Nursing Leadership
Abstract
Awards
Institute for Health Services and Policy Research Announced its Inaugural 2008 Rising Star Award Recipients
Five Canadian graduate students were recognized for their exceptional work in the field of health services and policy research, and honoured with the inaugural 2008 Rising Star Award ($1,000 each). The recipients also received a certificate of excellence and were given the opportunity to present their research at the May 2008 Canadian Association for Health Services and Policy Research (CAHSPR) conference.
The CIHR Institute of Health Services and Policy Research (IHSPR) is dedicated to supporting innovative young researchers. By launching the new student award, IHSPR proves its commitment to recognizing and rewarding research and knowledge translation (KT) at all stages along a researcher's career trajectory.
The Rising Stars were selected by a committee of six reviewers and their final decisions were reviewed and approved by IHSPR's assistant and scientific directors. The award is planned to become IHSPR's annual recognition for young scientists' research and knowledge translation efforts.
Katie Dainty, a PhD student at the Institute of Medical Sciences of the University of Toronto was recognized for her knowledge translation initiative: "Using a multifaceted KT strategy to improve quality of care in community ICU's: a cluster randomized pragmatic trial." Her project was composed of intensive care units in 15 community hospitals in Ontario. The primary objective was to link these otherwise independent hospitals using multifaceted interventions intended to increase the uptake of clinical best practices that are known to improve patient care.
Randy Fransoo, PhD a researcher and assistant professor of community health sciences at the University of Manitoba was recognized for his knowledge translation Initiative: "Partnership: the key to KT success."
The knowledge translation work, for which Randy has been recognized centres on the important role of partnerships in research based on two projects: "Inequalities in Child Health" and his work with the Need To Know (a 5-year CIHR-funded project involving health services researchers, high-level managers from each regional health authority, and provincial planners from Manitoba Health).
Gillian Hanley, a PhD student of healthcare and epidemiology at the University of British Columbia was awarded for her research article: "Assessing vertical equity in pharmaceutical financing under income-based prescription drug coverage in British Columbia."
The paper "Distributional consequences of the transition from age-based to income-based prescription drug coverage in British Columbia, Canada," for which Gillian received the IHSPR Rising Star Award relates to her thesis work and was published in the January 11, 2008 online edition of Health Economics.
Paul Kurdyak, a PhD student of health policy, management and evaluation at the University of Toronto was recognized for his research article: "The effect of antidepressant warnings on prescribing trends in Ontario, Canada."
The paper, published in the April 2007 issue of the American Journal of Public Health, relates to his interest in studying the intended and unintended effect(s) of policy.
Sylvia Reitmanova, a PhD student at the community health and humanities memorial of the University of Newfoundland was recognized for her knowledge translation initiative: "Mental Health Needs of St. John's Immigrants: Knowledge Transfer Initiative."
The research on which Sylvia focused her KT initiatives examined determinants of St. John's immigrants' mental health and well-being, and the barriers they face accessing local mental health services.
Appointments
Canadian Health Services Research Foundation Names New CEO
The Canadian Health Services Research Foundation has announced the appointment of Maureen O'Neil as president and chief executive officer, effective September 1st, 2008.
Ms. O'Neil has been president of the International Development Research Centre since 1997 and will leave that post in June 2008. Her past positions include president of the North-South Institute, deputy minister of Citizenship for the Government of Ontario, and secretary-general of the Canadian Human Rights Commission. She has been a member or chair of numerous boards, including the Advisory Board to the Minister of Foreign Affairs; the International Centre for Human Rights and Democratic Development; Canadian Foundation for the Americas; the Institute for Women, Law and Development; and the Board of Governors of Carleton University.
Nancy Edwards named Distinguished University Professor
The University of Ottawa has announced that Nancy Edwards has been named Distinguished University Professor of the University.
