After 41 years, Vancouver-based Nursing BC published its last print issue in July. The non-profit magazine, created by the College of Registered Nurses of BC, published content to adhere to the CRNBC mandate to “protect the public through the regulation of registered nurses and nurse practitioners.” Members of the organization will now instead receive an e-newsletter six to eight times a year.

According to Bruce Wells, publisher of Nursing BC for 24 years, this decision was not financially based; in fact, advertising was on the rise. But since the Registered Nurses Association of BC recently became the CRNBC in 2005, Wells says the organization’s mandate changed, and they have finally decided to move the magazine online.

“We had this magazine that was started when we were an association, so it was a magazine that we carried over,” he says. “When the government regulations changed about four years ago, publishing the magazine wasn’t really within our mandate anymore. So we reevaluated some of our programs, and this is just one that wasn’t really meeting our mandate.”

Nursing BC’s 39,000 subscribers will continue to receive information about regulatory issues and government legislation affecting nurses. The e-newsletter, which went out for the first time in June, will provide that information and direct readers to the CRNBC website for further details.