Kathy Sabo, RN, MHA
Former (Retired) Senior Vice President, University Health Network (UHN) Executive Lead at Toronto Western Hospital (TWH)

Topic: Nursing Leadership

University Health Network is a large multi-site academic health science center in Toronto comprised of a network of four hospitals – Toronto General, Toronto Western, Princess Margaret and Toronto Rehab. Prior to her retirement from her former role, Kathy was responsible for providing senior operational and strategic leadership for all programs, clinical, diagnostic and support services at Toronto Western Hospital.

Kathy is a Registered Nurse with a Bachelor of Administrative Studies and Master of Health Administration. At UHN, Kathy has held various roles in operations and practice, including Director of Nursing at TWH, where she was responsible for the development and maintenance of professional nursing practice and standards. This included establishing and maintaining quality improvement initiatives to foster and support nursing excellence, developing and implementing practice, healthcare delivery and management models and supporting the mission of providing exemplary patient care, research and education.

Prior to UHN, Kathy held progressive leadership positions at Humber River Regional and SickKids Hospitals. Her extensive experience at both academic and community based hospitals allowed her to lead broad inter-professional health care teams through change and creating and implementing innovative approaches to program development, professional practice, leadership, patient care and service delivery.

Jasna Krmpotic Schwind, RN, PhD
Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Workshop: Mindfulness and Self-Care

Dr. Schwind is an Associate Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, at Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada. Her program of research, by means of Arts-Informed Narrative Inquiry, focuses on reconstruction of experience of personal and professional self within professional and therapeutic relationships in nursing education and practice. Using the creative tool, Narrative Reflective Process, she explores humanness-of- care, which she defines as mindful presence with those in our care. This requires mindful awareness in the present moment with non-judgmental acceptance of self and others. Over the past twenty years Dr. Schwind has attended workshops, retreats and classes on various mindfulness practices, some of which she includes in her personal practice, with her students in teaching-learning situations, as well as in her research.

Jennifer Reguindin, BScN, MScN, GNC(C), RN
Interprofessional Educator, Baycrest Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care and Registered Nurse at Coronary Intensive Care Unit, Toronto General Hospital

Workshop: Nursing at the ICU

Jennifer is an interprofessional educator for the Baycrest Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation in Long-Term Care and is certified in healthcare simulation and gerontological nursing. Previously, she was also an advanced practice leader – nurse, and served as a subject matter expert for the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care’s Long-Term Care Home Common Assessment Project.

An experienced staff nurse in the areas of intensive care, cardiac and medical-surgical, her roles included nursing management and education, for various Community Care Access Centre and Primary Health Care projects provincially.

Jennifer received her Bachelor of Science in Nursing from Ryerson University in 2002. While completing her Master of Science in Nursing degree from York University in 2007, she also served as one of their clinical course directors.

Katia Wong, RN, MSc
Registered Nurse at Sherbourne Health Centre, Past Canadian Nursing Teaching Specialist (Clinical Supervision) in Bangladesh

Workshop: International and Global Nursing

Katia Wong is a Registered Nurse on the Newcomer Health Team at Sherbourne Health Centre. In 2014-15, Katia served as a consultant for the CIDA/DFATD Human Resources for Health Project in Bangladesh as the Clinical Nursing Teaching Specialist in Clinical Supervision. She has worked in acute care HIV/AIDS, trauma/neurosurgery, community health/primary care and has served as a clinical nursing instructor in Canada and in Bangladesh. Katia was formerly the Co-director of the Canadian Society for International Health’s MentorNet Program and is currently a mentor. She is also an executive of RNAO’s International Nursing Interest Group. Katia holds a Master of Science in Global Health from McMaster University and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Alberta.

Patricia Bradley, RN, MEd, PhD, CNE
Associate Professor and Coordinator, Internationally Educated Nurses BScN Program, York University

Workshop: NCLEX-RN Exam Preparation

Dr. Patricia Bradley has extensive teaching experience in Canada and the United States. She has taught in universities, colleges, and healthcare settings. Pat is currently an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Internationally Educated Nurses BScN Program at York University. She has developed and delivered NCLEX-RN workshops for faculty and students across Canada.

Sarabeth Silver, RN
Registered Nurse at Mount Sinai Hospital Orthopedics/Sarcoma Unit

Workshop: Making the Most out of Nursing School: How to Position Yourself for Success!

