About the Contributors

Amanda Willcox, BHJ

In April 2011, Amanda Willcox joined the Dispute Resolution Office, Ministry of Justice (Government of Saskatchewan) as a mediator. Prior to joining the office, Amanda obtained a Bachelor of Human Justice degree specializing in criminal and restorative justice from the University of Regina. Amanda is responsible for providing conflict resolution services for disputes involving families, farmers and lenders, organizations, municipalities, and civil court cases. She is also involved facilitating group workshops in conflict resolution, mediation, and leadership. Amanda has a passion for empowering people to work through their differences in the most productive way possible.

Anne Sutherland Boal, RN, BA, MHSA

Anne Sutherland Boal is a health care professional with 40 years’ experience in progressively senior roles, across three Canadian provinces and in China. She has held a number of positions in academic health care settings including staff nurse, patient care coordinator, director of nursing, vice-president of nursing and programs, and chief operating officer. Anne first joined the Canadian Nurses Association in 2010 as chief operating officer and acted as CEO from December 2013 to May 2017.

Throughout her career, Anne has been successful in carrying out innovative programs and effecting change. At the BC Health ministry, where she was chief nurse executive and assistant deputy minister, Anne oversaw the implementation of the nurse practitioner role and the use of the baccalaureate degree as the entry-to-practice requirement for nurses. As chief operating officer at Vancouver Coastal Health, Vancouver Acute, Anne led the establishment of a collaborative practice model that more fully uses the skills and abilities of RNs, LPNs, and care aides.

Anne obtained her nursing diploma from Foothills Hospital School of Nursing (University of Calgary). She also holds a Bachelor of Arts degree (Brock University) and a master’s degree in health services administration (University of Alberta).

Anthony de Padua, RN, PhD

Anthony de Padua is an Assistant Professor for the College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan, at Prince Albert campus. Prior to his work at the University of Saskatchewan, he was the Department Head for Indigenous Health, Social Work, and Education and the Director of Health Science at First Nations University of Canada. He is non-Indigenous and has had the privilege to work with a number of Indigenous leaders, Elders, and nurses. He recognizes the differences between non-Indigenous and Indigenous leadership styles and appreciates the importance of understanding and working with Indigenous leaders and perspectives to improve health care for all people. He has worked in a number of nursing areas from medical–surgical wards, pediatrics, intensive care, community health, and correctional nursing.

Beverly Balaski, RN, BN, MN

Beverly Balaski started her nursing career as a certified nursing assistant (now known as an LPN). She returned to school one year later and completed a diploma in registered nursing. Throughout her career she has worked in the domains of direct care, education, research, and policy development.

Beverly has the unique experience of having worked for both the regulatory body of nursing, the Saskatchewan Registered Nurses’ Association (SRNA), in the roles of nursing practice advisor and acting director of nursing practice, and for the union representing RNs and RPNs in Saskatchewan, the Saskatchewan Union of Nursing, as a nurse research and practice advisor.

Currently Beverly is employed as the Executive Director for the Registered Psychiatric Nurses Association of Saskatchewan (RPNAS) and has a wealth of knowledge regarding nursing legislation, standards, research, evidence, and best practice guidelines. She is dedicated to the achievement of role clarity for nursing providers and is passionate about promoting RN and RPN practice as unique, knowledge based, and irreplaceable.

Brendalynn Ens, RN, MN, CCN(c), HTA(c)

Brendalynn Ens is currently the Director of Knowledge Mobilization, Liaison Officer Program and Partnerships with the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CATDH). She is based in Saskatchewan, but manages a national team. In this role, she shares evidence-based information, increases awareness of CADTH services, and supports understanding of evidence for decision making. She has over 25 years’ experience as a critical care nurse, cardiac educator, researcher, and nurse manager in various rural and urban hospital settings.

Brendalynn completed a Bachelor of Science in Nursing in 1988, then completed a Master of Nursing (University of Saskatchewan) in 1992. In 2005, she completed a certificate program in Health Technology Assessment from Laval University. She has been a CNA-certified cardiovascular nurse since 2003.

Brendalynn is also a casual instructor with the Colleges of Nursing and Pharmacy and the School of Physical Therapy at the University of Saskatchewan. She teaches occasionally with the Paramedicine and Nurse Practitioner programs at Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Colleen R. Toye, RN, BSN, MN

Colleen Toye began her career as a diploma-prepared nurse. She went on to obtain a Bachelor of Science in Nursing (Distinction) and a Master of Nursing. Her master’s thesis, “Beyond Adoption: Exploring the Utilization and Integration of RAI-HC,” was a qualitative study, completed with Saskatchewan Health Region participants. Based on the work of her thesis, she published an article in the peer-reviewed journal Home Health Care Management and Practice titled “Normalisation Process Theory and the Implementation of Resident Assessment Instrument—Home Care in Saskatchewan, Canada: A Qualitative Study.”

Colleen has had 38 years of nursing experience in acute, chronic, rehabilitative, and palliative care, within rural and urban, institutional and community settings. Nursing care and responsibility has been in clinical, administrative and leadership, and mentoring/teaching roles. No matter the role, Colleen’s practice philosophy has been one of client and family centrality, and she has maintained a keen awareness of the need to be adaptive and supportive of colleagues and clients in an ever-changing health care environment.

