Lifetime Achievement

Evelyn Voyageur, RN., BsN., MA/ABS, PhD.

Dr Evelyn Voyageur is from the Kwa-kwa-ka-wak Nation of the Dzawadainox tribe in B.C. She is fluent in her language, cultural traditions and is a respected Elder in her community who continues to pass on these teachings to new generations. Evelyn's western education started in the residential school in Alert Bay. She first became a Licensed Practical Nurse, received her RN in 1979 from Douglas College, her BScN in 1990 from the University of Victoria, a Master's degree in 1995 and finally a PhD in 2002 from Stratford University. Evelyn received recognition for her excellent academic achievements as a student including scholarships and grants from the Department of Indian Affairs, The Imperial Order of Daughters of the Empire and Indigenous and Northern Affairs Canada (INAC) First Nations Health.

During her career working for Health Canada as a community nurse throughout the1980's and 1990's, she initiated changes in the way health care was delivered to First Nations Communities by advocating for nurses to stay in the community for longer periods in order to gain a greater understanding of the impacts of institutionalized oppression and racism on health. She was president of The Aboriginal Nurses Association of Canada (now the Canadian Indigenous Nursing Association) and the Native and Inuit Nurses Association of British Columbia. During this time, she received the Nursing Excellence Award from Health Canada for significant contributions to health and health care.

Evelyn has also been a leader in promoting culturally safe nursing education. For the last 10 years she has worked at North Island College as an Elder in Residence where she has provided guidance in integrating local First Nations knowledge and culture into the curriculum. She continues to promote culturally safe education in local, national and international forums.

Evelyn remains active in many community organizations that advocate for Indigenous peoples health including the Vancouver Island Health Authority Aboriginal Working Group, The New Hospital Projects Aboriginal Advisory Committee and The Ministry of Children and Families Aboriginal Advisory Group (CAVE).

Excellence in Nursing Administration

Shayla Lewendon, RN, BScN

As the Patient Care Coordinator (PCC) for the Positive Health Services (PHS) clinic at Jim Pattison Outpatient Care and Surgery Center in Surrey, Shayla goes above and beyond what is required in her role on a daily basis. She provides exemplary leadership to the interdisciplinary team and uses humor, evidence based practice and a patient centered approach to promote high quality care to a vulnerable patient population, those infected with HIV and Hepatitis C (HCV).

Shayla takes every opportunity to increase awareness about the barriers clients face and advocates for more comprehensive resources and holistic interdisciplinary care delivery. Her strong voice has contributed to the introduction of the peer navigator role to the clinic. This role supports HIV+ peers to be integrated into the clinical setting as support workers. Shayla has also supported HIV+ youth peer based initiatives at the clinic and led an anti-HIV stigma campaign to educate frontline and leadership audiences across the region about HIV related stigma. When the fentanyl overdose crisis began, Shayla championed a program which provided clinic staff with education and tools required to be able to preventatively provide Nalaxone kits and training to clients.

On a system level, Shayla has collaborated with internal and external stakeholders across the region to establish monthly case conferences called "Lost to Care Rounds". The goal of these meetings is to strategize and develop individualized action plans to engage patients that have "fallen through the cracks". Shayla also contributed to the opening of two new clinics in Abbotsford that serve clients similar to PHS.

Shayla is active in provincial and national work around HIV and HCV and has spent countless hours of her own time attending educational events that enhance her professional development, both as a leader and as an HIV/HCV care provider. She is a role model, care-giver, active listener, mentor, leader and a staunch advocate dedicated to providing the highest level of client centered, medical, social, and emotional care to a marginalized population who hold her in their utmost respect.

Excellence in Advancing Nursing Knowledge & Research

Lillian Mei Hung, RN, PhD

Lillian Hung is a Clinical Nurse Specialist working at Vancouver General Hospital (VGH). She has a background in gerontology and older adult tertiary mental health and works in both the Acute Medicine Dementia Unit and the Tertiary Mental Health Units. Lillian has currently finished her PhD dissertation in person-centred care in acute units. Her research focused on the care experiences of older patients and her practice centers on supporting staff to provide quality care for older adults in various care settings including acute, mental health and residential. Her dream for her nursing career is to be a nurse scientist and play an active role in innovating, improving practice and producing research in the area of caring for older adults with complex needs.

