Speaker Profiles
Keynote Address
Marjorie McDonald RN, PhD
Dr. Marjorie MacDonald is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of Victoria and a CIHR/PHAC Applied Public Health Chair in Public Health Education and Population Intervention Research. She joined the School of Nursing as a sessional instructor in 1990 and received a tenure track appointment in 1995. Her doctoral degree from UBC is in Health Promotion (Community Health and Health Education). She has served as Acting Director in the School and as Associate Director of Graduate Education. As Associate Director, she was responsible for overseeing the development and implementation of the Nurse Practitioner Master’s program at the University of Victoria. She has conducted research with Rita Schreiber on the opportunities and challenges for implementing advanced nursing practice in BC and has recently been involved, with Alison Roots, in an exploratory study on the implementation of the NP role in BC and a study on the nature and scope of practice of NPs in BC. One stream of research within her Applied Public Health Chair award is on conceptualizing the nature of advanced practice in public health nursing, with a strong emphasis on health promotion. Another current study is an exploration of nurses’ roles, including NPs, in facilitating collaboration between public health and primary care sectors to enhance primary health care.
Featured Presenters
Gabor Maté MD
Gabor Maté is a physician, author, seminar leader and public speaker. He is a former medical columnist for The Vancouver Sun and The Globe and Mail. His four books, all Canadian bestsellers, range in topic from Attention Deficit Disorder (Scattered Minds), on which he has a unique perspective; to the mind/body unity and the influence of stress in health and illness (When The Body Says No); to the disastrous loss of parental influence in today’s culture (Hold On To Your Kids). The most recently published, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts: Close Encounters with Addiction has been a #1 national bestseller and has been awarded the Hubert Evans prize for literary non-fiction. His work has been widely translated internationally, in sixteen languages, on five continents.
For twenty years Dr. Maté had a family practice, and for seven years was Medical Coordinator of the Palliative Care Unit at Vancouver Hospital. For the past twelve yeas he has worked in Vancouver’s Downtown Eastside with patients challenged by hard core drug addiction, mental illness and HIV. He has lectured at several universities in the United States and Canada and has addressed many groups of physicians and health care providers, educators, psychologists, therapists, parents and other members of the lay public.
In 2009 Dr. Maté was honored with an Outstanding Alumnus Award from Simon Fraser University. His next book, to be published in 2010, will be The Making and Unmaking of Bullies and Victims: A New Look at a Contemporary Malaise, co-written with developmental psychologist Dr. Gordon Neufeld.
Michael Rachlis MD, MSc, FRCPC, Health Policy Analyst
Dr. Michael Rachlis was born in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1951 and graduated from the University of Manitoba medical school in 1975. He interned at McMaster University in Hamilton and then practiced family medicine from 1976 to 1984 at the South Riverdale Community Health Centre in Toronto. He completed specialty training in Community Medicine at McMaster University from 1984 to 1988.
Dr. Rachlis practices as a private consultant in health policy analysis. He has consulted to the federal government, all ten provincial governments, and two royal commissions. He also holds adjunct associate professor appointments with the University of Toronto Department of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation and the Dalla Lana School of Public Health.
Dr. Rachlis has lectured widely on health care issues. He has been invited to make presentations to committees of the Canadian House of Commons and the Canadian Senate as well as the United States House of Representatives and Senate. He is a frequent media commentator on health policy issues and the author of three national bestsellers about Canada's health care system. HarperCollins published his third book, Prescription for Excellence: How Innovation is Saving Canada's Health Care System, in paperback in March 2005. In his free time, Dr. Rachlis enjoys running and duplicate bridge. He lives in Toronto with his wife and two children.
Guest Presenters
Lynda Balneaves RN, PhD
Dr. Lynda Balneaves is an Associate Professor in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia, an Affiliate Nurse Scientist at the BC Cancer Agency, and Principal Investigator of the UBC/BC Cancer Agency collaborative CAMEO Research Program. She also holds a Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) New Investigator Award.
