Nova Scotia Nurses Association Award

I would like to extend a sincere thank you to the Canadian Nurses Foundation as well as to the scholarship and corporate donors. I am truly honored to be the recipient of the CNF Nova Scotia Nurses Award for 2015.

In 2011, I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia and began my career as a registered nurse in the emergency department; the practice environment I remain in today. Currently, I am pursuing a Masters of Nursing at Dalhousie University and focusing my thesis on the experiences of emergency department nurses providing palliative and/or end-of-life care to patients and families living with advanced cancer. My thesis, which will consist of completing a systematic review of evidence-based research, seeks to identify where we are succeeding in providing palliation and symptom alleviation to those with advanced cancer in the emergency department, as well as identifying knowledge gaps which can be improved upon. The findings from this systematic review, made possible through the generosity of this CNF award, hold the potential to improve the quality of emergency department care for patients and families living with advanced cancer, as well as contributing to continued evidence-based nursing research in cancer and end-of-life care.

Again, a sincere thanks to the Canadian Nurses Foundation, as well as to my thesis supervisor, and my always-supportive family and friends.