Nursing Week 2015 begins today at the Niagara Health System, and it is a great opportunity for us to publicly recognize the work our nurses do to provide quality healthcare to local residents.
At 2,021 strong, our Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses and Registered Practical Nurses make up almost half of the total NHS staff complement, caring for an estimated 500,000 patients each year. The impact of our nurses’ contributions is felt in every aspect of care across our hospital system.
In keeping with the 2015 Nursing Week theme, “Leaders in healthcare, with you every step of the way,” our focus this year ranges from patient care at the bedside, which is the more traditional role generally associated with nursing, to the more contemporary role of the profession that has emerged, and includes nursing research, graduate education and other scholarly activity.
Nurses Week Awards, Monday, May 11, 2015 Club Italia, 2525 Montrose Road, Niagara Falls 7:30 p.m.: Nursing Awards presented to recipients from across Niagara
“The way we deliver care is changing based on technology, new advances in science and other advances, all to the benefit of our patients,” says NHS Executive Vice President and Chief Nursing Executive Derek McNally. “More and more, the nursing profession is influenced by research and best practices in healthcare. The changing role of the front-line nurse highlights the need for specialized clinical knowledge in all that they do to contribute to high-quality nursing care at the NHS.”
Nursing Week is being celebrated this week across Canada. At the NHS, Nursing Excellence Awards will be presented this evening at the annual Nursing Dinner to 12 outstanding recipients who have been nominated by their peers from across our sites.
Another feature of this evening’s event will focus on our nurses’ scholarly achievements over the last year. These achievements include presentations to hospital leaders at provincial and national conferences, research articles in nursing journals, research scholarship awards, and national certifications in specialty areas of care. Please see the attached Appendix for a full listing of our nurses’ achievements.
Media contact:
Caroline Bourque Wiley, Manager, Communications, 905-378-4647, ext. 43113; cwiley@niagarahealth.on.ca.
Niagara Health System Nursing Scholarship Achievements 2014-2015
Cindy Bryson
Re-Certification Nephrology Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
April 2015
Chair of the Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT) Conference
Niagara Falls, Ontario
October 23-25, 2014
Maria Cancellara
Certification Exam Peri-Anesthesia, Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
May 2014
Jenny Changizian
Clinical Practice Fellowship
Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario
September 2014
Marianne dePrinse
Bachelor of Nursing Degree December 2014
(*Marianne passed away recently. We felt it was important to recognize her tremendous accomplishment at this evening’s celebration of nursing excellence.)
Laura Doull, Karen Buckle, Emily Flynn, Shushma Samson
Presentation: Shifting Tides
Grounding Trauma Conference
Alliston, Ontario
May 7-8, 2014
Sara El-Haj, Peggi Garner, Lezlie Lambert-Burd, Archna Parikh
Poster Presentation: Eye of the Storm: Collaborative Practice
Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT)
Niagara Falls, Ontario
October 23-25, 2014
Janice Feather
Poster Presentation: Narrative Inquiry of a Community-Based System Navigation Role in an Urban Priority Neighbourhood
McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences Research Plenary
May 2014
Presentation: A Narrative Evaluation of a Pilot Community-Based Navigator Role in an Urban Priority Neighbourhood
Qualitative Health Research Conference
Victoria, British Columbia
November 2014
Outstanding Poster Presentation Award
McMaster University Faculty of Health Sciences Research Plenary 2014
Master of Science in Nursing Degree
McMaster University
April 2015
Vera Girard
Helen Martindale Ferguson Nursing Award
Niagara Health System
June 2014
Master of Education Degree
Brock University
Course work completed December 2014
Robertson Education Bursary
Niagara Health System
February 2015
Lezlie Lambert-Burd
Presentation: What Does it Mean to Understand and How Do You Know the Learner Got It?
Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT)
Niagara Falls, Ontario
October 23-25, 2014
Nicole MacNeil
Certification Exam Nephrology Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
May 2014
Tammy Martin
Bachelor of Nursing Degree
Athabasca University
May 2014
Lori McGrinder
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Workshop
Toronto, Ontario
September 2014
Dialectical Behaviour Therapy Training
Niagara Health System
April 13-17, 2015
Presentation to Day Hospital Program and Community Partners
Bridging Committee Community Forum
Niagara Health System
February 23, 2015
Holly McNeaney
Certification Exam Perinatal Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
May, 2014
Carol Munro
Master of Health Studies
Athabasca University
April, 2015 course work completed
Degree to be conferred June 2015.
Barb Pizzingrilli
Presentation: Mental Health Patients in ER – Improving Transitions in Care Between Police and Emergency Departments
Ontario Hospital Association
Toronto, Ontario
May 29, 2014
Presentation: Improving Transitions in Care Between Police and Emergency Departments
Ontario Hospital Association
Toronto, Ontario
December 4, 2014
Voice Over Presentation: Using the Inter-RAI BMHS and ESP Screening and Assessment Systems in Clinical Practice: The Niagara Experience
XVI World Congress of Psychiatry
Madrid, Spain
September 14-18, 2014
Poster Presentation: Improving Emergency Department Care for Individuals Apprehended Under the Mental Health Act
Association of General Hospital Psychiatric Services
Toronto, Ontario
November 13-14, 2014
Pizzingrilli, B. (2015). A protocol to reduce police wait times in the emergency department. Healthcare Management Forum.
Accepted for publication February 22, 2015 with publishing date of July 2015.
Pizzingrilli, B. (n.d). A comparison of two models of mental health service delivery in the emergency department. General Hospital Psychiatry. Submitted for publication April 2, 2015 and currently in peer review process.
Pizzingrilli, B., & Christensen, D. (2014). Staff perceptions of pod nursing on an acute mental health unit. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 4 (12), 88-94. DOI:10.5430/jnep.v4n12p88
Pizzingrilli, B., & Christensen, D. (2014). Implementation and evaluation of a mental health nursing residency program. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 5 (1), 76-84. DOI:10.5430/jnep.v5n1p76
Tammy Powell
de Sousa Associate Nurse Designation
de Souza Institute
April 2015
Re-Certification in Oncology Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
April 2015
Kim Rak
Poster Presentation: Parallel Dialysis For a Patient With Type 1 Hyperoxaluria
Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT)
Niagara Falls, Ontario
October 23-25, 2014
Nicole Reeve
RPN to BScN Degree Program Completion
McMaster University
April 2015
Lisa Rotz
Certification Exam Perioperative Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
April 18, 2015
Martin Ruaux
Master of Health Management Degree
DeGroote School of Business
McMaster University
June 2014
Shushma Samson
Master of Nursing Degree
Charles Stuart University
December 2014
Denise Sneath
Re-Certification Nephrology Nursing
Canadian Nurses’ Association
April 2015
Melanie Stansfield
Winner of the 2014 Astra Zeneca Award for Innovation in Disease Management with a $5000 grant to develop strategies to optimize the management of chronic disease and improve quality of life
Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario
October 2014
Appointed Director of Knowledge Transfer
Nurse Practitioners’ Association of Ontario
November 2014
Melanie Stansfield, Brenda Yeandle, Dr. Craig Kuhn
Research Study: “The Efficacy of a Responsive Care Model to Facilitate Screening, Case Finding, and Referral in the Client Receiving Treatment for Addictions.”
Niagara Health System
Expected date of completion November 2015
Tina Sutton
Bachelor of Science in Nursing Degree
Brock University
May 2014
Darah Teasdale, Lezlie Lambert-Burd
Poster Presentation: Can a Machine be Patient Centered?
Canadian Association of Nephrology Nurses and Technologists (CANNT)
Niagara Falls, Ontario
October 23-25, 2014
Patty Welychka
Presentation: Optimizing Operating Room Utilization in a Multisite Environment
Health Achieve
Ontario Hospital Association
Toronto, Ontario
November 3-5, 2014
Ellen Went
Designation as an International Board Certified Lactation Consultant (IBCLC)
November 2014
