Military Nurses Award

I started my nursing career in 2009. Starting school again was difficult and scary – having rehashed some of the experiences and struggles from early university life. I graduated from my college program in 2012 and continued onto to university where I completed my baccalaureate in 2014. I am now halfway through my master’s degree in Global Health Studies. My nursing career has allowed me to express and act on my desire to work from a social justice perspective and to enrich my community by learning about cultural diversity and human rights.   These concepts ensure I am able to treat my patients with dignity and respect and to understand the many social determinants of health faced by vulnerable populations.

My desire to work with communities has led me to my current project. From September-December 2015, I will be studying in Haiti and working with a Haitian non-governmental organization as part of the research component for my degree. We will be analyzing the impact of protocol changes for the prevention of mother to child transmission of HIV. The scholarship awarded by the Canadian Nurses Foundation helps support this project and the many advantages that will follow from it.

This project provides a unique opportunity to be part of an accompaniment process whereby Haitian nurses have allowed me to collaborate with them on this research in hopes that we will grow both as researchers but also to help contribute to the nursing practice and policies in Haiti (and worldwide) contributing to HIV transmission.