Dr. Lorelli Nowell is an award-winning nursing educator and researcher. Since being appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2019, Dr. Nowell has obtained over $400,000 in research funding related to advancing nursing education. In addition, she has published 58 peer-reviewed publications, given over 30 invited presentations, and presented at 45 international, 21 national, and 35 local conferences, many of which are in collaboration with her students. Dr. Nowell’s educational experience and expertise helped the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary develop and implement an innovative nursing Graduate Certificate Program as a laddered pathway to a Master of Nursing. This program offers advanced nursing practice knowledge along with practical experience for registered nurses wishing to acquire specialized skills in select areas (e.g., leadership, teaching and learning, addictions and mental health, healthcare innovation and design). Through this work, Dr. Nowell continues to be nimble in response to emerging healthcare trends to ensure nursing curricula and nursing students are prepared to tackle pressing challenges in today’s increasingly complex healthcare contexts. Dr. Nowell is also providing vital support for the development and delivery of our novel Doctor of Nursing program which launched in January 2023, one of the first in Canada! Dr. Nowell is a creative and innovative nurse educator and scholar who is leading and promoting excellence in nursing education. She consistently demonstrates exemplary leadership and commitment to nursing education through active engagement in program development and delivery, significant involvement in educational organizations, and influential scholarship in teaching and learning.

Danielle sees every student interaction as an opportunity to build relationships and engage with the goal of creating a safe space for learning. She has years of experience teaching in clinical, simulation lab, skills lab, and classroom environments both virtual and in-person, providing her with a range of valuable tools to support bridging the practice-theory gap and promoting critical thinking.  Danielle has successfully completed both the CASN’s Nurse Educator and Simulation Certification programs; the values within these courses have been applied to all aspects of her teaching with the aim of providing high quality nursing education.  She completed the Teaching and Learning Certificate (TLC) through the Centre for Advancement of Teaching and Learning and will serve as a TLC teaching mentor.  As a teacher, she thoughtfully and reflectively creates, evaluates, and revises syllabi, assignments, rubrics, simulation-based experiences, learning activities, teaching materials, and tests.  Proactively, she developed several class activities in the format of NCLEX-RN Next Generation questions and case studies to introduce students to the NCSBN clinical judgment model.

The impact of Covid-19 on nursing education and the health care system has been colossal, affecting the experience of the learner, their sense of connectedness, motivation, and stress levels. Danielle developed opportunities for building connection and improving student mental health during this time through sharing circle activities, student tours, and delivering engaging online lectures with the use of interactive learning activities.  Danielle has received several awards recognizing teaching excellence. She has been the 6-time recipient of the Nursing Student’s Association Teaching Excellence Award. Danielle received the prestigious Students’ Teacher Recognition Award for her significant contribution to excellence in teaching. In 2020 she received an Award of Excellence in Education from the Association of Regulated Nurses of Manitoba (ARNM).

José Côté is professor of nursing at Université de Montréal, researcher at the CHUM Research Centre and, since 2005, holder of the Research Chair in Innovative Nursing Practices. A pioneer in the field of eHealth nursing practices, she developed the TAVIE (Traitement Assistance Virtuelle Infirmière et Enseignement) concept to support people manage their chronic health conditions. TAVIE, which is under several invention disclosures, offers a mode of intervention complementary to existing health services and enhances accessibility to tailored therapeutic education. Côté’s research results have been reported in some 150 publications in peer-reviewed journals and over 250 oral presentations at regional, national and international events. The recipient of numerous honours and medals, she has had her work recognized by organizations such as the Women’s Y Foundation, the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec, Quebec’s Secretariat for the Status of Women, the Millennia2015 Foundation, and Sanofi International. Solicited for her expertise, she sits on various Quebec and Canadian research committees (e.g., FRQ-S, CIHR). She has helped secure more than $47 million in research grants as principal or co-investigator and, since May 2020, has co-headed the Quebec Network on Nursing Intervention Research (RRISIQ). She is deeply involved in training next-generation nurses and has supervised the theses of 30 graduate students. A firm believer in the democratization of science and in rendering knowledge accessible to all, she launched, in 2018, the international, bilingual, open-access journal Science infirmière et pratiques en santé/Science of Nursing and Health Practice.

