College of Nursing Newsletter

Dean's Message

It is a distinct privilege to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the College’s Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research (MCNHR). Over the years, the MCNHR team has grown to six staff, along with five research assistants, to provide exceptional research support services for our researchers, students and affiliate members. The interprofessional team’s excellence was recognized with the presentation of the 2020 Award of Excellence by the Association of Regulated Nurses of Manitoba (ARNM).

We celebrate the stellar research generated by our 28 researchers that is transforming and informing health care to make a positive difference in the lives of Manitobans. Two of our researchers were recognized for their excellent research with the presentation of the 2020 Award of Excellence for Nursing Research from the ARNM.

The advancement of research is further supported with the hosting of the annual Helen Glass Research Symposium where researchers and graduate students engage with our Helen Glass Scholar and graduate students participate in a poster competition.

I look forward to the continued excellence of the MCNHR in supporting the advancement of research and scholarship.

Nursing alumni honoured as trailblazing women

In January, the Nellie McClung Foundation announced Manitoba’s 150 Women Trailblazers in the Winnipeg Free Press. The list included several University of Manitoba alumna, including two esteemed colleagues from what is now the College of Nursing, Joann MacMorran and Dr. Helen Glass.

Read more on UM Today.

Go-to Research Centre

The College of Nursing is celebrating the 35th anniversary of its Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research (MCNHR), a unit that has grown from small-scale beginnings into a thriving catalyst for collaborative nursing research.

Awards advance Rady women in leadership development

College of Nursing faculty member Dr. Sonia Udod (pictured) and student Andrea Toews were among the 10 Rady Faculty of Health Sciences awardees of the 2020 leadership development awards through The Winnipeg Foundation’s Martha Donovan Fund.

Read more on UM Today.

Nursing prof focuses study on mental health model for First Nations children

Dr. Roberta Woodgate, a distinguished professor with the College of Nursing and Canada Research Chair was recently awarded nearly $1.3 million from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for a five-year project that aims to evaluate the impact of a distance-based mental health-care model for First Nations children in Manitoba.

Read more on UM Today.

College of Nursing celebrates graduate student poster competition winners

When the College of Nursing postponed the 2020 Helen Glass Research Symposium in March, it was only days before the University of Manitoba cancelled in-person classes due to COVID-19. However, at that point, submissions were already sent in for one of the symposium’s signature events, the Graduate Student Poster Competition. There were 19 submissions for the 2020 edition of the conference, and for the first time ever, UM students outside of the College of Nursing were encouraged to submit work, particularly if their project had an Indigenous health focus.

Read more on UM Today.

CNSA conference looks at crisis intervention for nurses

For two fourth-year College of Nursing students, the Canadian Nursing Students Association (CNSA) annual conference held January 19 – 24 was a great opportunity to meet other nursing students from across Canada and learn the importance of taking care of themselves in order to care for their patients.

Cohen brings social justice, equity perspective to CPHA chair position

On Jan. 1, associate professor Benita Cohen began her two-year term as chair of the Canadian Public Health Association (CPHA), the only Canadian non-governmental organization focused exclusively on public health.

GNSA hosts 11th Advanced Practice Nursing Conference

On Feb. 12, Graduate Nursing Students’ Association hosted the 11th annual Advanced Practice Nursing Conference. It was the first time the event was held online, and 73 people attended, including nursing faculty and students from UM and Brandon University.

Nursing faculty and teams awarded by ARNM

The Association of Regulated Nurses of Manitoba (ARNM) announced its 2020 Professional Nursing Awards recently, recognizing four faculty members and two teams from the College of Nursing.

Dr. Netha Dyck, Danielle Yaffe, Dr. Kellie Thiessen and Dr. Annette Schultz all won individual awards and the Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research and College of Nursing simulation team won team awards.

Vaccination pop-up

Knowledge Keeper Leslie Spillett (centre), receives a COVID-19 vaccination at a pop-up clinic on Feb. 8. Vanessa Maslow and Shannon Spence, College of Nursing graduates from the Mahkwa omushki kiim: Pathway to Indigenous Nursing Education (PINE) program (formerly ANCI), vaccinated knowledge keepers and Elders at the site’s opening ceremony. Maslow and Spence graduated in 2019 and both currently work as community care nurses for the Interlake Reserves Tribal Council. (Photo by Doug Little)

What is Sexuality?

Recent graduate student Katrina Martin created a video of her thesis work examining Filipino-Canadian youth’s experiences and perceptions of sexuality. The video contains direct quotes from the researcher’s interviews with Filipino-Canadian youth. It was shared via YouTube by her advisor, Dr. Roberta Woodgate.

Watch video on YouTube.

Congratulations to Dr. Kellie Thiessen, who has been appointed as interim Associate Dean, Undergraduate Programs.

Congratulations to Dr. Marie Edwards, who has been appointed as interim Vice-Dean, Education, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

Congratulations to Dr. Em Pijl on being appointed as an assistant professor in the College of Nursing

Congratulations to Dr. Vanessa Van Bewer on being appointed as an assistant professor in the College of Nursing.

Congratulations to Tara Horrill, PhD student, and Jocelyn Elias, MN student, on being the recipient of the 2020 Dean of the Rady Faculty of Heath Sciences Graduate Student Achievement Prize. The award recognizes outstanding academic achievement, notable personal service and strong leadership skills of graduate students.

Congratulations to Vanessa Van Bewer for successfully defending her PhD thesis entitled, “Rehearsing for the Revolution: Using Forum Theatre to Engage Nurse Educators, Students, and Health Care Providers with the Priorities of the Manitoba Collaborative Indigenous Education Blueprint”. Advisor: Dr. Roberta Woodgate; Internal Member: Dr. Donna Martin; External Member: Dr. Frank Deer; and External Examiner: Dr. Carrie Bourassa.

Congratulations to Chioma Ogbumuo for successfully defending her Master of Nursing thesis entitled, “Developing self-efficacy as nurse preceptors: A qualitative descriptive study”. Advisor: Dr. Wanda Chernomas; Internal Member: Dr. Judith Scanlan; External Member Dr. Richard Hechter.

Congratulations to Amanpreet Saran on successfully completing the written and oral components of her Master of Nursing capstone project entitled, “Best Practices to Support Change in Long-Term Care Homes”. Advisor: Dr. Genevieve Thompson, Secondary Advisor: Dr. Lorna Guse.

Congratulations to Josie Bolianatz for successfully defending her MN thesis entitled, “From the ‘Highest of Highs to Lowest of Lows’ Learning the Nursing Profession in a Concept-based Curriculum: A Hermeneutic Phenomenology Study”. Advisor: Dr. Wanda Chernomas; Internal Member: Dr. Diana McMillan; External Member: Dr. Thomas Falkenberg.

Congratulations to the College of Nursing’s Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research (MCNHR) members on their research and scholarly accomplishments that have been reported to us for November 2020 - January 2021.

Click to read more.

Keynote speaker: Dr. Cathy Mazak

Dr. Cathy Mazak will offer two virtual, interactive workshops. The focus of these workshops will be on keeping writing at the forefront of your academic life and balancing the multiple demands of academic life.

All events will be virtual. More details will be available in March.

Workshop part 1
Wednesday, April 28 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Workshop part 2
Friday, April 30 9:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

HGRS Graduate Student Poster Competition
Thursday, April 29 2:00 - 3:30 p.m.

For more information, contact Sandra Ericastilla Somers.