Innovative Medicine Canada Award

Many nurses say that nursing was a calling, or that they decided on the profession after a meaningful nursing interaction but I came to it without vocation or influence. At 20, I had dropped out of university and was bartending 5 nights a week. I was rudderless. I knew I needed direction and so, hoping that nursing would blend my aptitude for human connection and empathy with my love for science, action, and travel, I enrolled in a nursing program. I knew no nurses and, until my first clinical rotations, I had never spent time in a hospital. I was immediately hooked.

Nursing is dynamic, it is engaging, it is challenging, and it is human. In my years in the ER and the ICU I have had the privilege of meeting people from all walks of life. They have allowed me in on their most difficult days and I have been able, through my nursing expertise, to intervene meaningfully. Nursing perfectly blends the scientific and the psychosocial. And, in my current role as a medevac flight nurse, there is no shortage of travel and action.

I have had my share of challenging days on the job but never once have I regretted my career choice. Perhaps it was a calling after all. Every day that I get to engage in patient care is a day I consider myself lucky and I cannot wait to continue serving my community as a Primary Care Nurse Practitioner.