For the past 12 years, Lynda has focused her research program on the health care decisions made by people living with, or at risk, for cancer. She has a special interest in how individuals and families touched by cancer can be best supported in making safe and informed decisions about complementary and alternative medicine (CAM).
Kirstin Curtis ARNP
Kirstin is a family nurse practitioner board certified by ANCC since 2002. She graduated magna cum laude from Vanderbilt University with both her RN and ARNP degrees. She is a member of the Dermatologic Nurses Association as well as AANP and Mt. Baker NP Association. Kirstin worked full time in a busy dermatology practice in Vancouver, WA under an excellent dermatologic surgeon from 2004-2006, and was able to gain invaluable knowledge and skills in skin. Currently she is working for Bellingham Family Health Clinic, an NP only clinic, where approximately half of her daily patients are referrals for skin concerns. Kirstin manages and treats acne, rashes, resistant warts, mole removals and excisions, and some cosmetic lesions in her busy family practice. In her spare time she and her husband play with their two daughters, teach skiing at Mt. Baker, go hiking, fly fishing and enjoy anything else that is outdoors.
Mark Goheen MA (Counselling Psychology)
Mark Goheen is an Addictions Clinical Specialist in Fraser Health where he is developing research and practice directions. He is based at Maple Ridge Treatment Centre where he also continues to provide front line services to men with histories of substance misuse, many of whom experience significant mental health distress and disorders. He has served as an adjunct faculty at City University of Seattle where he taught Family Systems Theory for Master’s students. Mark has a strong interest in evidence based practice, particularly the landscape of language and the importance of therapeutic relationships in client outcomes. Mark is a globally recognized instructor and clinical supervisor who’s research, clinical practice and instruction in Motivational Interviewing spans over 15 years with diverse client populations.
David Kuhl MD, MSc
David Kuhl, Associate Professor, Department of Family Practice, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia is the Director of the Centre for Practitioner Renewal (CPR), a joint venture between Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia.
Dr. Kuhl graduated with a Masters in Health Sciences (Community Health and Epidemiology) from the University of Toronto in 1981, and received his medical degree from McMaster University in 1985. In 1996, he became a Soros Faculty Scholar, Project on Death in America. This award allowed him to conduct a qualitative study, Exploring Spiritual and Psychological Issues at the End of Life. The study served as the basis for 2 books, entitled What Dying People Want: Practical Wisdom for the End-of-Life and Facing Death Embracing Life, Understanding What Dying People Want.
For the past several years, at the Centre for Practitioner Renewal, Dr. Kuhl has combined his interests in medicine and psychology to develop a program of service, education and research that sustains health care providers in the work place, seeks to understand the effect of being in the presence of suffering and explores features of well-being and resilience for health care providers.
He lives in Vancouver with his wife and 2 daughters.
Concurrent and Plenary Sessions Presenter Profiles:
Jennifer Beaveridge MN, NP(F)
Jennifer completed her Master’s degree in Nursing from the University of British Columbia and an undergraduate degree from the University of Victoria. For the past 5 years she has provided primary care across the lifespan at her family practice at a Vancouver-based community health centre. Jennifer is also the Clinical Lead Faculty for the Nurse Practitioner program at the University of Northern BC and an adjunct faculty at UBC, UNBC and UVic.
Barbara Boyle, MSN, RN
Barbara Boyle, RN, MSN is Clinical Systems Coordinator at the University Of British Columbia School Of Nursing. She holds a BSN from the University of Alberta and a MSN from the University of British Columbia. Throughout her career, she has been involved in nursing education, practice (both acute care and community) and administration. In addition, she has participated in a variety of professional activities related to practice standards and Quality Assurance. A member of the Xi Eta chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International, she has served on the Board of Directors and has been actively involved in the “Ethel Johns Research Day”.
