Canadian nurse, educator and social activist Cathy Crowe is speaking to RPN to BScN students today about client advocacy and leadership in the nursing profession. Cathy's work as a Street Nurse in Toronto during the early 1990s made her a household name and helped to launch her career as an activist for housing, public health and social justice.
Today's speaking engagement was organized by nursing student Nicole Cunningham, who contacted Cathy and arranged for her to speak to the class. Each year the RPN to BScN students work on a Case Study that addresses homelessness and teaches them about client advocacy and leadership in nursing, says Maurine Parzen, Program Coordinator and Planner for Mohawk's RPN-BScN program. It was while studying this case that Nicole and some of her classmates learned of Cathy's work and her success at creating change at the policy level.
The students also had the opportunity to visit shelters and food banks in Hamilton and it was this experience that led to them wanting to invite Cathy to speak to the class, says Maurine. In order to make it happen, the students had to collect donations for the Toronto Disaster Relief foundation, an organization founded by Cathy that is committed to focusing attention on issues such as homelessness in Toronto.
Other students in the class have also been involved in collecting donations and delivering the donations to local charities, and many have been motivated to signed up to volunteer at some of the charitable organizations in the city. In all there are 50 RPN to BScN students in the class, says Maurine, and all have demonstrated advocacy and leadership in some way to help those in less fortunate positions.
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