In less than 10 years, Lillian has conducted six funded projects as a principal investigator and five as a co-investigator. She has also received numerous awards including scholarships reserved for the very best doctoral students across Canada. These include scholarships from the Canadian Institute of Health Research, Alzheimer Society of Canada and the Canadian Gerontological Nursing Association. She has been recognized as the 2017 Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute top doctoral student and was a 2015 Robert H. Ho Scholar for her research focused on enhancing patient care. Her many other awards speak to her ability to build effective interdisciplinary teams for developing new knowledge for practice.

Lillian is firmly committed to translating her research for broader impact and has 14 peer-reviewed articles in leading publications, with nine as first author. Lillian is also known as an effective communicator of her research with the public and other nurses through both mainstream and social media channels. She has always remained committed to supporting and creating a strong research community and is generous with her time as a peer reviewer for grants and journal articles. She is also widely recognized for her mentorship and is helping practitioners learn research skills while building a community rooted in her belief that nurses at the point of care can take leadership roles in the conducting of research.

Excellence in Advancing Nursing Knowledge & Research

Kathy L. Rush, PhD, RN

Kathy Rush is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia's Okanagan (UBC-O) campus. Her exceptional talents as a researcher, mentor, collaborator and role model are consistently reflected in her work. Her program of research is characterized by the challenging work she takes on to improve the health and well-being of older adults with complex health challenges across health care and geographic contexts.

Currently, she is focusing on transitions in care for older adults with cardiac conditions and the design of innovative approaches to bring services close to home that support self-management. Her inspiring leadership and dedication to working collaboratively with clinicians, decision makers, researchers, patients and families as well as both undergraduate and graduate students has led to the development of highly effective and productive research teams.

A second research stream Kathy has undertaken is in the area of nursing education. This work has received a great deal of attention not only from other scholars and educators, but importantly from health authorities interested in launching these programs for new graduates.

Recognized for her methodological expertise, Kathy is often sought out by others for research advice and support in evaluating educational programs and approaches. Her success is clearly reflected in her funding and publication record for which she has received over one million dollars in competitive funding and has a career total of more than 50 peer-reviewed publications.

Kathy's work has been presented locally and at numerous national and international conferences. In addition to her own active program of research, Kathy is well known for the positive learning experience that she creates for her students, and her skill in sparking interest in research to advance evidence-informed nursing practice and health care. She never fails to take up opportunities to support and coach others in understanding research and developing their research skills.

Excellence in Advancing Nursing Knowledge & Research

Tracy Truant, RN, MSN, PhD(c)

Tracy is a national oncology nursing leader and knowledge generator, inspiring innovation and action in others through mentorship, education, research and leadership roles. She uses her passion for and grounding in nursing to role model and engage others in developing innovative approaches to paving the way toward high quality cancer care that is evidence-based, person-centred and wellness-oriented. For example, locally she led nursing and interprofessional teams to develop innovative, nurse-led models of care, and co-developed a first-of-its-kind complementary medicine education and outcomes assessment research program to better support cancer patient and family decision-making with respect to natural products, lifestyle supports and complementary medical approaches.

On a national level, she served as clinical collaborator and knowledge user for the Pan-Canadian 0ncology Symptom Triage and Remote Support Initiative. She has also been a thought leader in the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO), currently serving as it is national President. In this role, as well as in earlier roles with that organization, she has led teams of nurses to establish key organizational directions, developed policy influence initiatives that address key determinants of inequity in cancer care and established CANO's international framework to enact its social justice imperative for cancer care globally.

