Melvin Kellie Award

My name is Jim Johansson, I am a Registered Nurse currently based in Edmonton, Alberta. I came into nursing with a commitment to work with – and advocate for – marginalized populations. My clinical practice has primarily been in forensic mental health nursing, a highly marginalized patient population at the intersection of mental illness and the criminal justice system. As a Master of Nursing student at the University of Saskatchewan, my research focuses on how nurses can improve opportunities and outcomes with the most challenging and marginalized patients in the high security forensic mental health setting. I currently work as a Nurse Educator at MacEwan University, where I teach mental health nursing practice. I am most proud of my opportunities to bring the lessons learned from both my clinical practice and research to my instructional practice. My students learn to integrate knowledge of trauma-informed care, historical trauma, and the criminalization of mental illness into their own practice, providing them with the skills to better serve some of society’s most marginalized populations in a respectful and compassionate manner.