The Canadian Association for Enterostomal Therapy (CAET) is a not-for-profit association and registered charity that has been uniting and serving enterostomal therapy nurses for 37 years, working to support excellence and to advance the profession of RNs specialized in the 3 domains of wound, ostomy and continence care. Through feedback from patients, allied healthcare professionals, and administrators over the past decade, it became apparent that the name "enterostomal therapist" or "enterostomal therapy nurse" was not easy to pronounce, did not reflect the role of the nurse specialized in wound, ostomy and continence care, and was not understood. In the 2014 CAET strategic planning process, the CAET board of directors set a priority to establish a clear identity for the CAET and enterostomal therapy nurses through recognition and understanding of the CAET association name and name of enterostomal therapist/enterostomal therapy nurse.
In order to support the board of directors and CAET members in making a name change decision, a Name Change Leadership Project was launched in Spring 2016 as a part of the CAET Enterostomal Therapy (ET) Nurse Leadership Program. A project team was established that included national representation of ET nurses within diverse age groups and across varying educational levels. The LEADs in a Caring Environment leadership framework was used to guide the process of the project.1 The project team completed an analysis of the impact of the current names performing 6 stakeholder surveys. They conducted 13 one-on-one interviews with both WOCN Society Members who had been a part of the name change from enterostomal therapist in the United States and members from WCET globally. There were also meetings and in-depth discussions with the CAET board of directors and Core Program Leaders, with the Canadian Nurses Association and the WOCN Society Executive in order to discuss and debate potential names and future impact. A business plan was developed to support decision making on whether or not a name change for both the CAET association and the enterostomal therapy nurses would be advantageous.
The information from this project work was presented to the CAET members during 8 "live" town hall meetings that took place during the months of April and May 2017, allowing all CAET members to have the opportunity to gain a better understanding of a potential name change and to be able to ask questions and provide feedback. One-third of the CAET members participated in these meetings.
The CAET members were asked to vote on the names recommended by the CAET board of directors after due diligence was completed and extensive board discussions took place that took the Name Change Leadership project findings into consideration. On May 25, 2017, the vote on the name changes took place at the CAET annual members meeting either through face to face if they were in attendance at the meeting or electronically. In all provinces and territories outside of Quebec, the vast majority of CAET members voted to change the names to those recommended by the CAET board of directors as follows:
The name "Enterostomal Therapist" and "Enterostomal Therapy Nurse" will change to:
Nurse Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence (NSWOC)
The name "The Canadian Association for Enterostomal Therapy" will change to:
Nurses Specialized in Wound, Ostomy and Continence Canada (NSWOCC) (Figure)
In relation to the province of Quebec where the French language is predominately spoken, the CAET board did recognize that l'Association des infirmieres et infirmiers stomotherapeutes du Quebec (AIISQ) may have issues with the French translation of the new names and did vote to support Quebec colleagues in being given additional time in order to discuss this name change and the impact of translation. In Fall 2017, AIISQ members voted to support the name change. Due to the restrictions on the use of the terms "specialized" and "specialist" in the province of Quebec, negotiations are currently in progress with the Order of Nurses of Quebec to arrive at an acceptable translation.
The process to implement the name change started immediately after the May 25, 2017, annual members meeting, and the name change will officially be launched in the public domain once the CAET bylaws with the name change revisions are presented to members with a resolution to adopt. This will take place at the May 4, 2018, Annual Meeting of Members in Victoria, British Columbia, during the CAET 37th annual conference. The legal documents including the Articles of Amendment to support the name change were filed and approved by Corporations Canada2 and the Canadian Revenue Agency3 has been notified.
This name change will strategically position the CAET to better meet the needs of enterostomal therapy nurses and the patients whom they serve. The name change will not only help to clarify the role but also support building capacity in order to advance the profession of nurses specialized in wound, ostomy and continence care, raising more recognition and increasing access for the public.
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