The CHNIG AGM will be on Saturday April 18th at 0800hr at the Toronto Hilton, 145 Richmond St West, Toronto, ON. Click Here to register for the RNAO AGM: and be sure to indicate your attendance at the CHNIG AGM. Board of Directors positions will be coming available for the 2015-2016 year, stay tuned for further communication.

More great news is Bill 45, Making Healthier Choices Act, which proposes:

1. New Menu Labeling

That will require food premises with more than 20 locations to post calorie information on their menus and menu board.

2. Amendments to the Smoke-Free Ontario Act

3. New E-Cigarettes Legislation

Community Health Nurses work hard to ensure that politicians are aware of policies and legislation that will protect Ontarians and help them make healthier choices.

Canada Revenue Agency and Travel Expenses

Community Health Nurses have asked questions about Canada Revenue Agency (CRA) auditing for travel and home office expenses for nurses working from home. We did a quick poll of nurses we know and found out that audits have been occurring across most sectors (we heard from Public Health, Home health, CHC and FHT nurses who had been audited recently) of Community Health Nursing related to travel expenses. The rules are outlined on the Canada Revenue Agency website. One big tip that members consistently provided was "keep all of your receipts!" We don't want to start interpreting CRA so for more information go to http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html.

- Cindy Baker-Barill, President Community Health Nurses Initiatives Group.

Professional Bursaries to Attend the National Community Health Nurses Conference

CHNIG offers financial support to attend the annual National CHNC Conference under the Professional Development Bursary for Undergraduate Nursing Students and RN Members.

Financial Support to Attend the Annual RNAO and CHNIG AGMs

CHNIG offers financial support to attend the annual RNAO and CHNIG AGMs in April each year.

Seed Grant Initiative

The Community Health Nurses' Initiatives Group (CHNIG) will provide a "Seed Grant" of five hundred dollars ($500) to individuals / groups interested in creating/conducting workshops, organizing / implementing an in service in the community, evaluating programs/practice guidelines or other related activities that reflect the goals and mission of CHNIG. This grant is offered once a year.

CHNIG Award for Clinical Excellence in Community Health Nursing

Do you know a community health nurse in practice who has demonstrated expertise in practice, demonstrated professionalism, leadership and good interpersonal skills? If so, then nominate this nurse today for the CHNIG Award for Clinical Excellence in Community Health Nursing. Every year, CHNIG in collaboration with RNAO, recognizes the exemplary clinical practice of a community health nurse. The nominee can be community health nurse providing nursing services to individuals, families, populations or communities who is a current member of CHNIG. Deadline for nomination is March 31, 2015.

For more details about these awards and bursaries please go to: http://www.chnig.org/ and log into the "Members" section.

Past Award Recipients: Attendance of the Community Health Nurses of Canada 2014 Conference

Thanks to a CHNIG Professional Developement bursary, I had the good fortune of attending the 9^th National Community Health Nurses of Canada Conference held in Kanata Ontario, June 2^nd - 4^th, 2014. I was hoping my attendance would inform, and support my practice as one of Ontario's social determinants of health public health nurses. The CHNC conference was also an opportunity to strengthen my dedication to the nursing profession and further inform my resolve of our value.

There were several key messages from the pre-conference workshop, Leadership in Action, which resonated with me, which I shared with the NBPSDHU nurses when I returned. As the theme of the conference was "Leadership in Action", I wanted to articulate how CHNs are leaders, both formal and informal, in change. As Donna Ciliska, stated, "Leadership; it is in you to live".

Being a member of CHNIG provided me with the support to attend this excellent conference where I reconnected with past colleagues and developed new friendships and professional connections. I sincerely believe that Canada's CHNs have the capacity to make a difference and our involvement in special interest groups such as CHNIG is vital to staying connected and informed with what's current and of value to our practice and the people we serve. I sincerely appreciate the opportunity CHNIG provided me and the ongoing support and valuable information they offer.

Thank you,

Karen Graham, RN

In the spring of 2014 I was lucky to receive a bursary from the Community Health Nurses Initiatives Group (CHNIG) to attend the Canadian Health Nurses of Canada (CHNC) annual conference as a nursing student. I was also invited to give a presentation about my work with a volunteer run, winter homeless shelter in my community. Coming from a background of community development and social service work, my involvement with The Warming Room, during my nursing education was a natural fit for me. My main goal for the presentation was to illustrate the grave need for basic health care for the homeless and encourage other nurses to get involved with shelters in their communities. The opportunity to share my experience and passion for helping some of the most vulnerable members of society was empowering and incredibly meaningful.

During my time at the conference I also had the opportunity to connect with nurses doing fascinating community health projects and research. One of the presentations I found most interesting was the research by Ellen Buck-McFadyen of Trent University on how attitudes and approaches toward activism in nursing differ between generations of nurses. Being a member of CHNIG during my nursing education not only gave me the opportunity to participate in this significant experience of personal and professional growth, but also helped me to gain a deeper understanding of the many activities of community health nurses throughout Ontario and Canada.

Rebecca Butler, RN

Firstly thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to attend the 2014 CHNC conference through your CHNIG Professional Development Bursary.

I continue to be amazed at the passion, dedication and commitment of CHNs to advance and share best practices and make this conference a priority professional development experience. This enthusiasm and contribution of new practices and knowledge was very inspiring to me.

Key learnings for me came from the evaluation of the pre-conference, which spoke loudly and validated the need for PHN leadership development. Nurses need time to reflect on their own leadership practice and to know how to be leaders in not only supporting nursing practice but also in addressing health inequities. Nurses need to understand and utilize 4 leadership agreements, which include, be impeccable with your word, don't take anything personally, don't make assumptions and always do your best. I co-presented the CASN preconference on entry to practice PHN competencies. This workshop focused on the need to develop creative and engaging strategies to build the capacity of undergraduates and new hires in population and public health competencies.

I also learned the current research on the use of social media in working with various client populations as a means to convey health information. Given the growing use of technology in practice I need to be kept current to be an effective nursing educator. Indeed it was my pleasure to attend the 9^th National CHNC conference. Thank you again.

Ruth Schofield, RN

(The above articles have been edited for length and formatting by the CHNIG Communications Team)

Nurses should have a say in new assisted suicide legislation, group says, Toronto Sun, February 2015

Is there an article or news story you would like featured in our next newsletter? Please email Newsletter@CHNIG.org

(CHNIG is not affiliated with the above mentioned news outlets, all opinions are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the opinions of CHNIG or it's board members)

The monthly seminars are free of charge and open to all nurses. They are typically held on the third Thursday of the month from 12-1pm EST. Past presentations were very successful and covered the topics of Smoking Cessation, the Aging at Home Strategy, Chronic Disease Prevention, Cultural Safety, Primary Health Care, Political Action, Youth Engagement, Social Determinants of Health, Mental Health Promotion and our most recent presentation Policy and Practice Recommendations for Community Health Nursing

All presentations are archived here Please see CHNIG events calendar for more details. All participants are eligible to receive a certificate of attendance by completing the post-seminar survey available on our website.

For more of our recent seminars, click here

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