Dr. Dorothy J. Kergin Fellowship

I found my way to nursing somewhat by chance. I had been contemplating pursuing an elementary education degree and took a nursing course that would count toward the education degree; by the end of the term I knew unequivocally that I wanted to be a nurse.

Upon graduation, I began working at the cancer centre in Edmonton. After completing my Master’s degree and Nurse Practitioner program, I moved to Calgary and worked for the next decade as an NP with the Alberta Blood and Marrow Transplant Program at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre. More recently, I’ve been working as the medical lead for the Oncology and Sexuality, Intimacy and Survivorship (OASIS) clinic, an innovative interdisciplinary clinic that addresses patients’ sexual health after a cancer diagnosis. I also work with the Palliative and End-of-Life Care Services team. In September 2018, I started my doctoral program at UVic. The focus of my dissertation research is on the integration of early palliative care in hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.

Nursing has afforded me limitless opportunities for learning and forging human connections, inexorably imbuing a sense of profound meaning in my life. I’d say that taking that nursing course way back in 1998 was a pretty fortuitous venture.

I am incredibly grateful to the Canadian Nurses Foundation and all those who support the CNF and very humbled to receive the Dorothy Kergin Award.