Giovanetti Graduate Award

I currently live in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, with my spouse, two wonderful teenagers, three cats, and a guinea pig. I have been a Registered Nurse for 20 years and have enjoyed diverse nursing experiences in clinical care, education, public health, and leadership roles. In 2021, I realized a decade-long plan to take a master’s degree and started in the Collaborative Nurse Practitioner Program offered through the University of Regina and Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Other than genuine care for people, the qualities that have defined my career are patience and persistence. Regardless of my job role, I have almost always been a change agent. I quickly learned that practice change does not happen quickly or easily even at the ward/unit level, let alone the health system level. The seeds of change can take years to come to fruition and they need to be planted, nurtured, and continuously supported for success. Early in my career I discovered a passion for pain management and have spent 15 years advocating for better access to resources and care for people living with pain in Saskatchewan. Hellen Keller’s wise words, “Ideas without action are worthless”, have been my guiding light. People with pain have a great need to be believed, to have help navigating a complex healthcare system, and to receive appropriate drug and non-drug therapies from practitioners who have pain education and who create environments that feel culturally safe. As a family/all-ages nurse practitioner, I will be one person who stands in that gap.