Opening of Centre for Transformational Nursing and Health Research
Dr. Gail Tomblin-Murphy and Minister Leo Glavine
November 24, 2015 marked the opening of the CTNHR, the first nursing-led research center in Atlantic Canada.听 Research focus will center upon population health, health workforce and health systems planning, health equity in marginalized populations, and knowledge translation.听
Nursing Awards 2015
Christine Cassidy and Tim Disher
On November 26, 2015 students, faculty and donors were invited to a celebrate the many awards received by our students.听 Of note are our two Killam Scholars 鈥 Christine Cassidy (PhD student) and Tim Disher (MN student), an honor for which they were nominated.听 Among the many awards received, new awards presented this year included:
Parkin Family Nurse Practitioner Scholarship, renewable scholarship awarded to Nurse Practitioner students who have shown ability, interest and commitment to work in underserved communities (awarded to Jacqueline van Wijlen and Kathleen Waugh)
Anne Marie Hynes Scholarship in Nursing, a renewable scholarship awarded to an outstanding first-year student (awarded to Victoria Goulden)
David R. Hall Scholarship in memory of Dr. Margaret Churchill, awarded to an outstanding first-year student from the Tri-counties enrolled in the Yarmouth site, School of Nursing (awarded to Brittany Holmes)
Drs. Rajender and Asha Parkash Scholarship, awarded to an outstanding first-year student enrolled in the Yarmouth site, School of Nursing (awarded to Kennedy LeBlanc)
Research Collaboration in the Greater Atlantic Community
Faculty from the SON have been working with two communities in Prince Edward Island to uncover what makes communities healthy and what health services people need.
**Using available census data, faculty members Professor Norma Murphy, Dr. Andrea Chircop and Dr. Rosemary Herbert (UPEI School of Nursing) have produced a demographic portrait of the town of Montague, in Kings County, PEI, bringing into focus factors such as age distribution, level of education, employment and income, and housing, for example.听 Identification of these social and economic determinants of health can help the town to think differently about what community health needs are beyond traditional health services.听 Community focus groups, conducted in November 2015, elicited ideas on how to strengthen the population health within the town from participants.听 Data analysis is underway.
**Tyne Valley, a small community in Prince County, PEI, recently contracted with a team from the School of Nursing to conduct needs-based health human resources planning for health.听 The local community facility, Stewart Memorial Hospital, recently transitioned to the provision of long term care, significantly changing how local and surrounding community members access traditional health services within Tyne Valley.听 Drs. Gail Tomblin Murphy, Kathleen MacMillan, Lori Weeks and Professor Norma Murphy will analyse available reports and census data and conduct focus groups with community members over the fall and winter to gain insights into community health status and needs for health services. Using a model for needs-based health human resources planning tested in varied countries and settings, the research project will apply information gained to develop community based recommendations for moving forward.听
SON Fall Events
** RN Prescribing Panel, October 22nd, 2015
The SON was pleased to host a panel of colleagues from the United Kingdom this fall to present their experience of introducing prescribing authority for general class registered nurses.听 Since 1998 RN鈥檚 in the UK have been able to prescribe medications; since 2005, they have been able to prescribe from the full NHS formulary.听 The UK now has about 58,000 non-MD prescribers 鈥 most of whom are RN鈥檚. Our panelists included Sue Axe, a Lecturer at the New Buckinghamshire University where she teaches the post graduate prescribing course; Sarah Jones, a primary care nurse who runs the minor illness clinic and cares for the 700 patients with diabetes in a busy practice just outside of Oxford; and Maureen McKay who was the practice manager when the practice began implementation.听 Dr. Stephen Smith, a primary care MD in the Oxford practice sent a previously recorded presentation.听 They each shared their insights and perceptions of how this change positively impacted the practice, team functioning and patient access to safe, quality care.听 They also shared results of formal evaluation of RN prescribing after almost three decades of experience in the UK.听 The Canadian Nurses Association released a framework for RN prescribing this year; several Canadian jurisdictions are moving forward with implementation.听 Our thanks to the Department of Health and Wellness, Government of Nova Scotia and the College of Nurses of Nova Scotia for supporting the panel presentation.
