Joan Gilchrist Award

My journey into the nursing profession was a personal one. As a mother with a critically ill infant, I was met by a team of nurses who demonstrated professionalism, intelligence, and above all, empathy and support for me and my family during a challenging time. I decided then to become a nurse and to strive to provide the high level of care I witnessed from the nurses who cared for my family. During my career as a nurse, I have had the pleasure of working with several families at a nurse practitioner-led clinic. I am also supporting the next generation of nurses in my role as faculty in a bachelor of science in nursing program.

I am passionate about Canada’s publicly funded health system and work toward supporting a health system that is sustainable for generations to come. Working in the primary care sector, I recognised that not all nurses are supported to work to their full scope of practice, resulting in underutilization of valuable nursing resources. I have embarked on graduate studies with a vision of developing practice environments that support nurses in Canada to work to their full scope of practice.