She has developed, implemented and evaluated evidence based national standards for cancer chemotherapy administration, and built a system of program evaluation in relation to that initiative that has been emulated by other organizations seeking to document the effects of their knowledge advancement projects. Internationally, she has played an active role in research capacity building projects in Latin America and beyond, empowering and mentoring local nurse leaders to champion high quality evidence based oncology nursing care in their region. In addition to those numerous initiatives at all levels, in her own current research Tracy is critically examining cancer survivorship systems of care toward the goal of making recommendations for a more equity-oriented and person-centered system in Canada.

Excellence in Nursing Education

Barbara Astle, RN, PhD

Barbara Astle is currently Associate Professor of Nursing at Trinity Western University (TWU) where she teaches across both BSN and MSN programs. She is one of those rare and gifted educators who is as comfortable and effective teaching first year BSN students in residential care settings as she is with teaching an online course on qualitative research to MSN students.

Recognized as a leader in global health education, Barbara also focuses on global health and human rights and research literacy for undergraduate and graduate students. She has been the lead editor for the best-selling "Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing" textbook for the past several years, which was the first fundamentals textbook in Canada to include a specific chapter on global health.

She is completing a research project on global health competencies for undergraduate nursing students, and has developed a "Global Health" course that is now a required course for all BSN students in her institution. Barbara is also a member of the Consortium of Universities on Global Health (CUGH) Competency Subcommittee, with whom she developed a "Global Health Competencies Tool Kit" with learning objectives and curricular content to support competencies for interprofessional trainees and students launched in March 2017.

In addition to her own research in global health education, Barbara has mentored students who are interested in global health both during their studies and afterward. It is difficult to overstate her inclination towards mentorship in all she does, whether mentoring students, graduates, prospective students or colleagues. As her students have noted, Barbara is the reason why some have chosen to enrol in their programs. It was her passion and excellence in education that has led these students to refer to her as the best mentor and advisor they can imagine. Her research is progressive and she consistently aims to advance nursing as well as the good of humanity. Barbara truly demonstrates excellence in all aspects of education, from teaching excellence, to curriculum development, to education research and educational reach.

Excellence in Nursing Education

Darlaine Jantzen, PhD, RN

Darlaine has made an immeasurable impact as an educator, leader and mentor. Currently she serves as Chair of Nursing at Camosun College where she demonstrates an in-depth knowledge of multiple facets of nursing, with more than three decades of experience as a clinician, manager and educator. Darlaine has a strong foundation in clinical practice, for which she has had many commendations, and brings this extensive knowledge into educational settings.

Students consistently evaluate her instruction as excellent, a testament to her commitment to excellence that underpins her teaching. To further augment her strengths as an educator, Darlaine is actively involved in evaluating and revising curriculum, both undergraduate and graduate. She is involved in many strategic curriculum planning initiatives such as, adapting curriculum to the National Council Licensure Examination (NCLEX) requirements, integrating interprofessional education and responding to the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC). In addition, she is highly involved in the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (CASN) accreditation preparation and the ongoing response to accreditation reports. Darlaine is also integral to the enactment of the Joint Degree Program in Nursing (JDPN) between Camosun College and the University of Victoria.

Darlaine has strategically leveraged a new building that will house the Nursing Program (starting 2019) at Camosun as a catalyst to further the co-creation of a culture of innovation and best practices. In all of this, she remains engaged in scholarly activities and is often an invited guest speaker. She has over two dozen peer reviewed conference presentations, has published in both academic and clinical areas and contributes to the profession of nursing through her work with organizations such as the Nursing Education Council of BC (NECBC) onto which she was nominated as an executive member.

Darlaine has the invaluable ability to focus on both the overarching influences at play for the profession and discipline of nursing, while simultaneously attending to the details of current issues at hand. At the centre, she remains committed to offering nursing students an introduction to nursing practice that is current and relevant and consistently inspires those who are fortunate enough to encounter her energy and wisdom.

