The annual Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) Lambda Pi-At-Large Chapter award winners have been announced.
Kate Hardie, Bloomberg Faculty undergraduate program chair, is the recipient of the STTI Lambda-Pi-At-Large Award for Excellence in Nursing Leadership. The award acknowledges the contribution of nurse leaders to enhance the quality of work environment for nurses by exemplifying excellence in building innovative nursing practices.
Having served as chair for five years, Kate has also been a full-time faculty member for 18 years. Her accomplishments include the initiation of the Agency Based Clinical (ABC) program in which cohorts of students are consistently placed in the same hospital; the development of the University’s Inter-professional Education curriculum; and the creation of ongoing faculty initiatives to enhance its understanding of diversity and equity. Over the last two years, Kate has been involved in the Centre for Advanced Studies in Professional Practice (CASPP), playing a significant role in creating innovative programs, such as the clinical teaching series, CRNE preparation courses and a post-graduate programme in primary health care for Brazilian nurses.
Monica Parry, assistant professor and director, nurse practitioner programs, received the STTI Lambda-Pi-At-Large Dorothy M. Pringle Award for Excellence in Nursing Research. This award acknowledges the importance of nursing research to the development of nursing science and ultimately to nursing practice. She is also a nurse clinician in the area of cardiac care and holds advanced certification training in cardiovascular nursing from the Canadian Nurses Association.
The award recognizes Monica’s exceptional achievement as a new faculty member and recent researcher. She has been quite successful in securing peer-reviewed competitive funding, including two peer-reviewed grants for which she is the principal investigator. The first focuses on the personal behaviours of individuals related to health care access through a home-based peer support program, which aids the recovery of post-coronary bypass graft patients; the other focuses on knowledge translation through practice scholarship that targets organizational uptake of research evidence in decision-making by nurses. Her currently funded research is validating a non-invasive ambulatory impedance device compared with an implanted one found in internal cardiac defibrillators in heart failure patients.
Monica also has an impressive publication record with four first-authored peer-reviewed manuscripts since 2006, one of which is “in press” and another new one “submitted and under review.” Her work describing a cardiac home education and support program was published in the Canadian Journal of Cardiology. In addition, results of her work on pain experienced following bypass surgery is published in the European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing.
Margaret Saari, class of 2011, is the recipient of the STTI Lambda Pi-At-Large President’s Award for Outstanding Leadership by an Undergraduate Student. This award recognizes an undergraduate student who has demonstrated excellent leadership skills while completing an undergraduate degree.
This award acknowledges Margaret’s enthusiasm, knowledge and competence as a student leader and member of a research team. She consistently performs at levels that exceed expectations and takes advantage of every opportunity and experience offered. She’s proven to be a highly productive and energetic member any group. Margaret has a passion for quality and patient safety and works hard to inspire others to value and strive for the same. She has been a team lead for a quality improvement project with an interdisciplinary team at Mount Sinai Hospital and a member of a quality improvement team at the Hospital for Sick Children. She has also initiated and led a seminar series at the University of Toronto as part of her involvement in the Institute for Healthcare Improvement.
Congratulations Kate, Monica and Margaret!