Nursing Student Leadership Conference

Healthy Steps is a walking and exercise program developed to provide community-dwelling seniors in Castlegar, BC, with a reliable, accessible space for physical activity during winter. Located in the Selkirk College gymnasium, this free program promotes participants physical and mental well-being while offering nursing students valuable hands-on learning opportunities. Students will practice communication, assessments, and community-based care by facilitating activities, developing their critical thinking and nursing skills. Nursing students will benefit through learning practical applications of health promotion strategies in a community setting.  

This leadership project aims to design Healthy Steps with long-term sustainability in mind, ensuring continuity and consistency in its delivery. The team will gather research and implement practical strategies such as partnerships, funding opportunities, and community engagement to establish a solid foundation for the program’s future. Through mutual planning with stakeholders and actionable recommendations for future students, Healthy Steps is intended to become a permanent resource for the community and nursing education. 

Access to preventive care is essential for reducing chronic disease burden and enhancing population health outcomes. As demand on the healthcare system rises, implementing strategies to alleviate strain is crucial. This innovative project, among the first of its kind in Canada, seeks to address this need directly. In partnership with the Waneta Primary Care Clinic in Trail, BC,
two nursing students have created decade-specific health screening recommendations tailored for clients in their 40s and 50s, aligning with primary care’s core focus on education and empowerment.

The project empowers clients to take charge of their health by detailing essential
screenings—such as cancer screenings, cardiovascular assessments, and blood glucose monitoring—that align with different life stages. Beyond screening reminders, the "decades letter" provides targeted educational points on age-related health considerations, including
mental health, nutrition, and physical activity.

To ensure broad accessibility, the project also envisions extending this preventive
approach to individuals without a regular primary care provider, addressing health equity and expanding access to preventive resources. This model could ultimately serve as a foundation for future initiatives where educational outreach is even more tailored to individuals’ specific health risks and needs.

Patriarchal, cis-gendered and religious views have shaped sexual health education in Canada and the US and diminished discussions of the healthy spectrum of sexuality, including pleasure. We developed and implemented a comprehensive, evidenced-based curriculum for sexual health education. Research demonstrates that sex-positive and inclusive sexual health education is needed at the college level. We surveyed over 180 college-aged students about their experiences with sexual health education in their pre-college years. Our surveys supported the research that there are knowledge gaps and college students want more inclusive and comprehensive sexual health
education at the college level.

We aim to enhance students' understanding, knowledge, and self-worth to encourage healthier, more informed choices about their sexual health. This improves students' understanding of consent, boundaries, communication, and healthy relationships and promotes positive mental and emotional well-being; all good skills to have in life, as well as sex. Sex education can empower individuals to make informed choices, reduce stigma, and promote healthier attitudes toward sexuality, ultimately contributing to a more inclusive campus environment. Nursing students will benefit through developing teaching skills through a peer-to-peer approach. We hope this project continues as part of third year nursing students’ Options for Sexual Health placement.

Objective
Kootenay Lake Hospital has identified a need for clear procedural guidelines for new
nurses. Our project vision is to create a document for nurses in the KLH Daycare
Surgical unit, improving clarity around job duties related to surgical procedures.

Significance
The document will outline specific job duties for various surgical procedures, ensuring all staff understand their roles in the admission and discharge processes. It aims to be a sustainable educational tool that enhances workflow and patient-centered care.

Methods
Data was collected through notes and recordings during job shadow shifts. A shared Word document with hyperlinks to relevant documents was created. A hard copy of the job duties was also created in case IH computers were inaccessible.

Findings
We found that while the different procedural job duties were found to be somewhat routine; however, specific forms needed to be completed based on the procedure. The document guides nurses to necessary forms.

Implications
The document will be a key resource for enhancing unit efficiency and improving patient care outcomes through protocol adherence.

In our increasingly digitized reality, virtual simulations have become an integral component of modern nursing education. They are especially recognized for helping students practice clinical skills and decision-making, specifically enhancing knowledge translation (the application of
learning) rather than rote memorization, resulting in higher-order learning compared to conventional educational methods. Also, virtual simulations offer an immersive, psychologically safe learning environment that can be accessed remotely at any time, offering a valuable option to real-life clinical simulations.

We will examine the unique benefits of virtual simulation and how teachers can optimize their rollout of virtual simulations. Linking this information with our leadership project, “Sim on Sim,” a virtual sim developed in collaboration with Chris Hillary and Theresa Southam, presented at the Digital Learning Strategy Forum at SFU, we will discuss how educators can conduct virtual simulation effectively. Relevant topics will include setting learning outcomes to guide student performance, and best practices of simulation facilitation for prebrief, facilitation and debrief.

By implementing these best practices, nursing educators can optimize virtual simulations as valuable tools for preparing students for real-world clinical practice, promoting better patient
outcomes. 

Join us and learn about how we can help shape more competent nurses.