Excellence in Nursing Education

Monique McLaughlin, NP (Family)

Monique McLaughlin is the consummate innovator, role model and professional. Her accomplishments and accolades span two decades of nursing education as a Registered Nurse, Clinical Nurse Educator, Nurse Practitioner and as Chair of the Canadian National Emergency Nurses Association (NENA) for nursing education. As the Nurse Educator for the Vancouver General Hospital Emergency Department, she has created and facilitated a positive learning atmosphere for nurses.

In 1998, Monique brought the Trauma Nursing Core Course (TNCC) to British Columbia. She identified that this course would translate to better care for patients by providing the nurses with a unique skill set. At a national and provincial level, Monique participated in the implementation of the Canadian Triage Acuity Scale (CTAS) across Canadian emergency departments. To date, CTAS is the most widely used emergency department triage system in Canada.

Always the visionary, Monique identified the need to deliver specialized nursing education for increasingly complex patient care and spearheaded delivery of a nurse specific airway management course, Collaborative Advanced Management of Airways for Nurses (CAMAN), and a course for critical care in emergency departments, Advanced Care in Emergency Departments (ACED).

In 2014, Monique partnered with her colleagues at Pacific Rim Nursing and NENA and developed Canada's first bilingual emergency nursing course entitled "Emergency Practice, Interventions and Care- Canada (EPICC)". Designed as a low-tech, high-fidelity course, EPICC meets the needs of learners by using a blended learning format including simulation and online modules. Still in its infancy, EPICC has received unanimous praise from students and educators across the country and is now taught in British Columbia, Alberta and Quebec with many more provinces joining soon.

Recognizing adults learn through a variety of methods, Monique partnered with her colleague Landon James to create Canada's first podcast focusing on evidence-based emergency nursing topics. Outside of the classroom, Monique is a practicing Nurse Practitioner in the Emergency Department at Vancouver General Hospital and has contributed to the rise of nurse practitioner education in British Columbia by being a preceptor and mentor to many NP students.

Excellence in Nursing Practice

Christine Nell Coles, RN

Christine Coles graduated with distinction from the University of Victoria Bachelors of Science in Nursing Program in 2007. Since graduation she has been employed by Providence Health Care (PHC) practicing on the Acute Medical Unit at Mount Saint Joseph Hospital.

Christine exemplifies the Providence Health Care mission statement "How you want to be treated". To patients and families she is regarded as a compassionate and professional care provider. She is highly respected by patients, colleagues and peers because of her non-judgemental and curious approach to patient and family centered care. The care she provides is consistent and holistic regardless of the complexity and challenging nature of patient presentation and circumstances. Christine is a vocal advocate for safer patient care and safer discharge planning and readily provides input, feedback and, if necessary, rebuttal. She serves as a go-to-resource for colleagues and consistently supports her peers by assisting them to develop strategies and solutions for issues. Her advocacy and approach towards patients and colleagues is respected and met with appreciation from the entire interdisciplinary team.

Christine is not only recognized by her peers as an outstanding nurse, but her input has been highly valued and sought after outside the PHC organization. Christine has participated twice in the Clinical & Systems Transformation (CST) project as a subject matter expert. Recently the Manager of the CST Project contacted the Director of Acute Medicine to specifically request Christine's ongoing and continued participation as a subject matter expert.

To enhance her clinical practice Christine enrolled in a four-month online introductory High Acuity Nursing course at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT). While maintaining a work-life balance, Christine makes time for continuing education as a priority for her professional development.

Excellence in Nursing Practice

Heather J. Morrison, CNL, RN, HHP

Heather Morrison is an exceptional Clinical Nurse Leader with a focus on a goal-oriented approach that never loses touch with providing high-quality patient care. She consistently demonstrates leadership, commitment to best practices, innovation and compassionate care to some of the most marginalized and vulnerable populations in Canada.

Heather is able to manage the unique needs of the client and promote a learning environment for her staff all the while keeping the access and flow of the hospital at the forefront of care. She is admired for her strength in difficult situations, her patient-centred perspective and her passion for delivering the best possible health care services.

