CNSA Advocacy in Nursing Award

First and foremost, I would like to take this opportunity to express my sincere gratitude for being selected, again, for the CNSA Advocacy in Nursing award for the 2022-2023 award cycle. 

I chose to become a nurse with the “persuasion” of my mom, an OR RN at the Rockyview General Hospital in Calgary, Alberta. Since starting my post-secondary journey, she has been planting seeds for considering the nursing field which has sparked curiosity about the profession. In 2018, I started the 2-year Disaster and Emergency Management diploma program at NAIT, in Edmonton, Alberta. Coincidently during this timeframe, the COVID-19 pandemic began and opened my eyes to the strong correlation required between the healthcare field and Emergency Management. Upon graduating from the NAIT program in 2020, I began my nursing journey. 

As I head into the 2022-2023 academic year as a third-year BScN student at Red Deer Polytechnic (formerly Red Deer College), I am excited to begin actively reflecting on which focuses I would like to try. Of course, the OR is on my list, but I also have interests in Public Health. Outside of my academics, I am involved heavily in Emergency Management and mental health initiatives, specific to eating disorders. My interest in eating disorder advocacy arose after my own struggle, followed by formal recovery in 2017. I am a strong advocate for education and awareness related to eating disorders, and I hope I can apply this passion similarly from a Public Health nurse standpoint. 

To me, becoming a nurse would allow me to turn my passion into a life-long career through the delivery of quality, compassionate education and care for those seeking assistance. To be a nurse is to be passionate about the profession and the impact, small and large, that nurses can have on the patients they, directly and indirectly, interact with.  I am incredibly excited to be on this journey, and I would like to reiterate my expression of gratitude for the support offered by the Canadian Nurses Foundation through the recognition of this award… it is a true honour.