Monday, May 9, 2016

Waterloo celebrates Nurses Week

A message from Health Services.

May 9 to 15 is designated as National Nurses Week in Canada. The celebration of Nurses Week began in 1985 when the Minister of Health proclaimed the second week of May as National Nurses week. This is in recognition of the dedication and achievements of the nursing profession.

Florence Nightingale, best known around the world as “the lady with the lamp”, delivered nursing care to British soldiers during the Crimean war, thus turning nursing into a profession. The theme for this year’s Nurses week celebration is “Nurses: With you every step of the way”. This time is designated to celebrate the many contributions that nurses make within the healthcare system and society as a whole.

Nurses affect the lives of students, faculty and staff at the University of Waterloo in a variety of ways and settings. These include Occupational Health, Mental Health, Student Health Services and the Family Health Clinic. Nurses perform triage to identify acuity, health assessments, health education and counselling, administer immunizations and medication injections, and dispense medications as well as perform numerous other nursing interventions.

Nursing can be described as an art and a science that is regulated under governing bodies such as the College of Nurses of Ontario. Training includes theoretical as well as practical and clinical education. There are numerous specialty fields within the nursing profession.

As the nation recognizes Nurse Week, please take the time to celebrate the many nurses that work at the University of Waterloo. At present there are 24 nurses employed to provide care delivery on campus with an approximate combined experience totaling 450 years.

How Waterloo is causing a Power Shift in energy access

Advancing industries, educating leaders and innovating new technologies make Waterloo a powerful institution. But that’s not what makes Waterloo great. Greatness comes from a deep-seated awareness that we are part of something bigger than ourselves. 

From the lessons we can learn from those who came to Canada as refugees, to what needs to change to end energy poverty, to ways you can improve your life through games, find what you need to know in the spring 2016 issue of University of Waterloo Magazine — available online now.

Explore energy use around the world through interactive maps, hear firsthand from energy researchers and student refugees, download the free Quantum Cats app and share your thoughts, all at uwaterloo.ca/magazine.

Voting opens in national Three-Minute Thesis finals

Waterloo Science grad student Gah-Jone Won will be competing in the National Three-Minute Thesis (3MT) competition, and voting opens today for the People's Choice Award.

Won was the winner of the Faculty of Science, University of Waterloo, and Ontario 3MT competitions, and now a video of his presentation, along with 10 other provincial finalists, will be screened by a judging panel. The finalists' videos are available on the Canadian Association of Graduate Studies website.

Voting in the People's Choice award category is open to all, so why not cast your ballot in support of Gah-Jone Won, the Faculty of Science, and Graduate Studies? (Of course, you could watch all the videos and then make your decision based on which candidate you feel deserves victory, but where's the fun in that?)

The first and second-place winners, as well as the People's Choice Award winner, will be announced in June.

Don't panic: training event will simulate chem spill

If you notice an increase in the number of emergency vehicles on campus tomorrow morning and see people sporting Hazmat suits, don't be alarmed.

The University of Waterloo and Waterloo Fire Rescue will participate in a joint training exercise on Tuesday morning that begins at 9:00 a.m. and should run until 11:00 a.m. or 12:00 p.m.

The training exercise involves a simulated leak from the PAC swimming pool's chlorination system.

Waterloo Fire Rescue's Hazardous Materials (Hazmat) response team will be on campus and setting up their trucks and equipment in the area of Blue North at the PAC and on the pathway between Burt Matthews Hall and the PAC.

During the exercise, the Hazmat team will be wearing level "A" response gear - gas-tight suits that come equipped with self-contained breathing apparatuses. 

Again, it is only a drill.

Welcome Week and other notes

“The Federation of Students is hosting Spring Welcome Week for undergraduates from May 9 to 13," writes Jacqueline Martinz. "It will feature a variety of free food, prizes, and exciting events including the Warrior Breakfast on Monday morning, a fancy Garden Party on Tuesday with a plant plotting station, and Drake Night on Thursday for fans of the Toronto entertainer and all music lovers. There are plenty of other fantastic events, and the details are on Feds.ca.”

The David Johnston Research + Technology Park is hosting a Charity Food Truck Rally at the TechTown Patio on May 24 from 11:30 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. “Come hungry, leave full,” says the official announcement. “A donation to the rally will provide all attendees with a tasty sample from every food truck. Proceeds go directly to the R+T Park Tenants Fund at the KW Community Foundation.”

In addition to the fleet of food trucks, a number of electric vehicles from BMW, Mitsubishi, and Nissan will be on site and available for test drives.