Dr. Kathryn J Hannah Nursing Informatics Scholarship

Growing up I loved science. I would get science books for my birthdays and read them cover to cover. However, in the first years of university, I struggled to feel a good sense of direction in the courses I was taking despite studying a lot of science. I missed the people element of life where I could spend time connecting with other humans and building relationships. I remember standing in a four-hour chemistry lab, doing nothing but watching a beaker change from one colour to another and having the thought, is this really what I want to do with my life?  I transferred to nursing school instead and enjoyed it a lot more. Nursing was a way for me to combine that love of science with a heart for people. 

I am only in the first ten years of my nursing career but I have been in many different areas of nursing, including acute hospital care, ICU, community palliative care, and most recently nursing research and digital health. Seeing the struggle to communicate and share information and scientific data between the different areas of nursing, especially during the pandemic, is a big part of my motivation for taking more education in nursing. My Master’s studies have helped me gain skills for collecting and sharing nursing data where it is the most helpful and useful for patients and nurses, and for making healthcare a better experience for Canadians from many different walks of life.