Colleen has been active in the SRNA as a council member for eight years and was elected into the role of President-Elect/President for a four-year term. During her time as president, Colleen also represented Saskatchewan nurses as a board member of the Canadian Nurses Association. Colleen is a proud and committed registered nurse. She has had the opportunity to work in a variety of settings across Saskatchewan, and indeed feels privileged to work with and learn from an abundance of exemplary nurses.

Joan Wagner, RN, PhD

Dr. Joan Wagner is an Associate Professor of Nursing, University of Regina. She has extensive course development experience and served as curriculum liaison for the Faculty of Nursing, University of Regina, from 2011 to 2014. She is presently the Coordinator, Research and Scholarship for the Faculty of Nursing. Joan is an active participant in many Faculty of Nursing committees and also remains active with her professional association.

Dr. Wagner teaches “Leadership and Influencing Change” to third-year nursing students. She collaborated with nursing colleagues to develop this online leadership course, which she has taught since its inception. She has extensive community and long-term care nursing experience, including over 12 years of senior leadership and program development experience within the health care community.

Joan’s multidisciplinary research focuses on healthy workplaces, spirit at work, workplace empowerment, and leadership within healthcare workplaces. She is presently the principal investigator for a Saskatchewan Health Research Foundation–funded study investigating the use of the synergy tool in the emergency departments in the Regina area. Joan has published her research in Western Journal of Nursing Research, Journal of Nursing Management, Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, Canadian Journal of Nursing Leadership, and Journal of Health Organization and Management. She has presented widely on her body of research at a local, national, and international level.

Judy Boychuk Duchscher RN, PhD

Dr. Judy Duchscher began her nursing career in 1979 and has committed herself to excellence in education, practice, research, and leadership. As an academic, she has been an active researcher and consultant in the area of new graduate professional role transition—work for which she has received over 20 national and international awards and scholarships. The findings of her research have generated a theory of transition shock and a model of the stages of transition resulting in the publication of more than 18 peer-reviewed articles, two books, and five book chapters and the delivery of over 200 guest lectures throughout Canada, the United States, Australia, and Asia on the topic of new nurse integration. To ensure the translation and dissemination of her work, Dr. Duchscher founded Nursing the Future, an organization that serves as a bridge between the ideals taught in undergraduate nursing education and the realities of the “real” world of professional practice. Dr. Duchscher is currently considered one of the foremost experts on new nurse transition in North America, and fervently maintains that “it is the vision, creativity and passionate commitment of these young professionals, united with the experience and insight of their senior colleagues and mentors that will drive nursing and health care in Canada forward.”

Louise Racine, RN, PhD

Louise Racine was born and raised in beautiful Quebec City. She entered the nursing profession in 1978 as an RN and practised for more than 14 years in general surgery, ENT, head and neck surgery, urology, and gynecology. Dr. Racine received her RN diploma from the CEGEP Sainte-Foy and a Certificate in Health Administration from the Université de Montréal in 1991. She received her BSN (1994) and MN (1996) from the Université Laval. In 2004, she received her PhD in nursing from the University of British Columbia. Dr. Racine’s research interest is in the area of immigrant and refugee health. Her program of research also focuses on the delivery of culturally competent and safe nursing care to racialized populations.

Lisa Little, RN, MHS

Ms. Little has over 25 years’ experience in health care as a registered nurse. For the past seven years, she has been sole proprietor of Lisa Little Consulting, a health policy consulting organization focusing on health research and policy, as well as consultation, facilitation, and strategy development. She is also a lecturer in the School of Nursing at Queen’s University. Prior to this, Lisa spent ten years at the Canadian Nurses Association, including serving as the director of public policy. There she led national research projects, committees, advisory groups, and policy initiatives in the quest to shape healthy public policy.

Lisa graduated with a Bachelor of Nursing Science from Queen’s University and a Masters in Health Studies from Athabasca University. She has written and presented both nationally and internationally.

Lisa served on the Winchester District Memorial Hospital from 2007–2015, including as Board Chair. She joined the Rural Healthcare Innovations’ Board of Directors in 2012 and was elected to the International Council of Nurses’ Board of Directors in 2017.

Maura MacPhee, RN, PhD

Dr. Maura MacPhee is a Professor of Nursing at the University of British Columbia (UBC) in Vancouver. She co-developed the British Columbia Nursing Leadership Institute, a collaborative leadership development model between the Ministry of Health, the province’s health regions, and UBC. Between 2005–2010, over 500 novice nurse leaders attended this institute. Dr. MacPhee has adapted the Institute’s leadership curriculum for use in other countries, including Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Brazil. Dr. MacPhee’s research focus is on healthy work environments for nurses, particularly the influence of nurse leaders on nurses’ workplaces. She also studies safe staffing. She is a proponent of staffing tools to help nurses and leaders better evaluate patients’ priority care needs: nurse staffing should always be based on patients’ care needs. She has done research on safe staffing using the synergy tool. Dr. Maura MacPhee is currently a professor with the Faculty of Nursing, University of British Columbia.