Dr. Edwards is a full professor at University of Ottawa's School of Nursing and in the Department of Epidemiology and Community Medicine. She is also director of the Community Health Research Unit and an active member of the Institute of Population Health.
Nancy Edwards works on the design and evaluation of different interventions in community health. She has also conducted national and international research in a variety of areas, such as tobacco cessation, fall prevention for seniors, maternal and child health, and HIV/AIDS.
During the course of her career, Dr. Edwards has received many awards and honours, including the University of Ottawa Excellence in Research Award (2007) and the proclamation of "Nancy Edwards Day" by the mayor of Ottawa in 2006.
Since 2000, the title of Distinguished University Professor has been conferred annually to faculty members in recognition of their outstanding performance in scholarly activities, their contribution to their field and their exceptional teaching. No more than 12 full-time professors may hold the title of Distinguished University Professor at one time.
University of Alberta Names New Dean of Nursing
Anita Molzahn, currently a professor of nursing and former dean at the Faculty of Human and Social Development at the University of Victoria, has been appointed dean of the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta for a five-year term, effective July 1, 2008. Molzahn is a graduate of the University of Alberta, having received her undergraduate, master's and doctoral degrees in Alberta. Molzahn has also held professorial positions with the U of A's nursing faculty as well as a graduate research assistantship with the department of sociology.
Molzahn has received numerous accolades for her work, including the Ethel Johns Award from the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing and the American Nephrology Nurses Association's Nephrology Nurse Researcher Award. She was also honoured with two of the Registered Nurses Association of British Columbia's awards, the Award for Distinction in Nursing and for Excellence in Nursing Administration and, in 1997, she was listed in the World Who's Who of Women.
Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing
Dr. Sean Clarke has been appointed to the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing as RBC Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing Research. Dr. Clarke is a well-known health services researcher who joins the Faculty from the University of Pennsylvania where he has been associate director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research since 2001.
Dr. Clarke is an outstanding scientist and scholar. He brings great breadth of research experience to the field and a strong background in building research teams that are cross disciplinary and international. Prior to his move from Canada to the University of Pennsylvania his area of research and practice was cardiovascular nursing and he continues to hold nurse practitioner credentials in this field.
Michael Smith Foundation Announces New President and CEO
Dr. John R.G. Challis has been appointed to the position of president and CEO at the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, effective July 1, 2008. A fellow of the Royal Society of Canada, Dr. Challis received his undergraduate education at the University of Nottingham and PhD from the University of Cambridge. He conducted post-doctoral work at the University of California, San Diego and at Harvard Medical School before returning to the University of Oxford as a research scientist in 1974. He came to Canada in 1976 as a faculty member at McGill University and joined the faculty at the University of Western Ontario two years later. Dr. Challis served as scientific director of the Lawson Research Institute at St. Joseph's Health Centre and as vice-president (research).
He joined the University of Toronto as professor and chair of the department of physiology in 1995. In 2001, he was appointed as the founding scientific director of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health. His most recent position was vice-president, research and associate provost at the University of Toronto.
Royal Ottawa Health Care Group Appointment
The Board of Trustees of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group (ROHCG) has announced the appointment of its new president and CEO, George Weber, effective April 1, 2008. Since October 1, 2007, Mr. Weber has been interim president and CEO of the ROHCG. Previously, Mr. Weber was the national executive director and CEO for the Canadian Dental Association. Prior to that, he served as secretary general and CEO of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies and the Canadian Red Cross Society. Mr. Weber holds a master's degree in arts and bachelor degree in education from McGill University and he has completed the Advanced Management Program at Harvard University's Graduate School of Business Administration and is a certified association executive.
Hamilton-Toronto Collaboration
A first-of-its kind healthcare collaboration was recently announced by Hamilton-based St. Joseph's Healthcare Hamilton (SJHH) and Toronto's University Health Network (UHN) with the appointment of a shared vice president; Emma Pavlov, senior vice president of human resources and organizational development at UHN, joined SJHH on April 21, 2008. In this position, Ms. Pavlov will lead the development and implementation of human resources strategies at SJHH including the healthcare organization's recruitment and retention strategies and organizational development initiatives.