In her unique role she with the Nurse Practitioner and IT team has designed and implemented structures and processes that support the faculty and students of the program. A major part of that role was the development and implementation of a competency based e-portfolio.
Susanne Burns, RN, MSN, CCN(C)
Susanne Burns has worked with cardiac patients for 20 years. She completed her Diploma in Psychiatric Nursing, General Nursing, and Certificate in Critical Care Nursing at the British Columbia Institute of Technology. Her undergraduate degree is a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of British Columbia. Susanne received a Research Fellowship from the Heart and Stroke Foundation and Canadian Institute of Health Research of to complete her graduate research studies. She is an Adjunct Professor for the University of British Columbia.
Her cardiac experience is varied and includes critical care, interventional laboratory, cardiac medicine and surgery and for the past 15 years has worked in cardiovascular risk reduction and prevention. She has worked in specialty clinics of lipids and smoking cessation.
Susanne currently is a Clinical Nurse Specialist and Program Coordinator for the Metabolic Syndrome Program in the Heart Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital.
Anita Dotts MN, NP (F)
Anita has been practicing at the Cortes Health Centre for the last two and half years as a family nurse practitioner. She practices collaboratively with a family physician and they provide the full spectrum of family practice except for delivery of babies. They share patients, on-call and have a treatment room where they provide ambulatory and emergency care for the residents on Cortes Island.
Barb Eddy MN NP(F) CHPCN (C)
Barb graduated as a Family Nurse Practitioner from the University of Victoria in 2007. She has since been working in a primary care clinic in Vancouver’s downtown eastside. Barb co-authored the VCH Community Palliative Care Clinical Practice Guidelines handbook and currently facilitates a study session for RNs wanting to complete their certification in Hospice Palliative care. Prior to being a nurse practitioner she was a clinical nurse specialist on Vancouver’s home hospice consult service. It was in this position that she knew she wanted to pioneer the work of NPs in palliative care for Vancouver’s population. Barb’s current family practice includes caring for an impoverished community. Within this realm she draws heavily upon her palliative knowledge. This knowledge was also employed in her work as an NP at Vancouver’s Cottage Hospice. She lives in North Vancouver with her 3 children, husband and dog Ruby. She is an active hockey mom, soccer coach and is currently exploring the pros and cons of boot camp!
Carol Galte MN, NP (F)
Carol Galte completed her Nurse Practitioner program at UBC and is a family nurse practitioner with interest in cardiology. Her roles have included NP practice in-patient cardiology, heart function clinic and now the newly formed atrial fibrillation clinic. Currently she has a clinical interest in developing expertise in the management of atrial fibrillation and exploring health promotion interventions to improve quality of life for individuals with Atrial Fibrillation. Her current professional interest is in developing frameworks to facilitate NP’s practicing in specialist settings and in creating new NP roles. She is a recipient of a CRNBC distinction of nursing award 2008.
Rosemary Graham MN, NP (F)
Rosemary Graham graduated with a Masters in Nursing and Certificate in Advanced Nursing Practice from Athabasca University. She is a Family Nurse Practitioner with a full time family practice at Evergreen Community Health Center. Her practice and outreach serves vulnerable and hard to reach populations In her "past life" in the Yukon Territory, she worked both as a Community Health Nurse and Community Nurse Practitioner. She co authored the Standards of Practice for Community Health Nurses in Canada and and CNA's Approach to Patients Affected by Tobacco. She has a keen interest in promoting health and wellness in both her family practice and her community development activities and is interested in learning and sharing successes and challenges in promoting health with her colleagues and students. In addition, Rosemary is an adjunct faculty at UBC and a clinical instructor for both Athabasca University and UNBC.
