Tania Dick

President

Tania Dick hails from the Dzawada'enuxw First Nations of Kingcome Inlet and has been a Registered Nurse in British Columbia for 12 years. Her entire career has been spent in rural and remote nursing, specializing in Emergency and Aboriginal health. She attained her Master of Nursing degree in the Nurse Practitioner program at UBC in 2010. She currently works full time as a general duty nurse in her Father's rural village of Alert Bay, BC.

Tania has been an ARNBC board member for the last two years, representing the voice and issues of Aboriginal and front-line nurses as a Director-at-Large, and has played a key role in advancing the Association's work around Aboriginal Health Nursing. She also serves on the Board of Directors of the Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada representing BC and Alberta, and is a member of CNA's Expert Committee on Aboriginal Health. Tania has served as a BCNU union steward, chair for an equity seeking caucus, and worked as a BCNU staff consultant in Aboriginal Health Policy. Recently, she was selected to participate in the prestigious Governor General's Canadian Leadership Conference.

Tania will utilize her strong networks, expertise, and vast experience to lead B.C.'s nursing family to influence policy into action. With strong ties to both the BCNU and ARNBC, Tania has been deeply troubled by the discord that exists within the B.C. nursing community and is committed to seeking positive solutions that support all nurses and groups to work collaboratively for the good of the profession. She believes that there is value in each of B.C.'s three nursing groups and that nursing and the public deserve as many voices as possible speaking out for good, sustainable, public healthcare.

Tania's goal is to empower nurses to use their voices, and work in a united way to benefit not only the nursing family, but also the health of all British Columbians. Tania is excited at the opportunity to be part of the ARNBC leadership team for the next four years, and to represent the voice of all nurses in advocating for change.

Sally Thorne

President-Elect

Dr. Sally Thorne is a respected nursing leader, academic and sought-after expert on health and public policy. She is passionately committed to a strong and effective nursing professional association policy voice and to enriching the coordinated contributions of BC’s three nursing organizations in building a strong, healthy provincial nursing system.

As a former Director of the UBC School of Nursing, Sally has had a hand in teaching and supporting generations of RNs/NPs and she remains an approachable and supportive mentor across nursing careers. She has led many initiatives that have resulted in improved health for Canadians. Having served on numerous boards (including as current Chair of MSFHR) she brings a strong understanding of governance, fiduciary responsibility and strategic planning.

Sally strongly believes the people of BC deserve the benefit of a nursing vision on matters of public policy. She looks forward to working in collaboration with BC nurses to inspire public excitement about the contributions our profession makes to society.

Agnes Black

Director at Large

I believe passionately that all nurses can use our training and our roles to be advocates and change agents for our patients, their families and the health care system. We can do this at the bedside, in the classroom, in leadership roles, as researchers, and at healthcare policy tables.

In my 20 years of nursing, I have worked in public and community health, in cancer care, with marginalized populations, on research projects, and in leadership. I am currently working at Providence Health Care as the Research Leader in Professional Practice, supporting nurses and other point-of-care clinicians to engage with research and to conduct their own small-scale research projects to improve patient care. I have worked to bring nurses to the research table as full partners with other members of the multi-disciplinary team.

I completed my BSN at the University of Washington, and my Master of Public Health at Simon Fraser University. I am an adjunct professor at the UBC School of Nursing, and have been fortunate to work in a role that bridges nursing practice and academia. I was honoured to receive the ARNBC Award for Excellence in Innovation in 2016, and the CRNBC Award for Excellence in Nursing Practice in 2013.

If elected to serve on the ARNBC Board of Directors, I will bring a strong, practice-based voice to nurses in settings across BC, as we work together to create a more equitable, patient and family centred healthcare system.

Outside my regular job, I am an active volunteer in local and international settings, including serving on the board of Casa Materna, an organization that supports safe deliveries for high-risk pregnant women in rural Nicaragua. I love hiking, gardening, travel, and spending time with my two almost-grown children, Ben and Annie, my husband Tim, and friends.