Sarabeth Silver is a registered nurse who graduated from the Ryerson Collaborative BScN program in 2013. Sarabeth practices in the orthopedic/sarcoma unit at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Currently, Sarabeth is the Vice President of the Ryerson Nursing Alumni Association, the Policy and Political Action ENO for the Staff Nursing Interest Group of RNAO, and the co-chair of the unit practice council for the ortho/sarcoma unit. Sarabeth’s pride and joy in her years as a nursing student at Ryerson was in creating and producing the first official Nurses Got Talent in 2011, which has continued on for five additional shows. In addition, Sarabeth’s portfolio also includes several publications and speaking engagements to various nursing groups across the spectrum of students and nursing leaders. This past summer, Sarabeth completed the Advanced Nursing Leadership and Management certificate at Ryerson, and continues to build on her educational background as she began the Master of Nursing program at the University of Toronto this past September in the Health Systems Leadership and Administration stream.

Alexandra Morra, BScN, RN
Registered Nurse at Oakville-Trafalgar Memorial Hospital & St. Joseph’s Healthcare

Workshop: Get Psyched – Life in the Psychiatric Emergency Department

Alexandra Morra is a Registered Nurse with an immense passion for Mental Health. She graduated from the McMaster University Accelerated BScN Program in 2014. Alex currently works as a Crisis Clinician in the Emergency Department at Oakville Trafalgar Memorial Hospital, as well as Psychiatric Emergency Services at St. Joseph’s Healthcare in Hamilton.

Alex personally suffers from mental illness, and has used her experiences from patient to practitioner to inform her practice and provision of care. She is the former Associate Delegate for the CNSA McMaster Chapter, and utilized her time with the CNSA to advocate for mental health wellness among nursing students and beyond. Alex has spoken about her journey in previous events such as the Ryerson Mental Health Summit and RNAO Region 7 Mental Health Workshop. Join her on a new endeavour as she dives into the daily life of a psychiatric emergency nurse and gives the breakdown of what happens during a Code White!

Margareth S. Zanchetta, RN, BScN, MN, PhD
Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Workshop: Santé des Hommes, Littératie en Santé et Pratique Infirmière

Margareth S. Zanchetta détient un doctorat professionnel et un doctorat en sciences infirmières. Elle est professeure agrégée à l’Université Ryerson (Faculté de services communautaires, école des sciences infirmières Daphne Cockwell) à Toronto, Ontario. Ses domaines et intérêts de recherché sont: la littératie en santé, l’interface culture, langage et la littératie en santé, la représentation sociale et transculturelle du cancer de la prostate, la santé des hommes, l’éducation populaire en santé, la santé globale, la santé des populations socialement désaffiliées et la vulnérabilité des minorités linguistiques.

Marie E. Dumitriu, BScN Student Year 4
Research Assistant, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Workshop: Santé des Hommes, Littératie en Santé et Pratique Infirmière

Marie Elisabeth Dumitriu est présentement dans sa 4e année d’études de baccalauréat en soins infirmiers à Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing. Elle travaille en tant qu’assistante de recherche volontaire avec Dr. Margareth Zanchetta depuis sa première année, car la recherche est un sujet d’intérêt pour elle, en particulier la recherche qualitative. Les projets de recherche sur lesquels elle a assisté Dr. Zanchetta portent sur la santé des hommes, en particulier en ce qui a trait à l’expérience de la maladie du cancer de la prostate.

Rachel Lam-Kin Teng, BScN Student Year 4
Research Assistant, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Workshop: Santé des Hommes, Littératie en Santé et Pratique Infirmière

Hailing from the small island country of Mauritius, Rachel Lam-Kin-Teng is bilingual in French and English, and will soon start her fourth year at the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University. She has been working and volunteering as a research assistant since her first year. She has worked on projects related to the representation of men’s lived experience with prostate cancer in the French media with Dr. Zanchetta and more recently with Dr. Zakus, researching students’ habits with accessing news media. Working as a research assistant has broadened her views of the nursing field, at times pushing her beyond her comfort zone but ultimately helping in redefining and reinforcing her nursing identity.

Amy L. Derickx, B. Jour. (Honours), J.D.
Legal Advisor, Canadian Nurses Protective Society

Workshop: Legal Risks Associated with Social Media Use

Amy Derickx is a Legal Advisor with the Canadian Nurses Protective Society, a not-for-profit organization created by nurses for nurses to meet the professional liability needs of registered nurses.

