The Saint Elizabeth Home and Community Care Scholarship

Growing up in Northern Ontario, I witnessed significant barriers to healthcare (such as prolonged wait times and requirement for travel), which were partly due to shortages of medical resources, including primary healthcare providers. At this same time, I was completing a Bachelor of Science, during which I came to desire a career where I could apply my love for science while connecting with and directly helping people in my community. Through summer work positions and discussions with nurses I knew, I realized and became excited by the deep involvement of nurses across all aspects of the healthcare system: as front-line clinicians, leaders in system transformation, educators, researchers, and advocates, among other roles. Motivated by these experiences, I pursued the University of Toronto (UofT)’s second-entry nursing program and became a Registered Nurse in 2020. 

Over the last few years, it has been my privilege to care for individuals and families across the lifespan in a variety of settings, such as inpatient neonatal/paediatric medicine and critical care units, in the community and in public health, and additionally as a research assistant. My commitment to lifelong learning and passion to improve accessibility of primary healthcare fuels my continued education in the Master of Nursing – Nurse Practitioner program at UofT, of which I will be entering my second year come Fall 2024. 

I am honoured and grateful to be recognized as a Canadian Nurses Foundation (CNF) scholar and would like to sincerely thank CNF donors for their generosity and investment into next-generation practitioners.