Janet Hazelton acclaimed Nurses’ Union president for sixth term

News Release - for immediate release

(Halifax, February 4/14) Janet Hazelton has once again been acclaimed to the position of president of the Board of Director’s of the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union. This is the sixth consecutive term for Hazelton, a registered nurse who has held the position since October 2002.

Ms. Hazelton has enjoyed many victories on behalf of the 6700-plus registered nurses, licensed practical nurses and nurse practitioners she represents. In 2011, the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union introduced a standardized uniform to bolster the accessibility and identity of nurses across the province. To date, this trend has been piloted by five other provinces in Canada and has garnered attention from international nursing and health organizations.

In October 2013, the NSNU was the first nurse union in Atlantic Canada to negotiate a workload process that includes the use of an Independent Assessment Committee (IAC). This process provides a means of ensuring safe staffing and safe patient care, giving nurses a voice in how best to resolve staffing problems using their front line expertise. This model is currently in practice in Ontario, Manitoba, Saskatchewan and British Columbia.

Hazelton is a graduate of the school of nursing at St. Francis Xavier and in 2010 she completed her Masters degree in Public Administration at Dalhousie University. Janet sits on the Board of Directors for the Workers’ Compensation Board of Nova Scotia, the Provincial Nursing Network of Nova Scotia, and the National Executive Board of the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions. She is also the NSNU Trustee for the Health Association of Nova Scotia Pension Plan.

In late 2013, she was named by the Speaker of the House of Assembly Kevin Murphy to a three member MLA remuneration review panel. The MLA Remuneration Review Panel will review compensation packages, for MLAs in Nova Scotia.

A resident of Truro, Ms. Hazelton will hold the position for another two-year term, in time to welcome one thousand nurses from across the country when the NSNU hosts the Canadian Federation of Nurses’ Unions Biennial conference in June 2015.

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The NSNU represents over 6700 Registered Nurses, Nurse Practitioners and Licensed Practical Nurses working in hospitals, long term care facilities, and community care (VON and Canadian Blood Services). NSNU represents nurses in acute care setting in all 9 District Health Authorities including the IWK and the following hospitals located in the Capital District Health Authority: Dartmouth General, Hants Community, Cobequid Community Health Centre, Eastern Shore Memorial, Twin Oaks, Musquodoboit Valley Hospital. The NSNU represents nurses in the vast majority of long term care facilities throughout the province. The NSNU is a member organization of the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions which represents over 156,000 nurses and student nurses across Canada.

Contact

Janet Hazelton, President of the Nova Scotia Nurses’ Union

(Mobile 456-2084)

Coleen Logan, Communications Officer

(Bus. 468-0286, mobile 430-6169)