Amy has experience in a wide variety of areas within health law, including medical defence, professional liability, privacy, and professional discipline matters. Amy has appeared before the Ontario Superior Court of Justice, the Ontario Small Claims Court, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario, the Health Professions Appeal and Review Board, and the Ontario Human Rights Tribunal. Prior to joining the CNPS, Amy was an associate at a large national law firm where she practiced civil litigation exclusively in the area of medical defence.

Annette Bailey, RN, BScN, MSN, PhD
Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University

Panel: Caring for Individuals with Experiences of Violence

Dr. Annette Bailey is Associate Professor with the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University. She holds a PhD in Public Health Science. He research explores gun violence survivorship. Much of her research work is focused on understanding the grief and trauma experiences of adults and youth survivors of gun homicide. Accordingly, Dr. Bailey has explored the experiences of Black mothers who lost children to gun violence; as well youth who lost friends and siblings to gun homicide in Toronto. She also conducted a comprehensive key informant assessment with stakeholders across Canada to establish Canadian-specific evidence for policy development for gun violence survivors. She has established key collaboration with academics, community stakeholders, and policy makers in several countries, who are working to address gun violence. Her work has been disseminated widely through peer- reviewed journals, book chapters, international conferences, and within local community organizations, provincial government agencies, and in the Canadian House of Commons. Her research work has been recommended by Members of Parliament for informing Bill C-32, the Victims Bill of Rights.

Janice Waddell, BScN, MA, PhD
Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing and Associate Dean, Faculty of Community Services, Ryerson University

Panel: Caring for Individuals with Experiences of Violence

Dr. Janice Waddell has been a faculty member at Ryerson University’s Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing (DCSN) since 1991.  She served as Associate Director for the DCSN from 2002 to 2007 and the Associate Dean for the Faculty of Community Services since 2007. Dr. Waddell is the recipient of the Usha George Faculty Recognition Award, the Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario Life time Achievement Award, the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario Award of Merit, Ryerson University’s Provost’s Innovative Teaching Award; Canadian Nursing Students’ Association Honourary Life Membership, the Donner/Bajnok Award of Merit for Research and the Gail J. Donner Award for Excellence in Education.

With degrees in Nursing and Psychology awarded by the University of Victoria, Alberta and York University respectively, Dr. Waddell’s career features publication of three books and more than twenty refereed articles.  Her teaching and learning research foci include career planning and development for nurses, with a particular emphasis on nursing students and faculty; factors influencing student engagement; enhancing the transition from student to registered nurse, curriculum development, new faculty development, mentorship and the scholarship of learning and teaching.  In addition, Dr. Waddell’s research has a focus on educational approaches to prepare nursing students to work effectively with women and children who have experienced violence. She is a founding member of both the Centre for the Advancement of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (CASTL) in the Faculty of Community Services and the Nursing Centre for Violence against Women and Children. She teaches and serves as a supervisor the thesis and non-thesis students in the DCSN Master of Nursing Program at Ryerson.

Margaret M. Malone, RN, C-PHN, BAAN, BA, MA, PhD
Associate Professor, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University Panel: Caring for Individuals with Experiences of Violence

Dr. Margaret Malone, an Associate Professor, at Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, Ryerson University, Toronto, Canada, is a feminist nurse sociologist and health promotion activist. Her extensive community health nursing experience informs her research, teaching, and community work. Margaret’s teaching responsibilities in the undergraduate and graduate programs include community, population, and global health, with an emphasis on diversity and health promotion. Her program of research addresses violence against women and children, locally, nationally, and globally, with special attention to diverse at risk populations. Her theoretical work, which emerged from her research on the social construction of women’s and men’s experiences of marital separation and divorce, has lead to developing a critical social theory of gender, knowledge, and emotion.

Margaret co-leads the Nursing Centre for Research and Education on Violence Against Women and Children, at Ryerson University and, as a member of a Canadian Public Health initiative, Prevention of Violence Canada (POVC), has chaired the workgroup: Promoting social and gender equality and equity to prevent violence.