Coleen Heenan, MS, NP(A)
Following graduation with her baccaulaureate degree in 1982, Coleen’s practice was primarily critical care nursing. She completed a critical care nursing certificate and then taught in the BCIT Critical Care Program for 5 years before moving on to complete her Masters of Science in Nursing from the University of Portland in 1993. She then worked as the Educator for the Spinal Cord Program at GF Strong Rehab Centre which encompassed multidisciplinary staff, patient and family and community education for people working and living with spinal cord injury. When a faculty position became available at the University of Victoria in 2002 Coleen jumped at the opportunity to teach undergraduate nursing students. Coleen continued to maintain her clinical competence by working casually in ICU both at St. Paul’s Hospital and then at Victoria General Hospital.
Coleen completed her NP certificate at BCIT and has been practicing as an NP (Adult) in an outpatient geriatric clinic in Seniors Health since 2007. She currently has a collaborative academic- practice partnership agreement with the Vancouver Island Health Authority and the University of Victoria which enables her to combine both her love of clinical practice and academic teaching.
Mary Lou Jennings MN, NP(A), ANP-BC
Mary Lou Jennings, NP (A), ANP-BC retired from the UBC MN-NP program in January, 2010 after teaching for 4 years in the program. She has 15 years of experiences as a practicing NP. Currently, she works for the Fraser Health Authority as a casual NP and is Chair, of the Mentorship Committee, BCNPA.
Gloria Joachim MSN, NP (F), FNP-BC, ARNP
Gloria Joachim, NP(F), FNP-BC, ARNP is the Nurse Practitioner Program Coordinator at the University of British Columbia School of Nursing. She obtained her BSN from the University of Maryland, MSN from the University of British Columbia and a Post Master’s FNP Certificate from Sonoma State University. Gloria has been the NP Program Coordinator since the inception of the program. She serves on the CRNBC NP Standards Committee and is the author of many published articles, including: The DNP: Where do Canadian Nursing Leaders Stand?
Ardelle Kamaryk, MN, NP(F)
Graduate of the inaugural class of Family Nurse Practitioners, Ardelle Komaryk received her Master’s Degree in Nursing in 2005. She has worked in variety of clinical settings and has developed a growing family practice as a nurse practitioner in Vancouver, B.C. Recently Ardelle was appointed as a Nurse Practitioner Practice Consultant with the College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia where she works part time in addition to her clinical role as a Family Nurse Practitioner in the community. Ardelle Komaryk is an Adjunct Faculty member of the University of British Columbia and holds a Bachelor’s Degree from the University of Victoria in Anthropology and Psychology.
I Fan Kuo B.Sc.(Pharm), ACPR, PharmD
I Fan completed her Bachelor of Sciences in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia (2004) and proceeded to complete an Accredited Hospital Pharmacy Residency at St. Paul’s Hospital in Vancouver, BC (2005) and then the Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) program in 2009. Her main area of practice is in cardiology where she worked two years as a full time pharmacist in the cardiac surgery unit and more recently as the Clinical Pharmacy Specialist in the coronary care unit (CCU) and cardiac stepdown unit at St. Paul's Hospital. She has had a successful publication record at a young career. She hsa also given several presentations and in-services to clinicians and other allied-health professionals alike. She has also been involved in the academic training of pharmacy staff, residents, medical and nursing students and paramedics. In her spare time, she enjoys photography, traveling and high-altitude trekking.
Ruth Larson, MN NP (F)
Ruth graduated with a diploma in nursing in 1985 from Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing. She completed her FNP Master’s of Nursing program at the University of Victoria in 2007. She is currently employed full-time by Vancouver Island Health Authority as an NP (F) at Health Point Care Centre where her practice is focused on primary health care for seniors, 55+. She is also the past chair of the Vancouver Island Health Authority, Community of Practice, and was a recipient CRNBC award for excellence in clinical practice in 2009.