**Virtual Scholar 2015-16
In 2012-13, the SON implemented a Virtual Visiting Professor role.听 We have been delighted to host three VVP鈥檚 since then.听 The VVP is on campus during the fall and winter terms for 3-4 days during which they provide one formal lecture and are available for consultation by faculty, students, and key partner organizations.听 For the rest of their term, they are available virtually (email, Skype etc.) to contribute to advancing our scholarship.听 This year, we are thrilled to have Dr. Brendan McCormack of Queen Margaret University in Scotland, as our VVP.听 His research and scholarly work is directed to person-centeredness in health care and practice development related to achieving this goal.听 Dr. McCormack is providing input to our new curriculum (to be launched in fall 2016) which has person-centeredness as a core concept.听 He was on site at the end of October and will return in February, 2016.听 Further information can be found at
**November Book Launch/Tour Event 鈥揟heresa Brown 听RN PhD, NY Times Columnist and Author听听
On November 1st, we were thrilled to host a book launch for , whose most recent book The shift: One nurse, twelve hours, four patients鈥 lives, was released this fall and hit the New York Times bestseller list for "Health".听 Theresa pursued nursing as her second career, giving up her role as an English professor at Tufts University.听 Her background in English literature provides a rich backdrop to her ability to tell the story of her experiences as a staff nurse in a busy haematology oncology unit in a way that is informative and compelling to a lay audience.听 . Her most recent column is a great example of her fine writing and ability to convey deeper meaning to everyday nurses鈥 work.听
You can purchase the book for yourself or for a friend at the 新加坡六合彩开奖直播 Book Store.
**For the Health of It 鈥 In November, undergraduate students participated in 鈥淔or the Health of It鈥, a fundraising event sponsored by the Faculty of Health Professions.听 Schools within FHP fundraise individually while creating and performing in educational and hilarious skits, engaging in healthy competition to best other schools.听 More importantly, schools compete to raise the most funds for a selected local charity. 听The School of Nursing鈥檚 FTHOI team, a sub-committee of the 新加坡六合彩开奖直播 Nursing Society, began fundraising and performance preparation in September.
This year鈥檚 charity, Katrin鈥檚 Karepackage, was founded by third year nursing student , to aid cancer patients by covering travel costs to and from treatments. 听Although originating in Newfoundland, the money raised from this year鈥檚 event will enable expansion, providing funds for cancer patients living 50km or more outside of Halifax.听
For more information on For the Health Of It, you can visit
You can also visit 听for more information on Katrin鈥檚 Karepackage.听
The 新加坡六合彩开奖直播 Nursing Society is very active in student affairs of our school.听 For more information about their activities, please visit our
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Message from the Director
Dear Alumni and Friends of the School of Nursing:
This has been a very exciting and productive year for the School of Nursing at 新加坡六合彩开奖直播.听 Over the past three years, the School has been engaged in an ambitious organizational transformation strategy, positioning it to meet the challenges of educating nurses to meet health system needs - now and for the future.听 This fall, our nurse practitioner program and our BScN program both underwent program reviews by the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia and the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Accreditation Board. 听Initial debriefing for both programs indicates that we are meeting our mandate and we look forward to receiving the final decisions on program approval and/or accreditation in the new year.听 We are justifiably proud of all of our students, faculty and graduates; some have particularly distinguished themselves in the past year.听 Best wishes to you and your loved ones at this special holiday season and warm wishes for a happy, healthy, and prosperous New Year in 2016.
Students to Watch
Maike van Niekerk, one of our third-year BScN students, recently received an award from the Canadian Red Cross for "NL Young Humanitarian of the Year".听
Faculty Spotlight
, Associate Professor, and Caritas Coach in the SON, has been invited as a visiting scholar to the University of Colorado, College听of Nursing, in听Denver, Colorado, also the new home for the Watson Caring Science Centre. She will be meeting with doctoral students, faculty, and the newly appointed Endowed Chair in Caring Science, Dr. Sara Horton Deutsch, where she will discuss her evolving听scholarship in Caring Science during their on-site intensive week听related to the University's听newly developed听Caring Science stream of their PhD program.
Grads in the News
Jennifer Searle (BScN15), recipient of the Matthew Ayer Award for excellence in Community Health Nursing, demonstrated sensitivity and an ethical understanding of diversity and inclusiveness, specifically when collaborating with communities living on the margins related to issues of inequity and social injustice during her community nursing placement at Laing House prior to graduation related to her exceptional work during a pilot LGBTQ+ community placement.听 Since graduation, she has been invited to join Lavender Health, an information and resource center for nursing and health care providers to promote the health and wellness of LGBTQ persons, established by world renowned nursing scholar Dr. Peggy Chinn and colleagues. 听Jennifer will be a frequent blogger on the site and can be found at the following link: .
Master of Nursing grad passionate about working in mental health and addictions
Stephanie Williams is the first person in her immediate family to attend university. After graduating from Dal in 2020 with a BScN, Williams accepted a position at the Garron Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health while also working in withdrawal management in Lunenberg and Dartmouth.