Lori Campbell

Regional Director: Vancouver Coastal

Lori completed her BScN at McMaster University and started her career at VCH in 2005. She has had positions in surgical care, intensive care, harm reduction, and on Vancouver’s downtown east side. As a direct care nurse dealing with patients from every part of Vancouver’s complex social and ethnic structure, Lori has gained a passion for promoting strong, evidence-informed nursing practice.

Currently working to support direct care clinicians in the Vancouver Professional Practice department as a practice initiatives lead, Lori has an excellent vantage point to promote best practice, innovation and integration of technology within nursing practice. A strong team player, she is actively involved with interdisciplinary groups at VCH. In addition to working full-time Lori is also pursuing an MSN at UBC and maintains a strong presence on social media as @NurseNerdy.

Lori believes a professional association plays an important role in promoting the profession and looks forward to working collaboratively to unite all nursing organizations.

Marcia Carr

Director at Large

Marcia Carr brings an extensive breadth of experience and nursing leadership to advocate within the ARNBC Director at Large role. As a Registered Nurse for over 45 years Marcia has cared for patients, clients and residents from "womb to tomb", an experience that includes populations in obstetrics and gynecology, pediatrics, psychiatry, adults and older adults within acute care, home care and public health. Marcia has brought her nursing expertise to roles as a faculty member and adjunct faculty at nursing schools across Canada. She has worked as a Director of Care, and with the Canadian Nurses Association, College of Registered Nurses of BC (CRNBC), BC Ministry of Health, ARNBC and CNS Association of BC in a variety of roles. Marcia currently works as a Nurse Continence Advisor and CNS in acute Medicine. Marcia is a recent recipient of the CRNBC Award of Excellence in Nursing Practice. Throughout all of these experiences, Marcia has been a dedicated, passionate and articulate advocate for the profession of nursing and would be an asset to the ARNBC board.

Julie Cinel

Regional Director - Interior

Julie is a proud Registered Nurse from Kamloops BC, where she resides with her husband and two small children. She began her career in perioperative nursing, and has since completed her Master of Science in Nursing at UBC with a focus on the local policy landscape for nurse anesthesia practice, and advanced practice nursing roles. In 2014, she joined faculty at Thompson Rivers University in Kamloops as a nurse educator. Her interests lie in care of the elderly, perioperative education, and interprofessional education.

Julie is situated amongst a dynamic team of nursing experts (both in academia and clinical practice) who advocate for patients, communities, and populations through evidence-informed practice and participation in the advancement of nursing's specialized body of knowledge. She is passionate about her role in educating the nurse leaders of tomorrow. She believes nurses are powerful change agents, who need to have their voices heard. We need strong representation at the policy table to ensure nurses of BC are able to have a say in sustainable, systemic change.

Laura Colley

Director at Large

Laura Colley graduated from UBC in 1994 with her BScN and worked on medical and surgical units until she decided to pursue Critical Care at BCIT in 1999. Her nursing experience includes Medicine, Surgery, Intensive Care, Interventional Radiology, Parenteral Therapy and Clinical education.

Recently, Laura completed her Masters of Science in Nursing with a focus on leadership development. From her clinical experience and academic pursuits, she has become passionate about every nurse understanding their influence as a leader, from novice to expert and from bedside to boardroom.

Laura is currently working as a General Clinical Nurse Educator in the Regulatory Practice Portfolio of Professional Practice at Fraser Health. This role situates her in a unique position to strategically understand policy from multiple vantage points. She is also part of the Nursing Practice Advisory Council at ARNBC because she believes the association plays an important role in the professional development of nurses across the Province of British Columbia.

Jessy Dame

Director: Indigenous

Jessy Dame is a proud Métis Registered Nurse of Cree descent. Jessy works as a NICU nurse and with the First Nations Health Authority, working within Indigenous communities throughout northern rural BC with his CRNBC Remote certification. Jessy has been an active member of many nursing association and health board of directors including: ARNBC, Canadian Nursing Student Association, Kamloops Métis Society, Canadian Indigenous Nurses Association, Global Association of Student and Novice Nurses, Kamloops Pride Society, and Emerging Health Leaders.