Mary Wei, RN
Registered Nurse, Emergency Department, Brampton Civic Hospital

Panel: New Graduates and Novice Nurses Panel: Insights and Experiences on the NCLEX, Job Hunt and Other Topics

Ever since graduating from Ryerson University in 2015, Mary has been trying out some different roles Registered Nurses can have including those in nursing research, long term care, and hospitals. She has been taking continuing education classes at Humber College in order to increase her knowledge base and widen her competency areas. She currently works at Brampton Civic Hospital in the Emergency department and hopes to pursue a Master’s degree some time in the near future. If you would like to connect with her, she can be found via LinkedIn under Lan (Mary) Wei.

Brooke Vickery, RN
Registered Nurse, Lakeridge Health Oshawa

Panel: New Graduates and Novice Nurses Panel: Insights and Experiences on the NCLEX, Job Hunt and Other Topics

Brooke is a new graduate RN from Ryerson University. She has been involved with CNSA since her first year of nursing school, serving as both an Associate Delegate and Official Delegate for the Centennial College Chapter (2012-2013, 2013-2014, respectively). She served as the Vice President for the RNAO Interest Group, Nursing Students of Ontario (2015-2016) and is currently the Membership Officer for the Maternal Child Nurses’ Interest Group. Brooke is thrilled to be working at Lakeridge Health Oshawa in the Birthing Suite.

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

Panel: New Graduates and Novice Nurses Panel: Insights and Experiences on the NCLEX, Job Hunt and Other Topics

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.

Carly Whitmore, RN, BScN, MScN (Candidate)
Certified Psychiatric and Mental Health Nurse

Panel: New Graduates and Novice Nurses Panel: Insights and Experiences on the NCLEX, Job Hunt and Other Topics

Carly Whitmore is a past-president of CNSA (2013-2014), a BScN graduate of Trent University (2014), and a certified psychiatric and mental health nurse. Since graduating, Carly has held point-of-care and leadership positions in forensic psychiatry and adolescent psychiatry within the city of Hamilton. Currently, Carly is a MScN student interested in researching the transition to practice of new graduate nurses inclusive of the Registered and Registered Practical Nurse. Carly continues to title herself as a novice nurse, as both acknowledgement of an insatiable desire to learn and as a commitment to nursing the future.

Angela Cooper Brathwaite, RN, MN, PhD
Adjunct Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology

Specialty: Maternal Child Nursing

Dr. Angela Brathwaite has a PhD in Nursing from the University of Toronto and a Master of Nursing from the University of Manitoba. She has national and international experience and has held numerous leadership positions: Regional Manager in Public Health, Clinical Nurse Specialist in Mental Health, Assistant Professor and Director of Nursing in Acute Care. At present, she is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Ontario Institute of Technology and teaches Maternal-Child Nursing in the Undergraduate Program.

Angela has received many awards. In 2007, she received The Distinguished Alumnus Award from UFT, RNAO Leadership Award in Political Action, RNAO Leadership Award in Nursing Administration and RNAO Award of Merit in 2012, 2013 and 2015 respectively. She has served as INIG President, Policy and Political Activity ENO for Durham Chapter and Board of Director: Member at Large Socio-Political (1996-1998) and Member at Large Nursing Research (2014-2016). She has conducted and published many Intervention Research and Qualitative studies in peer review journals. Her research interests are on culture, cultural competence, maternal-child, and chronic disease (diabetes).

Mary Lou Wilkins, RN, BScN, MEd
Pediatric Nurse at the Scarborough Hospital and Clinical Instructor at Ryerson University

Specialty: Pediatric Nursing

Mary Lou Wilkins received her bachelor’s degree from Ryerson University; her master’s degree from the University of Central Michigan. Her capstone research focused on assessing nurses attitudes towards computerized documentation.

She has been a nurse for over 30 years. Her extensive clinical nursing experience spans multiple health care settings, including medical surgical, cardiology, perinatal, and in patient and out patient pediatric nursing.

Mary Lou Wilkins teaches in the collaborative nursing degree program for Ryerson University. She has been teaching for 12 years, the clinical component in year 2 which focuses on medical surgical nursing. She has been active with the RNAO for the last 10 years, joining several member groups.

