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click for detailsWelcome to MORNA
We are the Manitoba Operating Room Nurses Association, a member of the Operating Room Nurses Association of Canada (ORNAC). We provide a voice for perioperative registered nurses across the province of Manitoba. Our not for profit association has a volunteer board of directors representing every region in Manitoba. MORNA works to promote excellence by demonstrating leadership in patient safety, and by enabling best practice, career advancement and professional development for perioperative nurses.
President's Message
Fall 2020 President Message
Hello MORNA members!
I must be honest with you all…..I found it really difficult to sit down and write this message. Like many of you, at the end of a long day, I sometimes feel like my tank is empty. The words just don’t flow very easy. And given all that we are challenged with today, I was fearful that any words and messages would seem insignificant. However today, November 2, 2020, I realized now more than ever, we need to stay connected with each other as perioperative colleagues. We will always share this time in history as having gone through it together.
We must acknowledge what we are going through but keep moving forward through this time, one step at a time. There isn’t anyone untouched by the pandemic. If one is not on the frontlines of healthcare, they have an elderly parent who is compromised or in a care home and they cannot see or hug them. If they are not donning an N95, their spouse may have just received notice that they no longer have a job. If they are not caring for a patients who cannot see their loved ones while sick, they are teachers who are headed into classrooms with significant challenges to educate our future yet keep our children safe….. But as we have said countless times, we are in this together.
If you need help, reach out to your colleagues, manager, local nursing unions, and families. If you need more than what family and friends can give, access the Blue Cross employee assistance plan (EAP) and all of the supports that are popping up for healthcare providers. Caregivers need to be cared for.
On a different note, I find it truly interesting that many of the core principles of perioperative nursing are the swords that fight COVID19 today….hand washing, wearing a mask, cleaning and disinfecting protocols…. How many times over the years have we been challenged about our stance on mask wearing in the theatres as a necessity for not only patient care but occupational health safety? Be proud of your perioperative practice and standards. They matter!
Again, I would like to take this opportunity to welcome Kassie Klassen as our MORNA president-elect, and Vanessa Ferdinand, our MORNA secretary. Thank you both for your commitment to serve your members in a volunteer position that is challenging and but immensely rewarding. And with our new executive, we now have our very own MORNA Instagram page!!!! Check it out periop nurses!!! Search morna.nurses and follow along!! Thank you to Kassie for her graphic design and awesome communication skills to get this social media platform up and running for our MORNA members!!!
In other great news, our ORNAC/MORNA memberships are now rolling 1 year memberships. This means that you pick the renewal date the works for you. This change was done based on member feedback. Please remember and share with your teams that our $65.00 membership fee gives you over $400.00 in valuable educational opportunities and funding support. Go to ornac.ca for additional information on renewal or first time membership. Our last membership count at the end of October was 79. Given there is over 400 nurses working in Manitoba ORs, we have some work to do!!!
I would like to also recognize Mary Smith, the outgoing Executive Director for ARNM. Mary was instrumental in bringing MORNA and ARNM together and providing so much support to MORNA during our 2019-2020 year. Mary is truly an incredible nurse leader and someone who left a positive imprint on our nursing profession. On behalf of MORNA, we wish her a happy retirement!! We welcome Cheryl Cusack, the incoming ED and hope we can continue a successful partnership together.
And lastly, Perioperative Nurses Week is upon us. November 8-14, 2020 is themed “The Year of the Nurse: Under the Light of Nightingale, From Humble Beginnings, Our Best Shines Through”. I celebrate each of you, the light you bring to perioperative nursing, and all that you do in the perioperative environment to keep our patients and each other safe.
Keep Safe,
Dawn Affleck RN MN CPN(C)
MORNA President and MB Director
ATTENTION: MORNA MEMBERS
This is a Reminder regarding the upcoming ORNAC National Conference
