Canadian Nurse launches series on harm reduction led by UCalgary Nursing assistant professor

UCalgary Nursing assistant professor Jennifer Jackson wants policy-makers at all levels of government to know more needs to be done about the overdose crisis in our country. But instead of waiting for them to take action, Dr. Jackson, RN, PhD, plans to reach RNs working on the frontlines with suggestions about how they may change their practice. She was therefore delighted when Canadian Nurse editor-in-chief, Barb Shellian, BN’79, MN’83, agreed and signed off to support a summer series of articles on harm reduction.

“I thought, ‘What other ways can we try to deal with this?’” says Jackson, a board member with Canadian Nurse. Her research interests are in improving health services in addiction care and she frequently speaks on the importance of supervised consumption sites. She is also jointly appointed at Cumming School of Medicine's Community Health Sciences and a member of both the O'Brien Institute for Public Health and Mathison Centre for Mental Health Research and Education at the Hotchkiss Brain Institute.

“The idea became, if policy-makers are doing nothing, let's focus on building capacity in clinical staff. So we have 11 weeks of articles coming out about different parts of addictions nursing and supporting people who use drugs.”

Jackson co-ordinated and edited all the articles with the Canadian Nurse staff with the first published June 6. “The articles are aimed at acute care nurses, with topics like, how do I treat pain with someone who uses drugs? How do I ask a patient about their drug use or sex work?” she continues.  

“We are trying to help nurses feel more comfortable so these patients get better care when they are in hospital.”  

Shellian says, “Politically, this is well-timed,” admitting that the issue can be very divisive for politicians and their constituents. “It is a controversial type of content, but I am very grateful to Jennifer as the series has really blossomed into something good.”

Jackson is, in turn, grateful to Shellian for providing a forum and voice for the crisis. “Nurses need to be there for people even when it is uncomfortable or hard. I hope this will end up in their hands in hospitals across the country,” she says.