The Pat Griffin Scholar must be a Registered Nurse, a faculty at a CASN member school and a researcher and scholar who has contributed significantly to the scholarship of nursing education beyond their local school/program of nursing. Individuals are nominated by their colleagues or schools and scrutinized by a panel of judges to determine which nominee best represents the qualities valued for the award. Nominees are required to be productive researchers leading impactful projects and programs in nursing education, effective disseminators of new knowledge in the field with demonstrated success in grantsmanship . And if that isn’t enough, they are also expected to be consultants, mentors, and innovators. While this may seem to be an ambitious, perhaps overly ambitious list of criteria, each year, the panel of judges has been challenged to select only one winner from a strong field of excellence.
In 2011, the inaugural Pat Griffin Nursing Education Research Scholar was Dr. Florence Myrick, a world renowned researcher in the area of professional education with a focus on preceptorship. In 2013 the award went to Dr. Profetto-McGrath, whose research program is built on scholarly inquiry into nursing education with a focus on critical thinking and knowledge utilization regarding Clinical Nurse Specialists’ roles and elder care. And in 2012, Dr. Mina Singh, an influential researcher in the area of accountability in education and practice, curriculum development and design, and international development in nursing education was given the award.
We are excited to announce the 2014/15 award winner, Dr. Bernie Garrett, a scholar with a passion and commitment to advancing new and innovative technologies in nursing education in Canada and abroad.
Dr. Garrett’s colleagues describe him as a passionate teacher, a tenacious problem-solver, an enthusiastic mentor and collaborator, and a genuine delight as a scholarly leader. He has led initiatives in a wide range of high fidelity simulation learning, e-portfolios, social networking systems mobile learning platforms, augmented reality clinical learning systems, and animation technologies. His projects engage teams of educators, graduate and undergraduate students and interprofessional collaborators stimulated by his enthusiasm for learning. The products of his work have benefitted the school where he works, and have also impacted other educational institutions across Canada and internationally.
Dr. Garrett will share his passion for education and research at the Pat Griffin Annual Lecture at the 2014 CASN Annual Council meeting in November.
Tweet your ideas or leave a comment on the CASN Facebook page using #PGScholar #BernieGarrett
Cynthia Baker, RN, PhD.
Executive Director, CASN