Paper
Saturday, July 24, 2004
This presentation is part of : Innovation in Nursing
SARS, the Brave New Frontier for Building New Knowledge
Anne F. Landesman, BScN, MN, Director Medical Program, Humber River Regional Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada and Isabelle M. Mogck, BScN, MEd, CHE, Program Director, Women's and Children's Program, Humber River Regional Hospital, Toronto, ON, Canada.
Learning Objective #1: Understand that it is possible to successfully create new evidence and live new knowledge and impact patient outcomes positively
Learning Objective #2: Realize that even with limited evidence, critical thinking and the synthesis of previous knowledge result in providing a safe environment for nursing practice
Objective: This presentation will demonstrate factors that have significantly influenced and contributed to a new way of being in Canadian hospitals. In March, 2003, hospitals in the Toronto area were challenged by a new disease that had very little evidence and research to guide practice. On this brave new frontier of combating a new infectious disease, Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), leaders used critical thinking and sound judgment to battle this foe. Nurses have a responsibility to understand how history has evolved and impacted their current position and how they continue to make history. The leadership team at a large, multi-site Toronto hospital managed to blend knowledge, consensus of expert opinion, values, stamina and courage to provide care. Throughout this endeavor, relationships and care were valued and developed on a truly global scale.

Design: This presentation will critically analyze available literature on SARS and share the true-life experience of a nursing management team.

Concept: The application of integrating the best available evidence and knowledge, with personal experience and judgment, and then translate this information to provide resources for nurses to practice in a safe supportive environment.

Method: A critical review of the literature on SARS Leadership /management strategies used to create a learning nursing environment with specific application to clinical areas of Medicine and Women’s Health Services.

Finding: It is possible to successfully create new evidence and live new knowledge and impact patient outcomes positively.

Conclusions: There is a new threshold for all health care systems. With globalization of travel and shared living, nurses must continue to be vigilant leaders in the new norm of mysterious, unknown communicable infectious diseases.

Implications: New knowledge is created daily. It is imperative that evidenced based practice teaches nurses to be critical thinkers and to synthesize previous knowledge to meet new challenges.

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Sigma Theta Tau International
July 22-24, 2004