Fairleth McCuaig MSN, NP (F), FNP (BC), ARNP
Fairleth McCuaig, MSN, NP (F), FNP (BC), ARNP is a faculty member in the UBC MN-NP program with 22 years of experience as a nursing educator. She obtained her Post Master’s Certificate in Nursing (Family Nurse Practitioner) from Gonzaga University in Spokane Washington. Her practice experience includes working in a NP owned family practice and women’s health clinics in Bellingham, working with interior health (Vernon) and travel medicine in the lower mainland.
Kelly McInerney MSN, ARNP, NP(F)
Kelly spent many years as an RN mainly in emergency nursing as a clinician and educator. She has an MSN from UBC and her NP education was completed at the University of Washington. Over the past 7 years she has worked as a family Nurse Practitioner both in the US and Canada. Kelly has worked with the BCIT Nurse Practitioner program as a curriculum developer and instructor. She has also worked with the CRNBC to develop NP competencies for BC. She continues to be actively involved with the CRNBC and currently practices as a primary care provider for patients with mental health concerns, substance abuse issues, or who are otherwise vulnerable.
Dianne Middagh MN, NP (F)
Diane Middagh is a Family Nurse Practitioner at BC Women’s Hospital and Health Centre since October 2009. She came to BC women’s after working at Midmain Community Health Centre for 7 years, initially in an NP-like role then as a licensed NP. While at Midmain Diane provided primary health care across the lifespan as well as developing a special interest in chronic disease management and group medical appointments. At BC women’s Diane is involved with her NP colleagues in developing community based clinics providing health care services for women experiencing multiple barriers as well as collaborating with existing programs at BC Women’s.
Vivian Nawrocki, MN, NP(F)
Vivian is a Family Nurse Practitioner who completed her Master's in Nursing - Nurse Practitioner graduate program at the University of Victoria in 2005. During her graduate studies Vivian developed a keen interest in working on practice approaches aimed at decreasing the barriers to primary health care access faced by many families.
Now, as a member of the RICHER Initiative Team Vivian works with children, women and their families, who live in Vancouver's inner city neighborhoods providing outreach primary health care services for "hard to reach families”.
As a nurse, Vivian brings over 30 year's of clinical experience working in the field of Child/Youth mental health at BC Children's Hospital first as a staff nurse, and then as a Clinical Nurse Coordinator in charge of the Adolescent Psychiatric In-patient Unit, and Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Emergency .
Eileen Owen Williams DNP, ARNP, CNM, FNP, SANE-A
Dr. Eileen Owen-Williams is currently residing on Whidbey Island in Washington State, where she is a Professor of Nursing, teaching across undergraduate and graduate programs at Seattle Pacific University. Dr. Owen-Williams joined Seattle Pacific University in 2008, after teaching within the Nurse Practitioner Programs at UBC and UNBC. Dr. Owen-Williams completed her studies as a Family Nurse Practitioner with a research focus on sexual abuse of children for her Master’s thesis at the University of Washington in 1979-1983.She continued her clinical graduate education in Nurse Midwifery at the University of California at San Diego and Oregon Health Sciences University, to foster integration of perinatal care within her primary care practice. Dr. Owen-Williams received her Doctorate of Nursing Practice at the University of Tennessee in Forensic Nursing in 2006, with a focus on sexual assault.
Dr. Owen-Williams has incorporated forensics into her academic and clinical practices in Family Practice and Nurse Midwifery over the past 30 years, with practice in remote, rural and urban locations within the United States and Canada. She has also specialized as a clinician, administrator, consultant, educator, and expert witness in the area of child sexual abuse, and is active in pursuing the integration of forensics into nursing curriculums within North America. Dr. Owen-Williams has research interests in community, remote and rural health, adolescent health, women’s health, sexual assault, elder abuse, injury prevention and social justice. Dr. Owen-Williams has recently worked as a consultant to Western Australia regarding Indigenous health disparities, forensics, and primary care. She currently practices clinically as a Nurse Practitioner and Nurse Midwife at Madigan Army Medical Center. Dr. Owen-Williams is completing a second doctorate with a research focus PhD at the University of Tennessee on elder abuse and intergenerational relationships within Indigenous communities.