May Tao, RN, BScN, MSN
Health Promotion Specialist and Project Coordinator for the RNAO Best Practice Spotlight Organization Initiative at Toronto Public Health

Specialty: Community Health Nursing

May is a Health Promotion Specialist and Project Coordinator for the RNAO Best Practice Spotlight Organization Initiative at Toronto Public Health.  Her interest is in evidence-informed practice, knowledge translation, and guidelines implementation. She has been participated in the RNAO Advanced Clinical Practice Fellowship building on leadership knowledge and skills.  May is an executive member of the RNAO Toronto East Chapter, Board of Director of the Community Health Nurses; Initiatives Group and the Registered Nurses Foundation of Ontario, and member of the Sigma Theta Tau International Honour Society of Nursing.  Her vision is to empower nurses in reaching their potential, cultivating excellence in nursing knowledge and practice, and shaping healthy public policy.

Petrina Barbas, BHsc, BScN Student Year 3
Student Affiliate, Board of Directors, Community Health Nurses’ Initiatives Group and Bachelor of Science in Nursing Student, Ryerson University

Specialty: Community Health Nursing

Petrina Barbas is entering her third year of nursing at Ryerson University this fall. She holds a previous degree from Western University in Health Studies. During her studies at Western, she discovered her interests in influencing health at the policy level and advocating for improvements in the social determinants of health. She feels that she can make the greatest impact working in the community setting with marginalized populations. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of the Community Health Nurses' Initiatives Group (CHNIG) as the Student Affiliate. This position has allowed her to gain a richer understanding of the work of community health nurses, including their important role in shaping public health policy and advocating for system level enhancements. With her experiences as a Research Assistant at Ryerson, she also plans to pursue graduate studies in nursing and advance the nursing profession through research.

Shari Moura, RN, MN, CON(C), CHPCN (C)
Clinical Nurse Specialist, Wallace McCain Centre for Pancreatic Cancer, Princess Margaret Hospital

Specialty: Oncology Nursing

Shari Moura is a registered nurse born and living in Toronto, Canada. Her nursing career spans over twenty years initially as a front line nurse in surgical oncology at Mount Sinai Hospital.

She was in the last graduating class of the RN diploma program at Ryerson in 1989, and continued on to complete her BScN at Ryerson University in 1991.

She is also a graduate of certificates in Nursing Management and Human Resource Management from Ryerson University. She completed her Master of Nursing at The University of Toronto, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing in 2004 and currently holds an adjunct position at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto.

Shari is currently serving as the Director-At-Large – External Relations for the Canadian Association of Nurses in Oncology (CANO). She developed for CANO the Special Interest Group for surgical oncology nurses. Shari has presented at provincial, national and international conferences on various topics related to oncology, cancer nursing and leadership.

Currently, Shari is the clinical nurse specialist at the Wallace McCain Centre for Pancreatic Cancer at Princess Margaret.

Marjorie Hammond, RN, MHScN
Clinical Nurse Specialist, St. Michael’s Hospital & Southlake Regional Hospital

Specialty: Geriatric Emergency Management (GEM)

Marjorie Hammond has a BScN from McMaster University and MHScN from Charles Stuart University, New South Wales Australia. Additionally, she holds certificates in Western Medical, and Tradition Chinese Medicine Acupuncture. Marjorie’s career has encompassed the full scope of the Advance Practice nursing evidenced by: participation in Nursing Research with the University of Toronto Faculty of Nursing inclusive of: The Acute Pain Study, The Chronic Pain Self-Management Program, The Chronic Angina Self-Management Study, and the Insomnia Methods study.

Some of Marjorie’s multiple education roles have included: education programs for Registered and non-registered staff in geriatric pain assessment, pain management in Palliative Care, and Complex Continuing Acre, Complementary Holistic Health at Centennial College, CNA Rehab Nursing Certification, and University of Toronto Simon Chang Institute. APN leadership is evidenced by the implementation of new models APN such as: the GTA Rehab Network Fractured Hip project, and the MOH LTC Regional Geriatric Program (RGP) of Ontario Geriatric Emergency Management (GEM) Initiative.

Marjorie is one only 8 pioneers GEM CNS’s selected in the province of Ontario to collaboratively develop, and implement the CNS GEM role in 2004. Marjorie continues to practice at St. Michael’s Hospital and Southlake Regional Hospital in the GEM CNS’s role.

RJ Edralin, RN
Emergency Room Nurse, Toronto Western Hospital

Specialty: Emergency Nursing

R.J. Edralin received his Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at Ryerson University in 2011. His career as a Registered Nurse began with the Nursing Resource Team at the University Health Network (UHN) where he acquired clinical experience in various specialty units. These experiences paved the way to his current employment in the Emergency Department at Toronto Western Hospital, where he has been employed since 2012.