Colleagues consistently note that one of Heather's strongest qualities is patient advocacy. Recently, Heather was involved in caring for a homeless person who brought a pet rat into the hospital. Faced with such an unusual situation, Heather did not shy away from the challenge but got the team together and found a solution for the patient and the rat. After many phone calls and collaboration with team members, the pet rat was safe and received care and a home at the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA). The patient could focus on their recovery knowing that a beloved pet was safe and well cared for. Heather took the time to understand that for this patient the care of their pet was of paramount importance and, without consideration to the needs of the pet, they would not be able to begin their own healing.

Heather exemplifies her commitment to her work and the people she serves. On non-working days she travels to neighborhood shelters and pharmacies to ensure that there is a focus on collaboration in discharge planning.

Drawing on her years of experience, Heather offers multiple strategies for effective communication. As in all nurse-patient interactions, she observes for nonverbal cues to redirect the patients care as needed and provides undivided attention to any circumstance while always seeking to clarify and resolve problems. Heather leads by example and supports staff decision making thereby empowering them to act on their values and beliefs.

Innovation in Nursing

Cheyenne Johnson, RN, MPH, CCRP

Cheyenne is the Director of Clinical Activities and Development with the BC Centre on Substance Use (BCCSU) as well as the Director of the BC Center on Substance Use Addiction Nursing Fellowship. In her current position, she oversees the development and dissemination of provincial clinical care guidance documents, including evidence-based clinical guidelines, practice support tools, policy briefs and other clinically focused documents.

She is actively involved the BCCSU's interdisciplinary program of research related to substance use, which is also home to the BC Node of the Canadian Research Initiative in Substance Misuse, bringing to bear her substantial experience in clinical trial operations. Cheyenne is a Certified Clinical Research Professional with extensive experience in addiction medicine, HIV/AIDS, dermatology and ophthalmology clinical trials, as well as a background in the education of health professionals, coordination and integration of care and knowledge translation.

Her innovative work has been felt nationally as she has been working with the Canadian Society of Addiction Medicine to enhance an interdisciplinary approach to substance use by helping them to develop an addictions nursing track as well as working with the Canadian Nurses Association to develop online modules that focus on addiction nursing practice. Cheyenne has also worked with national and international groups including nursing educators and clinical nursing experts to develop core competencies for registered nurses that have a clearly defined substance use focus. Most recently, she was working with collaborators at Boston University on a model for nursing-supervised buprenorphine naloxone care for individuals with opioid addiction.

Cheyenne completed her Bachelor of Nursing Science at Queen's University and earned her Master of Public Health from Simon Fraser University. She joined the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS in 2013 as a Clinical Research Nurse where she went on to be the inaugural RN that completed the nursing fellowship program which she now leads. Of note, the BC Centre on Substance Use (formally the St. Paul's Goldcorp Addiction Fellowship) is host to Canada's only addiction nursing fellowship-training program.

Rising Star

Madeleine Greig, RN

Madeleine graduated with her BScN in 2014 and began her career as an RN in Kelowna and Penticton. She is currently a student in the Master of Science in Nursing Program at the University of British Columbia, Okanagan (UBC-O). As an emerging nurse scholar, Madeleine has already made exceptional contributions to nursing in the areas of scholarship, teaching and service. Madeleine is developing knowledge of how to better support nursing students as they participate in global health experiences. Her innovative work uses empirical ethics to explore and analyze nursing students' experiences abroad.

As part of her commitment to global health, she provides leadership for several international initiatives and partnerships including the Okanagan-Zambia health initiative and the Canadian Coalition for Global Health Research. Her excellent work has been acknowledged though prestigious scholar awards. She participates regularly in sharing her knowledge through publications and presentations. Her intellectual vitality is evident in the wide variety of professional development opportunities she takes part in. She recently made important contributions to a National Consensus Conference on Palliative Care. Madeleine is an excellent teacher and her enthusiasm and commitment to student well-being has earned her the highest praise from students and colleagues. She frequently volunteers her time to mentor students who require additional support. Her lectures are evidence-based and full of interesting anecdotes and learning activities to capture students' attention. Her feedback on student assignments is detailed, constructive, respectful and sensitive.