Kristi Panchuk
Kristi recently graduated in Advanced Nursing Practice from Athabasca University, and serves as the Research Coordinator for the Rural Education Action Plan. After completing her BSN at Trinity Western University in 2002, she became a Fertility Care Practitioner through Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska. Her interest in women’s health and infertility led her to join a new fertility clinic in London, England as a case manager. During her two years there, Kristi was also working as a Practice Nurse in various primary care clinics. In 2006, she returned to her home of Terrace, BC, where she teaches in the Northern Collaborative Baccalaureate Nursing Program.
Natasha Prodan-Bhalla MN, NP (A)
Natasha Prodan-Bhalla obtained her MN/NP from the University of Toronto in 2000 and then went on to work as an NP on a cardiac surgery ward in Mississauga, Ontario. Before moving to BC, Natasha worked with Doctors Without Borders in Sri Lanka. Natasha then worked as a CNS at St. Paul’s Hospital on the cardiac surgery ward. When the Nurse Practitioner legislation was passed, Natasha started working as a Nurse Practitioner on the same ward. Natasha has also taught at both the UBC and BCIT NP programs. In 2008 she started at Women’s Health Centre to develop and implement the new Heart Program for Women. Her interests are women’s health, primary prevention of heart disease, and working with diverse cultures.
Joanne Przystawka MScN, NP (F)
Joanne is originally from Ontario and was among the first group of Registered Nurses (Extended Class) in that province. She graduated in 2001 from the University of Ottawa with a Master of Science in Nursing.
Joanne is currently employed as a Nurse Practitioner (Family) at the Downtown Health Center in Kamloops BC. In addition to providing primary health care to clinic patients Joanne is the Nurse Practitioner provider/consultant for the Public Health Youth Clinic as well as the Breastfeeding Centre. Joanne collaborated with clinic staff in initiating the Well Woman's Clinic in Kamloops. This has been a tremendously successful service providing clinical breast exams and cervical screening by female providers.
Alison Roots, RN, MHSM, PhD (C)
Alison has worked in advanced practice roles for 26 years, as a clinician, educator, senior manager and consultant. She has a wide range of professional experience, having worked for 13 years in a number of countries in the Asia Pacific region, including developing countries and Australia, and has worked in a variety of rural and urban settings across Canada. She has been involved in the introduction of the NP role in BC since 2003 and in the development of the regulatory framework for NPs.
Alison is currently a PhD candidate at the School of Nursing, University of Victoria and has been undertaking NP research with Marjorie MacDonald. These studies include an exploratory study on the implementation of the NP role in BC (2008) and a study on the nature and practice patterns of NPs in BC (2009). Her dissertation research is on identifying and evaluating NP specific outcomes in the context of primary care settings.
Rob Ratcliffe RRT, Certified Respiratory Educator
Rob is a Respiratory Therapist and the supervisor of Vancouver Island Health Authority's Home Oxygen Program and the Victoria Adult Community Respiratory Care Centre. He is also a trainer for the BC division's RespTrec programs for National Respiratory Educator designation and enjoys being an active member of the Victoria Ukulele Circle.
Esther Sangster-Gormley MS/NP, PhD(c)
Esther is an Assistant Professor at the University of Victoria where she teaches in the nurse practitioner program. Prior to joining UVic in 2007 she was a member of the Faculty of Nursing at the University of New Brunswick and taught in their NP program. Much of her career has been as an NP, practicing in Florida until relocating to New Brunswick and now Victoria
Esther has been involved in efforts that contribute to NP role sustainability provincially and nationally. She was involved with early initiatives to implement the NP role in Florida and New Brunswick. She was involved in the creation of the Canadian Association of School of Nursing’s position statement on NP education which recommended masters education for NPs. She was also a member of the Education Committee for the Canadian Nurse Practitioner Initiative and facilitated the Committee’s support for a Canadian standard of masters education as entry to practice for NPs, as well as other recommendations coming out of that Committee. She is currently involved in research across the country looking at the NP role and how barriers and facilitators to its implementation.