Exploring the first steps to create a standardized trauma care in British Columbia, leading to a trauma specialization for registered nurses. There are currently no provincial or federal trauma
standards in Canada, which can lead to variance in care between provinces and health authorities. The Provincial Health Services Authority in collaboration with Trauma Services BC launched the 2023 Provincial Trauma Nursing Competency Framework, which serves as a baseline for standardizing skills and competencies for BC trauma nurses.

This framework was created in collaboration with all health authorities within BC,
including the First Nations Health Authority, to establish core competencies and skills of trauma nurses. This framework and associated competencies is beginning to roll out into health authorities across the province and acts as a standardization of care. This pilot project aims to
establish a nationwide framework and standardization of trauma care.

Our role was to create an online education module based on the first domain of the
Provincial Trauma Nursing Competency Framework, “Collaboration and Integration of the BC Trauma System”. This program ensures that trauma nurses know the scope of Trauma Services BC and the role they play in trauma training, education, management and coordination of care
throughout the province.
 

The proposed Substance Use and Addictions Management in Hospitals policy from the British Columbia (BC) Ministry of Health has been under scrutiny since its release in April 2024. BC has faced a severe opioid epidemic exacerbated by an unregulated and contaminated street drug supply, which significantly affects individuals who use substances. In response to the growing issues, the BC Ministry of Health introduced the Substance Use and Addictions Management in Hospital policy, aimed at supporting patients, staff, and visitors. 

Concerns persist, however, regarding the potential implementation of this policy, as it may perpetuate discriminatory practices, inadequate pain management, and a lack of empathy within healthcare settings. These issues often discourage individuals from seeking necessary medical care. This project evaluates the proposed In-Hospital Substance Use policy, emphasizing the importance of marginalized voices in shaping healthcare practices. Engaging with two regional groups from the Rural Empowered Drug User Network, the project explores the experiences of people who use substances, who frequently report encountering stigmatizing treatment and poor care within the healthcare system. Through facilitated discussions, a literature review and in collaboration with nursing professionals working on these issues this project aims to provide actionable recommendations to ensure that the policy addresses the needs of affected individuals while promoting equitable and compassionate healthcare practices.
 

Resiliency, which is the ability to positively adapt to stress, plays an important role in adolescent growth and development. While the role of a school nurse has a complex and often colonial history, this leadership project aims to transform the presence of a school nurse into a decolonizing and reciprocal practice that addresses all aspects of health through a culturally sensitive lens.

In collaboration with the secondary school Kootenay Columbia Learning Center (KCLC) in Trail, B.C., a community-based practice placement has been developed for third-year Selkirk College/University of Victoria nursing students to fill the role of school nurses. Through this placement nursing students will provide health-based education to KCLC students with the support of the KCLC Practice Placement Guidebook. Crafted with specific resources, preparatory material, and scenarios, this guidebook prepares and orients third-year nursing students to this placement.

Recognizing that many adolescents face adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), which can undermine resilience, this placement sees nursing students stepping into a reciprocal teaching and learning role. In addition to gaining insight into adolescent lived experiences, nursing students will support resilience development through trauma-informed, strengths-based education about health and well-being. 

The rural West Kootenay region experiences unique challenges for the unhoused community and the service providers engaged with them.  Complexities such as limited service delivery infrastructure, fragmented geographies, access challenges, and scant resources present unique challenges to local service providers. The influence of the rural context on these complexities is poorly represented across the literature. The Bridging Rural Homelessness and Well-being project at Selkirk Innovates aims to improve the well-being of people experiencing or at risk of homelessness in Nelson, Castlegar and Trail communities. Our focus areas include exploring ethical practices in research, participatory narrative inquiry engagement, and sharing voices in the public forum. 
 

We developed a public-facing resource to facilitate sharing our insights alongside the project’s Community Perceptions of Homelessness Survey results. Focusing on improving the collaborative efforts of stakeholders, organizations, and community members, we explored how innovative research methods can enhance the representation and safety of this population. This project focuses on improving the experience of unhoused individuals in our community while building capacity among service providers and community stakeholders. Through our work, we hope to uplift the well-being of West Kootenay residents while cultivating a safe and inclusive community for all. 
 

Our leadership project aims to involve members of our community in Canadian and worldwide healthcare in a simple and meaningful way, by highlighting the significance of the stem cell registry, and its potential to save lives through increasing the number of registrants and giving hope to patients in need. We will explore our initiative to recruit and educate members of our community, emphasizing their vital role in this life-saving effort.

Together with these efforts, we hope to develop a practice placement for year three nursing students to continue this education, bring awareness to the topic, and grow the stem cell registry. By integrating this knowledge into their education, we aim to cultivate a new generation of nurses who are aware of and advocate for stem cell donation.

Join us as we share strategies for effective community engagement, highlight student involvement in this critical initiative, and discuss our recommendations to continue these efforts. Together, we can enhance awareness and participation in the stem cell registry, ultimately contributing to better health outcomes for those in need.