Madeleine is also dedicated to improving care for vulnerable populations, a commitment that is evident in her volunteer work. Even with her busy schedule, she finds time to volunteer for several organizations committed to improving the well-being of those at risk for health disparities. This has included volunteering for the Special Olympics as a camp nurse for children with physical and intellectual disabilities, and as an outreach worker to support harm reduction strategies for vulnerable women.

Rising Star

Frances Wright, RN

Frances Wright began her nursing career in January 2014 after she graduated from the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) Nursing Program with Honours. She completed her final preceptorship on the Palliative Care Unit at St. Paul's Hospital where she immersed herself in her work. Having had a positive experience as a student, Frances became passionate about the values intrinsic to palliative care nursing.

Described by her colleagues as genuine, grounded and supportive, Frances is a strong patient and family advocate who uses her generous and respectful demeanor to provide skilled and compassionate care, both at the beside and in other leadership positions such as Clinical Nurse Leader, to which she was appointed for a six-month period. Her calm demeanor as she negotiated complex and sometimes unprecedented discharges, and her ability to find ways to access the resources needed to support patients requiring varying levels of support and intervention across health authorities was well-noted by her colleagues. She supported the team in creating and carrying out plans of care for patients with complex and challenging needs while learning on the job. Frances maintained her focus on patient care even when navigating pressure from many angles including patient flow, nursing concerns and communication with the community. She met these challenges with equanimity and remained focused on keeping the unit functioning and all while being available, approachable and kind.

Frances is described as a self-aware nurse who works well within a team of interdisciplinary members. She challenges herself with leadership opportunities and is described as assertive but approachable, always ensuring patients and their families are receiving excellent care. Frances is detail oriented and has been a strong and positive mentor to other nurses and nursing students on the unit. She is a current member of the BC Hospice Palliative Care Association, Canadian Hospice Palliative Care Association and a member of both iPanel and InspireNet.

In her few short years in practice, Frances has exceeded the expectations of her team. Her infinite potential and exceptional skills are why she is an exemplary emerging nurse leader.

ARNBC Outstanding Student Intern Recognition Award

Kelsey Holzworth, RN

Kelsey Holzworth is a recent graduate (2016) from the University of Northern British Columbia School of Nursing. Prior to becoming an RN, Kelsey worked as a Licensed Practical Nurse. Kelsey's passion for harm reduction and prison health provided a strong basis for a number of policy initiatives and background information which the Association continues to use. At the same time, Kelsey's willingness to experience the full spectrum of programs and consultations that ARNBC offers was a genuine pleasure to see - from attending and talking with classes of student nurses to helping facilitate an issues workshop to attending and volunteering at events, her willingness to support the ARNBC team was noticed and appreciated.

ARNBC Outstanding Student Intern Recognition Award

Christina Larsen

Christina Larsen graduated from Langara College in August of 2017. During her time with ARNBC Christina demonstrated a strong willingness to challenge herself and seek out opportunities to make her learning experience as fruitful as possible. Her initiative in engaging with the staff team, Board, and external stakeholders, as well as her self-directedness in developing an exceptional draft position statement around poverty demonstrated nursing leadership at its finest. Christina has a passion for health equity and policy which was clearly evident in the way she was able to articulate the very complex issues facing our profession and health care system today.

ARNBC Outstanding School Involvement Award

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU)

Kwantlen Polytechnic University (KPU) became an IGNITE chapter school in early 2017 and quickly established a group of passionate student representatives who immediately created a structure unique to their program. KPU student representatives began building a community by meeting with their faculty liaison and the ARNBC IGNITE Lead to develop a plan to recruit student representatives and learn about the required supports and needs of their student body.

KPU's student representatives and faculty liaisons have shown outstanding leadership by engaging students in nursing policy and advocacy embodying the spirit of the IGNITE program which is to build and support the nursing leadership of tomorrow.