Jessy's Indigenous activism is extensive and includes advocating for mandatory cultural safety and Indigenous health courses in nursing programs nationally; supporting the TRC recommendations by increasing Indigenous representation in governing bodies; and mentoring Indigenous youth to connect with culture and engage in activism. Jessy had the privilege of supporting the student and new grad community through his work the Kamloops ARNBC network and his contract work with ARNBC supporting the development of their new IGNITE program. His work with ARNBC strengthened his love for advocacy and policy and was a tremendous learning experience. Jessy's advocacy is driven by his passion for equity, social justice and first hand experiences. Jessy feels that next generation has a responsibility to build upon the strong platform Indigenous leaders have long fought for so that we may reclaim our strength and health. Jessy is a charismatic passionate nurse, and as an emerging leader he works well with stakeholder and colleagues to build a strong unified nursing profession. Jessy's goals for the First Nations BOD position is to continue to foster cultural safety and humility by honouring Indigenous Ways of knowing and connecting through culture.

Damen DeLeenheer

Regional Director - Northern

As a clinical nurse educator for Northern Health's community and rural Mental Health and Substance Use programs in the northern interior, Damen works with staff from virtually any program that have requests for practice support when engaging with any person requiring mental health related interventions. It is this challenge to meet the diversity of requests that keeps Damen engaged in his role.

When not supporting clinical staff, Damen teaches 3rd and 4th year nursing students in Baccalaureate program at the University of Northern British Columbia. Working with students and clinicians is an opportunity for him to share real time clinical practice challenges between the two groups as well as looking for ways to implement each group's creative suggestions to solving them.

Maylene Fong

Director at Large

Maylene Fong began her nursing career in critical care and is currently working in community health and primary care. She has worked in various roles as a front line nurse, educator, clinical nurse specialist, and most recently as a manager in community health, where she works closely with both nurses and health authority management to develop long-term, evidence-based solutions to existing and emerging issues.

Maylene is a strong advocate for nursing standards of practice and was a member of CRNBC's Professional Support Program for many years. She has been an ARNBC Director for the last four years.

Maylene respects the role that all three nursing organizations play in strengthening the profession. As an RN for 34 years, she has seen firsthand the strength of nurses and recognizes that by working collaboratively for the benefit of the profession, nursing can and does achieve great things. Maylene believes it is essential for nursing to have a strong voice in advocating for the health of British Columbians, and that involvement makes change happens.

Sherri Kensall

Regional Director - Fraser

Sherri has worked as a registered nurse in a variety of settings in the past 25+ years, primarily within the Fraser Health Region. Her career has spanned acute, community and academia as she has worked in medicine, surgery, nephrology, diabetes, cardiac, primary care and as a sessional nursing instructor. She strongly believes in the role of nurses as advocates for our patients and advocates for a system which supports nurses to provide the quality of care we are proud of.

For the past four years, Sherri has worked as a Clinical Nurse Specialist focused on system level changes spanning the region from Burnaby to Boston Bar. She also works casually as a staff nurse in hemodialysis in Vancouver to keep her feet firmly planted in practice. Throughout her career, Sherri has been a strong advocate for nurses and nursing practice and has promoted nursing leadership at the local and system level.

Mark Schultz

Regional Director - Island

Mark has practiced as an NP for 8 years in a variety of environments including primary care at the Comox Valley Nursing Center, urgent and emergent care at Oceanside Health Center in Parksville, primary and emergency care for the Southeast Alaska Regional Health Corporation, orthopedic reconstruction at UBC, and inpatient cardiology at VGH. Mark served two terms as a board member of the British Columbia Nurse Practitioner Association, and served as chair of their strategic direction committee. He recently completed a term as chair of the Island Health NP Community of Practice, as well as the Island Health NP implementation committee which was tasked with evaluating and advising on funding NP roles in the Vancouver Island Health Authority.