Dr. Gagnon began as Interim Director and subsequently Associate Dean and Director of the Ingram School of Nursing (ISON), McGill University in 2015. At that time, she found ISON in a holding pattern, lacking organizational structure, and short of faculty and staff to carry out the School’s mandates effectively. In response, she gathered needed data on ISON’s situation, comparative data from other McGill professional schools, and research evidence of best practices in education. These were presented as rationale for augmenting the School’s resources and an improved physical space, resulting in an over two-fold increase in ISON operating funds and a move away from a beautiful but dilapidated building to three floors overlooking McGill’s main campus and downtown Montreal with new classrooms, teaching laboratories, offices, and wellness spaces.

Dr. Gagnon knew that ISON needed more than just to ‘catch-up’ to where it should have been, it needed to be able to innovate, which would require philanthropic funds. Obtaining donor funds led to fully equipping state-of-the-art teaching labs; jump-starting McGill’s first undergraduate program delivered online; expanding ISON’s Online/Continuous Nursing Education and Clinical Partnerships Offices; creating a network of community nurse-led clinics to simultaneously offer more clinical opportunities for students while providing care to the homeless; equipping NP-led clinics for underserved populations including ‘undocumented’ 0-4 month-olds and mothers with postpartum depression.

Dr. Gagnon obtained approval to open three new Nurse Practitioner concentrations and negotiated the creation of ISON’s first Indigenous Scholar position while organizing funds to establish ISON’s Office of Social Accountability in Nursing, whose inaugural director was hired in May, 2023.

Kathleen White-Williams has extensive experience as a CASN Accreditation Reviewer, including various reviews as team leader. She displays continuing interest in the work of CASN, and, as Kathleen stated herself “I am still fascinated and in awe of the incredible creativity, resourcefulness and resilience that takes place in the context of nursing education and practice”. This sentiment was also visible in a letter of support where the letter writer described Kathleen’s great attention to detail, ensuring a seamless flow of activities during a review as well as the clear and well-developed reports under Kathleen’s leadership. Working alongside Kathleen, it is clear she prepares extensively before a visit.

A second writer supported the previous comments and commented further on Kathleen’s extreme professionalism and her leadership style that is “both robust and welcoming”.

Important to mention the well-rounded contributions of Kathleen towards Nursing education in Canada. She has mentored various new, and seasoned, reviewers over various years with all individuals being very appreciative of her leadership.

Kathleen retired from her position as a professor in Nursing. The fact that she is still so active in the work of CASN and other aspects of Nursing, must be acknowledged as her lifelong commitment towards nursing education and the overall state of nursing in Canada.

Dr Paul created the Bilingual BScN Program and was instrumental in developing the curriculum of the After Degree and Honors BScN programs. She initiated the online delivery of the PhD program. Dr Paul has served as Associate Dean Academic Programs and Planning, and Associate Dean Graduate Studies. In these roles she developed new programs, and led program approval activities when these processes were new. She has provided extensive service to the Faculty and the University. Dr Paul has taught 22 courses at all levels. She has supervised to completion 11 PhD and 16 MN students and has served as committee member/examiner for another 41 PhD, and 23 Master’s students. Dr Paul has published 4 books, including 3 editions of a major textbook (2500+ pages), 28 chapters, and 43 papers.

She has presented 154 papers. Her expertise in qualitative methods is sought by colleagues in Rehab Medicine and Pharmacy, and she has been involved in 28 research projects.

At the national level she was President of CASN, and served on the Accreditation Bureau (Member and Chair). She has created and delivered multiple times the course The Art and Science of Graduate Students Supervision (in English and French) for the CNEI. She regularly reviews abstracts for ICN, and papers for international publications. She has supervised many international students who are contributing abroad, including two who are heading nursing faculties in Pakistan and Chile. Dr. Paul’s significant contributions to nursing education and the profession have been recognised by CNA and CRNA.