[Sharon]

Where there any surprises with the results; both yours and the research results, please share one finding that you were surprised about and why?

[Samantha]

The document “It’s all About Synergies” provided a through and comprehensive review and analysis of a common problem throughout the nursing profession. Role clarity and “scope” have long been an area of confusion, hesitation and as the article points out underutilization of professionals in the health care system. In my current role as a Manager in LTC, we frequently have nurses who move from the RPN to the RN class, and the questions of how their role/practice/work will look different in their day to day work does occur. Reviewing this article provides real and practical examples of tools we can use along with the three-factor frame work from the CNO. The information and results from the Research questions, again provide us with a clear picture of the ongoing confusion with role clarity from the nurses themselves, to leadership and education. Samantha Diceman, RPN

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[Samantha]

One comment that resonated with me was noted on page 20 of the article; ” I once had a nurse Manager tell me I was too intelligent to be an RPN, I was RN material…” Although the intended message behind the comment was likely meant to be a compliment, it is incredibly insulting and perpetuates ongoing issues and problems. In order to provide clarity with role/scope it must be a multiple pronged approach- teach about it in the current nursing curriculums, continue to research about it, updating and reviewing of legislation and leadership teams in organization must be tuned into it as well.
Samantha Diceman RPN

[Megan]

Reading the Article in Press, when the PN students were recognizing that the collaboration of the PN and RN students needing to be collaborated throughout their semesters in school not just when they get to the work field. I was very surprised that students brought that thought forward as I feel that it should be something that is implemented especially because when going into the work field the title can be intimidating for new grads, but having the comfort of knowing that collaboration is already established in the learning stages.

[Marilyn]

I agree that clarifying roles and scopes requires a multi-faceted approach. Incorporating this education into nursing curricula, continuing to research and evaluate the roles, and ensuring that leadership teams are aligned and supportive are all critical steps. It’s also vital that we have ongoing conversations.

[Kirandip]

I second the comment that Samantha mentioned also stood out to me from the Lankshear (2016) article in which a participant PN stated; “I once had a nurse manager tell me I was too intelligent to be a PN; I was RN material…”. I similarly recall hearing comments such as “when are you upgrading to RN?”. Unfortunately, statements like this further perpetuate a stigma that RPN’s face in practice in that the delivery of their nursing care is a “downgrade” or subpar. As both articles mentioned, I further agree that addressing these types of issues requires a multi-faceted approach. The individual nurse must stay up to date with regulation and legislation changes that affect their scope of practice, and leadership must also stay informed of these changes for every type of professional designation their team consists of for the, as Lankshear (2016) mentions “reconciliation of the contribution of each nurse” to occur successfully. Certainly, reform of nursing education is needed as well where both RPN and RN students learn about each other’s roles’ utilization in practice and how to collaborate in delivering the best quality patient care.

[Author]

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