The Graduate Nursing Students Association, in collaboration with the Association of Regulated Nurses of Manitoba, held its annual Advanced Practice Nursing Conference at the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing Atrium on March 11.
With the theme “Leadership in Unpredictable Times,” the 16th annual conference brought together a group of nurse leaders whose expertise spans clinical practice, education, leadership and health system transformation.
This year’s speakers were:
- Katrin Ann Param-Vital is an accomplished nursing leader in organizational transformation. She currently works as the director of patient services for the outpatient clinic services program and the professional nursing practice lead at Cancer Care Manitoba. She is a UM bachelor of nursing grad and completed a master’s degree in business administration, specializing in innovation, through the University of Fredericton.
- Abigail Kawadza is also a UM nursing grad, whose work centers on advanced practice and equity-informed care. She is currently a manager of health services in primary care with Interlake Eastern Regional Health Authority.
- Heather Nowak is a master of nursing grad from UM and respected clinician known for her leadership in complex clinical environments. She is currently the chief nursing officer and health services clinical lead at Concordia Hospital.
“Last year’s topic was ‘Harm Reduction and Advanced Practice Nursing; A Call to Action,’ so this year we decided to focus on leadership, as the leadership environment has become increasingly chaotic from the impacts of COVID-19 to policy challenges, staffing shortages and other pressures,” said Princess Finecountry Okezie, who co-chaired the event with Eunice Korkor Assem Erhaze.
Other committee members included Folakemi Adesanya, Ariel Wilcox, Fennela Chimasia and Naomi Armah.