Norma Rabbitskin, RN, BN

Norma Rabbitskin is a fluent Cree speaker from Big River First Nation, Saskatchewan. She is currently employed by Sturgeon Lake First Nation as the senior health nurse, overseeing primary care, community health, and home care programs. Her passion is being of service and supporting the development of community-based programs that are strongly grounded in traditional healing practices. She is equally passionate about parenting skills, traditional life skills, teachings from Elders and knowledge keepers, maintaining the vitality of language in knowledge building, and achieving wellness in one’s life.

Shauna Davies, RN, PhD

Shauna Davies is an instructor with the University of Regina. Dr. Davies has a 16-year history in nursing education, teaching in baccalaureate and graduate nursing programs. She has taught clinically in a variety of medical–surgical areas, primarily in general surgery, abdominal, and cardiovascular thoracic. Her classroom teaching has focused on health assessment and medical–surgical classes. Her research interests are primarily in the area of technology as it relates to nursing practice. Dr. Davies has incorporated a variety of medical–surgical simulated scenarios in both the classroom and laboratory settings using high-fidelity mannequins. She also has experience teaching registered nurses how to use the iPad for clinical practice in two health regions. Her doctoral research focused on the use of social media for caregiver support and information. She is currently conducting research on the use of social media in nursing education. Another strong research interest is exploring how technology has improved nursing care.

Stacy Muller, BAdmin, JD

Stacy Muller obtained an undergraduate degree in Business Administration from the University of Regina and a Juris Doctor from the University of Saskatchewan. Stacy is a Crown Counsel for the Government of Saskatchewan and is currently working as the Director of the Dispute Resolution Office with the Ministry of Justice.

Susan Bazylewski, RN, BSN, MCEd

Susan Bazylewski is a registered nurse with a Bachelor of Science degree in Nursing from McMaster University and a Master’s in Continuing and Adult Education from the University of Saskatchewan. Susan has worked for over 40 years in the health care system in a variety of settings in acute, long-term, and community care. Her roles have included point-of-care clinical nurse, educator, nurse manager, and various executive roles (most recently, vice-president for a variety of regional and provincial health programs in Saskatchewan). She is currently working as a health sector consultant and part-time clinical instructor. With a passion for teaching and education and making positive change in our health care system, she is involved in many initiatives, teaching and mentoring managers, leaders, staff, interdisciplinary teams, patients, and families throughout Saskatchewan.

Sonia Udod, RN, PhD

Dr. Sonia Udod’s program of research investigates nurses’ work environments and health services delivery under the umbrella of Translating Evidence for Nursing LEADership and Health Services (LEAD Outcomes Research Program). Within this program of research, her scholarly interests are health care leadership, nurses’ work environments, nurse manager development, and workplace diversity.

The nature of Dr. Udod’s program of research focuses on nursing leadership and its effect on the quality of nurses’ work environments leading to improved patient, nurse, and organizational outcomes. She focuses on building and disseminating evidence about approaches to nursing and health care leadership that influence outcomes.

Dr. Udod received the Top Researcher in Socio-Health, New Investigator Establishment Grant (2013–14), is a research affiliate with the Manitoba Centre for Nursing Research (College of Nursing, University of Manitoba), and is a member scholar with the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology at the University of Alberta. Dr. Udod teaches leadership and management and advanced qualitative research methodologies. She mentors graduate and undergraduate students interested in leadership and nurses’ work environments and other organizational aspects of health care delivery that influence organizational, health care provider, and patient outcomes.

Wendy Whitebear

Wendy Whitebear is a member of the White Bear First Nation located near Carlye, Saskatchewan. The majority of her work and volunteer activities has been focused on the betterment of First Nations communities, people, and youth. Wendy has developed and implemented programs and initiatives that pertain to wellness, personal development, career, and financial planning for First Nations people and community organizations. In 2013, Wendy was the recipient of the Service of Excellence—Spirit Award for her active participation in the University of Regina’s Indigenization efforts as well as assisting in a variety of other campus initiatives.

Over the last couple of years, Wendy has been a community producer and co-host for a local Indigenous women’s talk show called The Four. The show provides a range of stories about First Nations histories, communities, and aspirations. Wendy is currently the Business Manager at University of Regina Press and is assisting with Indigenous acquisitions and manuscript reviews. She is also a committee member on the Diversity and Inclusion Working Group with the Association of Canadian Publishers to assist in Indigenizing the Canadian publishing industry.

Yvonne Harris, RN, BSN, ENC(c)

Yvonne Harris has over 30 years of clinical nursing and leadership experience primarily in the emergency setting. This passion for emergency nursing and emergency nursing education has culminated in her most recent accomplishment: participating in the development and roll-out of the Emergency Nursing Advanced Certificate program for Saskatchewan Polytechnic.

Yvonne earned her post-RN Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Saskatchewan in 2011 and is currently enrolled in the Masters of Health Studies program through Athabasca University. In 1997, she was successful in writing the Emergency Nursing Certification exam. She successfully rewrote the exam in 2012 and continues to maintain her certification through ongoing education and lifelong learning.