Coralee McLaren, RN, MN, PhD
Assistant Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University and Adjunct Scientist, Bloorview Research Institute

Workshop: Finding Joy in Movement – Pediatric Nursing

Dr. Coralee McLaren completed her undergraduate/graduate studies in Nursing at the University of Toronto, and worked as a Registered Nurse at the Hospital for Sick Children. Her award winning PhD dissertation focused on the relationship between children’s movement and the physical environment. During her Post-doctoral Fellowship hosted jointly by Bloorview Research Institute and CanChild Centre for Childhood Disability Research, Dr. McLaren co-wrote and secured a CIHR funded grant aimed at developing synergies between dance, neuroscience, architecture and education. Combining postmodern theory with artistic and empirical methods, this research seeks to gain critical insights into the relationship between movement and cognition in children with diverse abilities and optimize their physical and social interactions at school. This work draws on Dr. McLaren’s former career with the Toronto Dance Theatre and teaching experience at the associated School, York and Ryerson University Dance departments. Dr. McLaren is an Assistant Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Ryerson University, and an Adjunct Scientist in the Bloorview Research Institute.

Lisa Ashley, RN, CCHN(C), MEd
Senior Nurse Advisor, Canadian Nurses Association and Consultant Level 2 at School of Nursing, University of Ottawa

Workshop: Community Health Nursing

Lisa Ashley is a Senior Nurse Advisor at the Canadian Nurses Association. Her work at CNA includes advocating for healthy public policy that optimizes the role of the registered nurse.  Lisa is also the Chair of the Chronic Disease Prevention Alliance of Canada (CDPAC).

As a longstanding Registered Nurse, Lisa has worked in leadership positions as a home health and public health professional at the local, provincial and national levels to address health promotion activities, disease prevention and management. She has extensive experience in healthy public policy, program development, corporate funding, organizational planning, financial and information management, mentoring nursing students, and stakeholder engagement through positions at the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA), on Board of Directors for provincial and national organizations, and Ottawa Public Health.

Lisa is an Academic Consultant Level 2 for the School of Nursing at the University of Ottawa. She has published on a variety of topics in national and international peer-reviewed and other journals. In addition to a BScN in community health from Ryerson University and a Master in Education from the University of Ottawa, Lisa has certification in Multiple Intervention Programming, Health Management, and is proud to be CNA certified in Community Health Nursing, a voluntary recognized credential for registered nurses licensed in Canada who meet specific nursing practice, continuous learning and testing requirements.

Lisa’s long term goal is to improve health care in Canada by advocating for a sustainable health care system that maximizes community health, is functionally integrated, and easy to navigate.

Alec Azaryev, RN, BScN
Registered Nurse, Emergency Room, Mackenzie Health Hospital

Workshop: Untold Stories of ER

Alec graduated from Ryerson University in 2015. Since the third year of school, he has been involved in CNSA serving as a third year representative and later, a coordinator of education. He was also part of RyeSERT in his final year. He is currently working in the Emergency Departments at Mackenzie Health Centre. Alec’s ultimate goal is to become a nursing officer in the Canadian Forces with the hopes of focusing on teaching. He strives to share his learning experiences and motivate students to develop more self-awareness and self-confidence.

Alec entered Emergency Department as a new grad, feeling overwhelmed and unequipped, with a lackluster of acute care experience. His first impression of it was: waves of ongoing new learning material, struggling with time management and refining assessment skills. The Untold Stories of ER workshop is comprised of several interesting cases he had come across during his first year as a nurse. He believes that real life scenarios do serve as one of the best learning experiences. He’s excited to share those cases as close to the actual events as possible from the perspective of a novice nurse and hopefully give a few pointers to new grads seeking a career in the ER.

Ontario Nurses’ Association Staff

Workshop: Your Role in Violence Prevention

Violence continues to be a major problem in health care facilities despite the changes incorporated into the Occupational Health and Safety Act in June 2010. Workers need to be aware and informed of the problem in order to meet their worker obligations in recognizing and reporting violence. Upon completion of this presentation, you will:

• Understand your role in working toward eliminating violence in the workplace
• Respond to obstacles to ensure workers can report violence
• Understand ONA’s strategy and the tools and resources ONA members have access to ensure workplaces are safe environments