The theme of this year鈥檚 National Nursing Week is 鈥楥hanging Lives, Shaping Tomorrow,鈥� and nurses want change for the better for patients, and also for their own well-being.

In British Columbia, 21 per cent of nurses are exposed to weapons every month, and 21 per cent of nurses report experiencing physical violence every month.

Those numbers are from a survey by the B.C. Nurses鈥� Union that collected data in late winter and early spring, then released the information Thursday, May 2, ahead of National Nursing Week.

The theme of this year鈥檚 National Nursing Week acknowledges the role nurses currently play in patients鈥� lives, as well as their influence in shaping health-care treatments, technologies and practices for the professionals of tomorrow.

Adriane Gear, BCNU president, said while it鈥檚 important that nursing week is a celebration of nurses, it鈥檚 also an opportunity to acknowledge the challenges being faced by the front-line health-care professionals.

鈥淣urses are doing the very best they can at a time when we are in a serious staffing crisis where there is simply not enough of us to deliver the care that our patients require and deserve,鈥� she said.

According to the survey, 39 per cent of nurses reported being exposed to illicit substances every month, 56 per cent experience verbal or emotional abuse, 19 per cent are seriously considering leaving the profession or have already made a plan to do so and 85 per cent reported working short-staffed.

Gear said the provincial government has been working on a minimum nurse-to-patient ratio, however, which is expected to begin implementation in the fall. She called it the No. 1 policy solution in addressing the staffing crisis.

The new standards include one nurse to four patients in adult medical and surgical unit, one nurse to three patients in palliative care, one nurse to five patients during the day in rehabilitation and one nurse to seven patients at night, one nurse to three patients in special care, one nurse to two patients in high acuity and one nurse to one patients in intensive care.

鈥淣ursing is an amazing profession and I know once we get minimum nurse-patient ratios implemented, B.C. will be the best place in Canada to be a nurse,鈥� said the union president.

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National Nursing Week started Monday, May 6, and continues through Sunday, May 12.

To mark the week, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau released a statement on Monday thanking health-care providers. He also brought attention to the federal 鈥� which provides support for provincial health authorities to hire more doctors, streamlines foreign credential recognition and makes it easier for nurses to move between provinces.

鈥淲e thank Canada鈥檚 nurses for their constant care, compassion, and life-saving expertise in supporting the health and well-being of Canadians,鈥� Trudeau said. 鈥淣urses make Canada stronger, healthier, and more prosperous. Together, we will build a health care system that supports our nurses as much as they support us.鈥�

Gear said those who know a nurse should simply thank them.

鈥淚n terms of what the public can do to support nurses and the system outside of nursing week, it鈥檚 to educate themselves on nurse-patient ratios,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he union is undertaking a campaign to educate the public on why this is important for them, it鈥檚 a good retention tool for nurses but ultimately we negotiated this because ratios save lives.鈥