Esther is completing her PhD in nursing through Dalhousie University; her research is on NP role implementation.
Rita Schreiber, DNS, RN
Dr. Rita Schreiber, a Professor and NP Program Coordinator, joined the University of Victoria School of Nursing in 1996. Rita's practice interests are in all aspects of mental health and mental health nursing. She has researched and published widely on women's experiences with depression, treatment, and recovery; on grounded theory methodology; and on nursing professional issues including advanced practice, ethical decision-making, and wage equity. She has a current research program with others related to advanced nursing practice and implementation of nurse practitioners and the role of registered nurse anesthetists. She is also widely published, including two books.
Gloria Schuss BSc, Occupational Therapist
Gloria Schuss graduated in 1990 from UBC with a BSc. O.T. She has worked in many areas of practice including rehabilitation, acute care, transitional care and arthritis care at Lions Gate Hospital. While on the North Shore, she developed the role of OT with the new Geriatric Outpatient Program. It was here she discovered her passion for working with seniors with complex problems in the community
After having her two children, she worked at GF Strong and Vancouver Hospital, eventually landing a position at the Short Term Assessment and Treatment (STAT) Center. Here she was able to continue her work with the geriatric (psychiatric) population in a Day Hospital and Inpatient setting.
Eventually she and her family moved to Victoria in 2004 and she worked casually in several areas of acute care for 2 years before venturing out to Home and Community Care. Although it was a tremendously good learning experience, (as providence would have it), the opportunity to go back to working with complex seniors arose in the form of the Geriatric Outpatient Clinic. Gloria was yet again thrust into a new position and has been enjoying the challenge of working with this fascinating clientele. She has been assessing seniors for driving for the past 3 years, has done presentations to the Superintendant of Motor Vehicle staff and geriatricians and doctors at the Royal Jubilee Hospital and has attended many presentations on seniors and driving.
Lorine Scott MN, NP (F)
Lorine completed her MN NP requirements at the university of Victoria in 2005 and has worked as a nurse practitioner (family) since 2006. Her nursing career has focused in the area of child health and over the past 30 years Lorine as worked as a staff nurse, advanced practice nurse, and health care administrator. Learning from the experiences of working with children and their families who are living with cancer and craniofacial birth defects a passion for encouraging healthy child development in the face of adversity developed. Lorine’s interest in the impact of the social environment on healthy development for children and their families and the belief that health care can be delivered in ways that encourage human development has led her to her most recent role as a nurse practitioner with the RICHER Initiative, an innovative collaborative practice model unfolding in the inner city of Vancouver, that places the NP as entry to point of care. Lorine holds adjunct faculty status at the University of British Columbia and served as the BCCH NP representative on Health Canada’s provincial Pediatric Primary Health Care Indicators Task Force. Lorine is a co-investigator on a CIHR grant exploring outcomes related to the RICHER Model and has co-authored publications on that topic.
Sharon Slywka RN (NP)
Sharon is a nurse practitioner who works at the Women’s Health Centre of the All Nations Healing Hospital in Fort Qu’Appelle, Saskatchewan. As a nurse practitioner, she assists the women of Fort Qu’Appelle and surrounding communities in managing their primary health care needs with particular emphasis on women’s health.
Sharon graduated from the baccalaureate nursing program at the University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon and went on to work for 30 years acute care in rural Saskatchewan. She furthered her education with a Nurse Practitioner certificate from Saskatchewan Institute of Applied Sciences and Technology, Regina and works up to the present time at the Women’s Health Center.
She is married and lives with her husband in the resort community of Katepwa. She has two grown children and is excitedly awaiting her first grand-child.
