Ready To Face The Future
LEARNING TO LEAD Surrey’s Muskan Johal says her experience with BCNU’s South Island’s region executive members while in nursing school has given her the confidence to advocate for herself and her co-workers.
Entering the profession can be daunting for new nurses. Hallway nursing and service disruptions have become front-page news as working conditions across the health-care system deteriorate and the nurse staffing crisis becomes more acute.
But new grad Muskan Johal isn’t afraid - she’s prepared in ways many new nurses aren’t. Johal enrolled in a leadership preceptorship during the last year of her program that she says opened her eyes to the power of solidarity and the important role of a union in helping ensure she has a safe and rewarding career.
Johal says she signed up for a variety of preceptorship opportunities in her last year.
“I did see one that was with BCNU and I wanted to try something different. So, I picked that as one of my top three and I happened to get it,” she says.
A Canada-wide survey of 5,000 nurses commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions in early 2023 found that many young nurses regret their career choice, with 34 percent of respondents reporting that they plan to leave the profession they only just entered.
After getting accepted, Johal soon found herself in the company of then-BCNU South Islands regional council member Carly Koeppen and other members of the regional executive. From September to November 2022, she enjoyed a front-row seat both observing and participating in the work of union leaders and activists.
According to Koeppen, the leadership preceptorship encourages nurses to look through the lens of community practice to help them better appreciate what it means to be a nurse in the larger system and how to effect change.
“Something that Muskan and I talked a lot about is how nurse leaders come to understand the role of ‘nursing the nurses,’ being really receptive to their needs and figuring out ways to best meet those needs,” says Koeppen.
During her time with the South Islands regional executive, Johal attended outreach meetings with nurses working in the community, acute care facilities, mental health and substance use services and long-term care. She also attended regional events and observed executive planning meetings and a BCNU provincial council meeting. At the end of the preceptorship, she delivered a speech about nurse burnout as well as the challenges and hopes of new nurses entering the profession to 120 BCNU members.
Johal says her time with the union was eye-opening.
"It was very interesting to see another side of nursing and all the work the union is doing to actually combat the effects of the nursing crisis at the worksite level while also advocating for larger, systemic change,” reflects Johal.
“I’ve learned how to advocate for myself and developed that confidence to speak up – and I know that my union is behind me if I need to do that.”
- Muskan Johal
Watching BCNU leaders engage with members gave her optimism. Johal learned how the actions of one person who wants to make a difference is all that’s need to effect change. She also reports being impressed by the way she and the South Island regional executive she was with could empower working nurses simply by visiting them on their units.
She has also found a confidence she’ll take with her throughout her career, which she wouldn’t have gotten through another clinical posting.
“After being with Carly, I’ve learned how to advocate for myself and developed that confidence to speak up – and I know that my union is behind me if I need to do that.”
Johal graduated from the University of Victoria’s nursing program in April 2023 and began working on the transitional care unit at Ridge Meadows Hospital before sitting her National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) exam in June 2023.
This fall, Johal moved to Fleetwood Place Care Facility in Surrey. She began working casual on various units and recently began her full-time line. While in this role, Johal plans to stay involved with the union because she’s seen first-hand how much BCNU advocates for nurses.
“And I want to be a part of that,” says Johal.
Spoken like a true leader.
UPDATE (Summer/Fall 2023)
Positive learning experiences essential to improving new nurse retention
Patients are not the only ones who suffer from the nurse staffing crisis. Nursing students also rely on experienced nurse preceptors who provide guidance and support by sharing their knowledge, modelling professional practice and providing the needed clinical direction and supervision to help students consolidate their skills and complete their programs.
Preceptorships are a vital part of a nurse’s education. But far too many recent grads know first-hand the stress of learning in a heath-care system where staffing challenges and overcapacity units mean experienced nurses are pressed to find the time they need to provide students with the support and resources to succeed.
The early experiences of new nurses thrown into the deep end of a health-care system in crisis has serious implications for the profession as whole. A Canada-wide survey of 5,000 nurses commissioned by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions in early 2023 found that many young nurses regret their career choice, with 34 percent of respondents reporting that they plan to leave the profession they only just entered.
Unsurprisingly, 28 percent rated their mental health as very poor or terrible, a finding that echoes BCNU-sponsored research published by UBC in 2021, which provided ample evidence to show how nurses are being impacted by the staffing shortage and suffering from significant burnout, anxiety and depression due to high workloads.