Bloomberg Nursing students and faculty were recognized at two separate award ceremonies this week – the Gordon Cressy Awards, and the Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing (COUPN) Awards. Our students and faculty work hard every day, whether on life-changing research, to improve patient care on the ward, or bring improvement to their communities. Congratulations to all of our award recipients!
2016 COUPN Award Winners
Karen Frecker
Excellence in Professional Nursing Practice at the Undergraduate Student Level
Karen Frecker is a BScN student at Bloomberg Nursing. A strong student academically, her clinical preceptor says her nursing skills stood out most during her clinical placement in palliative care, where she showed “clinical knowledge and skills that far exceed those of a typical undergraduate student.” Working at a hospice that provides end-of-life care to individuals during their last three months of life, Karen treated each of her patients with dignity, respect, professionalism, patience, and empathy.
Karen completed a BA (Hons) in Peace and Conflict Studies and Economics in 2004 and then spent almost a decade working in the energy sector. She felt the need for a career grounded in the expression of care and compassion, and began volunteering at SickKids, which led her to pursue a degree in nursing. She is passionate about attending to the social determinants of health in acute care, hospice, and community settings.
Jennifer Cohen, RN, MN-NP (Paeds)
Masters Student Award of Excellence
Jennifer Cohen (MN 2015) is described by one of her professors as having “exceptional determination, incomparable intelligence and desire to improve the lives of children living with chronic illness.” In spite of personal obstacles, Jennifer maintained a strong academic record, being awarded the Dean’s Medal for highest academic achievement in the Master of Nursing program at University of Toronto, and excelled in her clinical placement in the cardiology department at the Hospital for Sick Kids.
Prior to graduation, she was hired to work as a nurse practitioner with children and youth with eating disorders. She works alongside a psychiatrist to provide comprehensive care to 150 outpatients and in an eight patient day treatment program, where she has received high praise for her care from patients and families. She can also be found teaching first-year nursing students as an Adjunct Lecturer at Bloomberg Nursing.
Dr. Krista Keilty
Doctoral Dissertation Award
Krista Keilty who is completing her post-doctoral fellowship at Sick Kids/University of Toronto, has been described by a member of her PhD thesis committee as a meticulous researcher, and her study of the sleep and health of parents with children living with complicated medical conditions is considered to be of critical importance to nurses and families.
For her work, she recruited 85 family caregivers – some who had a child with complex care needs and some who did not – and collected data on their health and ability to sleep. Her findings indicated that parents of children with complex care needs slept significantly less – by 40 minutes – and had much lower quality of sleep than parents of healthy children. Indeed, family caregivers of these children had three times the rate of depression, sleepiness and fatigue.
Dr. Kelly Metcalfe, RN, PhD
Scholarship into Practice Award
Dr. Metcalfe has devoted her research career to the study of cancer prevention and treatment in individuals at high-risk of developing the disease. She is an Associate Professor at Bloomberg Nursing, an adjunct scientist at the Women’s College Research Institute, and served as the Interim Director of Research at Bloomberg Nursing.
Much of her research is oriented towards patient empowerment and patient decision-making, ensuring that nurses, clinicians, women and patients have the information and evidence they need to make the best decisions possible. Her clinical work focuses on counseling women who are genetically predisposed to breast cancer in making breast cancer prevention decisions. Her current research focuses on the prevention and treatment of hereditary breast cancer, and on the surgical outcomes after breast cancer surgery and reconstruction.
2016 Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Award Winners
The Gordon Cressy Student Leadership Awards, named after the former vice-president of development and university relations, were established in 1994 by the University of Toronto Alumni Association (UTAA) and the Division of University Advancement in order to recognize students who have made outstanding extra-curricular contributions to their college, faculty or school, or to the university as a whole. The qualities of leadership and dedication demonstrated by Mr. Cressy during his six years with the university are also embodied in the efforts of students chosen to receive this award.
This year’s recipients were (L-R): Kevin Talbott (2nd year BScN), Amanda Sissons (BScN ), Marty Butler (2nd year BScN), Justin Struss (2nd year BScN)
Not pictured: Catherine Jang (2nd year MN), Judy Pararajasingham (2nd year MN).