Ms. Pavlov has been with the UHN for 10 years. Under Ms. Pavlov's leadership, the UHN has developed a comprehensive human resources program, was recognized as one of Canada's Top 100 Employers for five consecutive years and received the OHA's Healthy Hospitals Innovators Award. She will divide her time between the two organizations.
New Brunswick Announces Move to Two Regional Health Authorities
In order to ensure clinical care is delivered to New Brunswickers uniformly and in the most effective and efficient manner possible, New Brunswick has started the transition to two Regional Health Authorities (RHAs) from the previous eight. This structural change will bring about a standardized, efficient provincial approach to healthcare and eliminate the unhealthy and costly competition that has existed between RHAs for limited financial and other resources.
Under the new structure:
- RHA A will replace RHA 1 Beauséjour (Moncton), RHA 4 (Edmundston), RHA 5 (Campbellton) and RHA 6 (Bathurst). RHA A will be based in Bathurst.
- RHA B will replace RHA1 South East (Moncton), RHA 2 (Saint John), RHA 3 (Fredericton) and RHA 7 (Miramichi). RHA B will be based in Miramichi.
In order to attract the skill and expertise levels required, RHA board members will be compensated for their service. In addition to having the requisite skills and expertise to govern their health authorities, board composition will take into account the need to balance urban and rural representation, both official language communities and gender. Aldéa Landry of Moncton is the chair of the board of RHA A while John Laidlaw of Rothesay is the chair of the board of RHA B.
To facilitate a smooth transition, government has appointed the first chief executive officers. Andrée Robichaud who has served as associate deputy minister of health, was named as chief executive officer of Regional Health Authority A, while Donn Peters formerly CEO of the South-East Regional Health Authority is the CEO of RHA B. The CEOs will report directly to their board chairs. Previously, CEOs reported to the deputy minister of health.
In future, boards will have the authority within legislation to employ or terminate the chief executive officer for their RHA, which was a commitment made by the government in its Charter for Change.
The new boards will be effective September 1, 2008. Until then, the minister of health will assume the responsibilities and authority of the RHA boards.
Toronto Central LHIN Announces New CEO
The board of directors of the Toronto Central Local Health Integration Network (LHIN) recently announced the appointment of Matthew Anderson as the new chief executive officer.
In 1998, Mr. Anderson became one of the youngest chief information officers of a Canadian academic health sciences centre, establishing a five-year, $50 million capital plan to move UHN to a completely electronic patient record. As the senior vice president of performance and technology for UHN, Mr. Anderson has been responsible for performance improvement strategies including supporting clinical relationships outside of UHN. He had operational responsibility for programs such as medical imaging, bio-medical engineering and information systems.
In addition to his work with UHN, Mr. Anderson has served as executive lead for the Toronto-based, 13-organization Shared Information Management Services (SIMS) Partnership (comprised of Bridgepoint Health, Central Community Care Access Centre, COTA Health, North York General Hospital, Providence Healthcare, St. John's Rehab Hospital, St. Joseph's Health Centre, Toronto Central Community Care Access Centre, Toronto East General Hospital, Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, University Health Network, West Park Healthcare Centre and Women's College Hospital). With similar values, these organizations have been identifying, planning and implementing joint information, safety and process improvement initiatives that are contributing to a coordinated and integrated healthcare delivery system.