R.J. is an active member of his department with leadership roles in safety initiatives and frequently acts as a preceptor for new staff and students. While R.J. is very interested in emergency nursing, he is also passionate about palliative and end-of- life care. In 2014, R.J. was awarded an Innovation Fellowship from UHN to co-lead a quality improvement project with a Social Worker to improve palliative care in the Emergency Department using an inter-professional approach.

In addition to his clinical experiences, R.J. has also been employed in administrative capacities at UHN as a Coordinator of the Professional Nursing Practice Council and as a Project Manager within the Practice-Based Research and Innovation portfolio. R.J. is currently enrolled in the Master of Nursing program at Ryerson University on Leadership in Health Policy and Education.

Aric Rankin, NP-PHC, MN
Nurse Practitioner, Aboriginal Health Centre

Specialty: Indigenous Health

Aric Rankin is a Nurse Practitioner who works full time at the Aboriginal Health Centre, De daw da debs nye>s in Brantford, Ontario. In 2005, Aric completed his bachelor of Science in Nursing from the University of Windsor and has since worked in a variety of acute care settings including adult Surgical care, Paediatric Oncology and Paediatric Emergency. As a student, Aric was a CNSA Associate Delegate, Official Delegate, Co-National Conference Coordinator, and after graduation he volunteered as the CNSA Resource Officer. He is a proud lifetime member of the CNSA. Aric has a passion for working with marginalized populations, which has led him to work for over a decade in isolated northern Ontario First Nation communities as well as volunteer with other communities around the world including the Kingdom of Lesotho, Fijian Islands, Haiti and Australia. These experiences sparked Aric’s interest to continue his educational journey. He completed his Nurse Practitioner Primary Health Care certificate in 2012 and a Masters in Nursing in 2013 from the University of Windsor. While Aric is not of Aboriginal ancestry, he is considered a born-again Aboriginal by an elder. In Aric’s spare time he volunteers with the Canadian Medical Assistance Team (CMAT) responding to worldwide natural disasters and he is currently a board member of the Register Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO). Aric enjoys spending time with his beautiful wife, daughter and newborn son.

Shirley Kennedy, RN, MCYS
Health Care Manager, Sprucedale Youth Centre

Specialty: Correctional Nursing

Shirley Kennedy began her nursing career in 1980 as a community visiting nurse and then as an occupational health nurse in 1982. Her correctional nursing career began in the provincial system as a general duty nurse at Niagara Detention Centre in 1989. In 2005, Shirley transferred to Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre as the nursing team lead and in 2011 took on the role of Health Care Manager. With the support of Hamilton Wentworth Detention Centre, Shirley enjoyed two wonderful secondment opportunities. At the College of Nurses of Ontario (2005-2009) Shirley held the positions of Complaints Committee Chair, Vice-President and President. At the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care, Shirley excelled as a Senior Policy Analyst with the Nursing Secretariat from 2009-2011. Shirley is currently the Health Care Manager at Sprucedale Youth Centre, a directly operated facility of the Ministry of Children and Youth Services. Shirley has been a member of the Ontario Correctional Nurses’ Interest Group since its inception and currently serves as OCNIG’s President.

Dianne Roedding, BScN, RN, DCS
Co-founder, Rainbow Nursing Interest Group & Community Health Centre Positive Space Advisory Committee Member

Specialty: LGBTQ+ Health Nursing

Dianne Roedding graduated from UofT Faculty of Nursing in 1974. She is a founding, and current, member of RNAO’s Rainbow Nursing Interest Group (RNIG), serving as Co-Chair for 5 years. She was also active on the Public Health Alliance for LGBTTTIQQ Equity, a working group of the Ontario Public Health Association, facilitating Positive Space training in various Ontario communities. Four years ago, Dianne retired from Region of Waterloo Public Health where she participated on the Access & Equity Committee and Regional Municipality of Waterloo’s Dialogue on Diversity (LGBT). In retirement, Dianne continues to advocate for LGBTQ cultural competence in health care settings as a member of a Community Health Centre Positive Space Advisory Committee, and as a volunteer with Spectrum Waterloo-Wellington’s Aging with Pride Committee, educating staff in senior serving organizations about the unique needs of LGBTQ seniors.