Sharon Thomson WHNP-BC
Sharon Thomson is a US credentialed Nurse Practitioner WHNP-BC who has been involved in various aspects of reproductive health for 40 years. Educated at University of California, San Francisco and UCLA Harbor General Women’s Health Nurse Practitioner programs, Sharon also completed a B.Sc. in Health Sciences at Chapman University and Public Health certification from the University of California, Berkley. She has worked as a Nurse Practitioner for Planned Parenthood agencies in California, Hawaii and Washington State., In addition, she has been a clinical preceptor for the Stanford Physicians Assistant Program, and Nurse Practitioner programs with the University of Hawaii, Gonzaga, University of Washington and Athabasca University. In 2001 until 2005 she worked in a in a NP role in the first primary care demonstration project in BC. Sharon has co-authored a chapter on contraception for the University Oxford Press Primary Health Care Textbook, 2004 edition. She has been a member of the UBC School of Nursing Nurse Practitioner faculty since January 2005.
Linda Van Pelt MN, NP(F)
Linda Van Pelt has worked as a nurse in a wide variety of practice settings for over twenty five years. She has worked in many specialty areas including intensive and coronary care, public health, forensic psychiatry, and trauma/emergency in both Canada and the U.S.A. She is a trained sexual assault nurse examiner and has worked as a clinical educator and nurse consultant. Linda has spent the better part of the past 15 years practicing in northern and remote Canadian communities in the Northwest Territories, Nunavut, Northern British Columbia, and Yukon as an advanced practice nurse. She has a passion for providing community and person centered care in rural and remote settings.
In 2007 Linda graduated from the Family Nurse Practitioner at the University of Northern British Columbia. She currently divides her time between the University of Northern British Columbia as a interim coordinator of the Family Nurse Practitioner Program, the Northern Health Authority in Prince George practicing as full scope Family Nurse Practitioner and clinical lead for the Unattached Patient Clinic, and as a research associate for Dr. Laurie Chan’s Assessment of contaminant and dietary Nutrient interactions in the Inuit Health Survey Project.
Kate Vanwely BScN
During her undergraduate program, she traveled to Nepal for her third year practicum. She spent five weeks working alongside Nepalese nurses in a labour and delivery unit and a pediatric rehabilitation hospital. This experience profoundly impacted her and was pivotal in her learning and in navigating her nursing career in the direction of advance practice.
Since graduating from the University College of the Cariboo in 2003, she has traveled to several countries including South Africa, Venezuela, Guatemala, Philippines, and Kenya to volunteer and lead short-term medical clinics. The experience of working in collaboration with local nurses in community development and primary care settings has provided her with a unique perspective of some of the global issues that people are facing including inequity in the social determinants of health.
She chose to pursue er Masters as a Family NP to expand my scope and develop professionally, allowing her to provide primary care locally and globally. She is currently a second year student at the University of British Columbia and will graduate in May 2010.
D. Ann Vosilla, RN ASCFS (Honours)
Ann Vosilla is a Registered Nurse with a specialty in Psychiatry. She also holds an Advanced Specialty Certificate in Forensic Science Technology, Forensic Crime Studies from BCIT. Drawing upon years of experience in pharmacovigilance, risk management and patient safety, Ann is most interested in the sustainability of our health care system and bringing people together to further this vision. Ann is the Liaison Officer for BC with the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health and is based in Vancouver. Ann engages health care professionals in the use of evidence to support health care decisions.
Nancy Wright, MN, NP (F)
Nancy Wright currently holds a part time faculty position as a Senior Instructor with the University of Victoria, School of Nursing Nurse Practitioner Program. She has a Masters of Nursing from the University of Victoria, and completed her Nurse Practitioner education at the University of Northern BC in August of 2008. Her research interests include: women's health; grounded theory methodology; and health care policy. She is currently looking for part-time clinical practice as an NP in Victoria BC.