We look forward to seeing our members at the 2022 Annual General Meeting to be held on June 26 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm on Zoom. Please visit the link below to register directly in Zoom.
Use the links to download the supporting documemnts:
We look forward to seeing our members at the 2022 Annual General Meeting to be held on June 26 from 5:00 – 6:30 pm on Zoom. Please visit the link below to register directly in Zoom.
Use the links to download the supporting documemnts:
Dear Friend of RNFBC,
As we approach National Nursing Week 2023, the theme Our Nurses Our Future, could not be more appropriate. This embodies our approach as we strive to financially support students enrolled in diploma, undergraduate and post-graduate education. The generosity of our donors has meant that we have been able to award hundreds of bursaries annually. Like many organizations our investment income is down this past year and we are challenged to sustain the same number of bursaries as in the past; ironically this is at a time when the nursing shortage means more financial support is needed than ever before.
Priorities set for two years:
While there are many nursing priorities that arise in today’s challenged health care system, after much discussion, the RNFBC Board has identified two key areas for fundraising in 2023 and 2024:
1. Support education to advance nursing practice in complex senior’s care; and
2. Support Indigenous nurses in pre-licensure and post-graduate education.
We are calling on our donors, past award recipients, friends and family of recipients – our entire community to donate to the 2023 RNFBC Bursary Boost to help us continue this vital support to nursing. Together let’s make Our Nurses Our Future our reality.
Kind regards,
Pat Semeniuk, President RNFBC
The Registered Nurses Foundation of British Columbia (RNFBC) helps address some of the financial costs associated with education faced by nurses and nursing students through the provision of bursaries. In doing so, we help alleviate some of the pressures on these nurses and the health care system.
Canada’s regulated nursing workforce remains predominantly comprised of women. It’s estimated at 91% (90.6 % in BC) in the latest data from 2021 so International Women’s Day resonates with us. However, as we pointed out last month, the number of women in nursing leadership roles, especially Black women in leadership roles, continues to miss the mark.
Black nurses have a long history of contributing to the health of British Columbians but for decades this contribution went unrecognized. Although Black women could attend Schools of Nursing in the US in the 1870s, it was not until the late 1940s that Canadian Schools of Nursing allowed their entry. However, Black nurses emigrated from the US to BC and early census data showed some listed as nurses and named in records as having attended births.
A new bursary in memory of Carol Acton will be established in 2023.
Carol Acton (1944-2021) was born in Strathroy, Ontario and graduated from the Victoria Hospital School of Nursing in London Ontario in 1966. After moving to Vancouver, she worked at St. Paul’s Hospital as staff nurse and head nurse on surgical units. She advanced her career, completing both an undergraduate (BSN 1974) and Master of Science in Nursing (MSN) at UBC. She then became Director of Care at GF Strong Rehabilitation Centre. She went on to UBC hospital as a Patient Services Manager for the medical units and then moved to VGH.
RNFBC is proud to announce that a record number of 274 bursaries worth $276,000 were given out in the most recent award cycle.
While this was a record of giving for the Foundation, the number of applicants far exceeded what we were able to award. This demand demonstrates the pressing need to support both students hoping to become nurses and nurses who are furthering their education in order to meet the requirements of the health care system.
This award was founded in memory of Bernadet Ratsoy by her husband along with contributions from her many colleagues and friends. A well respected Nurse and Educator with a 28 year career at St. Paul’s Hospital culminating in the role of Vice President of Nursing, as Executive Director of the Alberta Association of Registered Nurses and finishing her career in 2002 as Associate Dean of the School of Health Sciences at BCIT.
The award established in honour of Agnes M Publicover provide an award for students at the Undergraduate, Graduate, or Certificate level in any RNFBC Bursary Supported Education Programs.
Administered through the Vancouver Foundation, RNFBC was chosen as the beneficiary starting 2020. Born in Scotland in 1915 and passed away in 2014, Mrs. Publicover valued her extensive circle of family and friends. Although not a nurse herself, she also had an immense respect for the nursing community and the costs associated in nursing education. She was a strong supporter of many worthy organizations in her community such as St. Paul’s Hospital, Vancouver Opera, Vancouver Art Gallery and especially the YWCA and RNFBC is so pleased to be included in that list.
Throughout the challenges of the last number of years, we are grateful nurses have continued to do their jobs, caring for us when we are at our most vulnerable. We are also grateful that there are many who continue to choose nursing as their profession. Since 1979, Registered Nurses Foundation of BC has financially supported those entering schools of nursing as well as those who require further education to meet the needs of a complex health care system.
This year, the Foundation received many more applications from RNs, LPNs and RPNs than we could support. Sadly, we have had to disappoint many qualified applicants.