
11 Champlain |
Jay Lynch |
|
12 North Simcoe Muskoka |
Heather McLeod Soward |
|
13 North East |
Dorothy Klein |
|
14 North West |
John Salamon |
What is in the Nurse Peer Leader Strategy for me?
Our 14 Peer Leaders are committed nurses who represent all areas of the profession and all generations of nurses from new grads, to mid career nurses, to mature career nurses. They are all finding that eHealth has enhanced their nursing practice, and are finding the role is providing some exciting professional challenges and opportunities.
As Dot Klein, RN, Nurse Peer Leader, North East LHIN, who has been in nursing for over 40 years, says: "The nurse peer leader role is a chance for me to 'cheerlead' the evolution of professional nursing practice, and mentor the professional development of nurses and nursing.
Kambria Ernst, Nurse Peer Leader, Toronto Central LHIN, says: “By learning more about eHealth and being engaged in the RNAO strategy you have an opportunity to make an impact and have a voice in shaping the future of health care delivery."