New President for Canadian Institutes for Health Research
Dr. Alain Beaudet has been named president of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), effective July 1, 2008. Dr. Beaudet holds a medical degree and a PhD in neuroscience from the Université de Montréal. He did postdoctoral training at the Centre d'études nucléaires in Saclay, France, and the University of Zurich's Brain Research Institute in Switzerland. Returning to Montreal in 1980, he taught in McGill University's Neurology-Neurosurgery and Anatomy-Cell Biology departments, and went on to become assistant director of research at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI). He also served as president of the Canadian Association for Neuroscience from 1995 to 1997. More recently, Dr. Beaudet served as the director of scientific affairs and programs at the Fonds de la recherché en santé du Québec (FRSQ) from 2000 to 2004, and was appointed as president and chief executive officer of the FRSQ in 2004.
New Agency for Health Protection and Promotion
Five years after the SARS outbreak, Ontario has reached a milestone in the overhaul of emergency health planning with the appointment of the founding president and CEO of the new Ontario Agency for Health Protection and Promotion, the province's first ever, arms-length public health agency.
Dr. Vivek Goel - currently vice-president and provost at the University of Toronto - will head the new agency, which is modeled on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The new office, located in the MARS Centre, will be named the Sheela Basrur Centre after the former Ontario chief medical officer of health and medical officer of health for the City of Toronto during the SARS outbreak.
Leadership Boot Camp
The Canadian Nursing Students' Association (CNSA) is the national voice of Canadian nursing students. Our goal is to enhance nursing's legal, ethical, professional and educational aspects, which are integral to our practice. CNSA is actively dedicated to the positive promotion of nurses and the nursing profession as a whole.The first Leadership Boot Camp took place in January 2008 at the CNSA National Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The event included approximately 30 nursing students from across Canada and was co-facilitated by Dr. Judith Shamian (president and CEO, Victorian Order of Nurses) and Krista Kamstra, RN, BScN (National Career and Leadership Development Officer, 2007-2008). The boot camp proved to be a success and will run again next year.
Discussion focused on the views expressed by the conference's keynote speakers and the students' own ideas about leadership and what it should look like. Topics were clustered and expanded upon in lively group discussions. A leadership survey was also administered and made available to the rest of the conference delegates. Several significant themes emerged: new opportunities for new graduates, whether "leadership" had become a buzz word, the importance of professionalism, the need for subsidized education for student nurses, advocacy, confidence, mentorship and exposure to leadership, and finally, the need for leadership opportunities outside nursing to enhance perspective.
To focus the discussion, three primary questions were presented
to the attendees to consider in small groups:
- Who is a leader?
- What makes a good leader?
- How can leadership outside nursing facilitate becoming a leader within the nursing community?
Responses were then reported back to the collective.
The first question elicited a variety of responses: "a visionary," "picks up qualities in a group," "passionate," "takes initiative," "strong-willed," "speaks up," "is positive," "enables others to act," "inspirational," "gets things going," "is supportive and inclusive." The second question, "What makes a good leader?" also had a spectrum of answers: "has perspective," "delegates," "is a good listener," "is open and accessible," "knows own strengths/weaknesses," "able to make group cohesive," "is motivated/assertive," "is flexible," "is self-aware," "knows their own limits," "can make tough decisions," "has a uniting voice," "is inspirational," "puts group first without oppression." The list of attributes continued: "is charismatic," "is able to look up to," "is original and innovative," "encourages others to lead," "is courageous," "is responsible," "is non-judgmental," "exercises power with humility and responsibility," "has a mentor," "is vigilant," "is able to follow."
The third question, "How can leadership outside nursing facilitate becoming a leader within the nursing community?" sparked some spirited discussion: it "avoids tunnel-vision," "makes a more well-rounded person," "gives greater world view," "helps build confidence," "helps build the ability to communicate" and "improves ability to solve conflict." Other comments included: "It is extremely important to develop strategies to become strategic," "The more powerful you are perceived, the more people will listen" and "The transfer of skills and principles builds one's ability to respect self and others."
The boot camp was a dynamic opportunity for growth and discussion. It is one component of CNSA's growing leadership initiatives to build and nurture stronger nurse leaders. For more information on CNSA's leadership initiatives, please e-mail leadership@cnsa.ca.
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