Nurses Association of New Brunswick Award

I am passionate about the integral role nurse practitioners have in improving access to primary care, promoting health, preventing illness, and managing chronic disease for individuals, families, and communities within the primary health care setting.

I am entering the final year of study as a nurse practitioner student and have recently added a thesis component to my graduate work. My research will explore how the public perceives and understands the nurse practitioner role in primary health care and how information about the role is disseminated to the public. I expect that my work will contribute to the research base regarding the nurse practitioner role in New Brunswick and beyond, gain a better understanding of the public’s knowledge of the NP role, and ultimately promote its presence and value in the primary health care setting.

This award will facilitate my learning and research as I complete my graduate work while working part-time as a Registered Nurse in intensive care in Saint John, New Brunswick, advocating for the nursing profession and healthy public policy at a provincial level, and raising three small children.

I believe that a sustainable, publicly-funded health care system requires a shift in focus toward health promotion, illness prevention, and capacity building at the community level. I am a strong advocate for improved integration and utilization of the NP role in primary health care across Canada and am grateful to the Canadian Nurses Foundation and its donors for this recognition.