OTTAWA — Canadian nursing, education and health-care organizations were recognized yesterday for their contribution to nursing excellence at the Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) biennial conference in Indianapolis (USA).

The prestigious Practice Academe Innovation Collaboration Award was presented the joint Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO)/University of Ottawa (UO) Nursing Best Practice Research Unit (NBPRU), as well as to representatives of RNAO, and the 21 Best Practice Spotlight Organizations (BPSOs), all located in Ontario.

The inaugural award recognized the significance and value of collaborative efforts between nursing practice and academia to improve the health of people internationally.

At the Faculty of Health Sciences of the University of Ottawa, the nursing academic researchers are thrilled to be recognized for their work by such a prestigious organization. Through this partnership, they have been leading evaluation studies about implementation processes and outcomes since the beginning of the program. What is most exciting for the NBPRU co-chair, Professor Barbara Davies of the School of Nursing at the Faculty of Health Sciences is that:

“Research evidence previously located in journal references scattered all over the world is now directly accessible to all nurses providing health care as summarized in the guidelines”. She also added “Canadian patients are now better able to receive recommended care". Meaningful improvements in nursing service delivery and patient outcomes have been found for many of the guideline implementation studies such as for patients with asthma or diabetes.

To date this partnership has resulted in the development of 42 guidelines (clinical and healthy work environment), and others currently in development. Other implementation strategies include a network of over three thousand nurses from over 600 health care organizations who champion the implementation of best practice guidelines.