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Message from outgoing Director Kathleen MacMillan

Posted by Theresa Gilbert on September 29, 2017 in News

I am very pleased to have this opportunity to provide some parting words as you welcome a new Director to the School of Nursing.  During my term as Director, the School was able to realize some significant achievements. These were outlined in the ambitious Transformation Strategy that faculty and staff contributed to and approved at our full faculty meeting in April, 2013 and which guided our plans to strengthen the School and position it for the 21st century.  Some key School and faculty achievements that I would like to highlight include:

Securing investments to purchase equipment and provide faculty development to add high fidelity simulation to our teaching modalities;

Re-design and development of our administrative suite and staff to better support the needs of the School;

Hosting a think tank on the future of undergraduate nursing education in Canada and sharing published proceedings which have contributed to the national dialogue;

Hosting a meeting of key academic and practice stakeholders on the challenges facing the education of neonatal nurse practitioners that will contribute to planning for advanced practice nursing human resources in Canada;

Stronger partnerships with colleagues in practice settings, government and our sister Schools, provincially and nationally;

Design and implementation of a new undergraduate curriculum in consultation with key stakeholders;

Recruitment of a new generation of strong nurse scientists to the School who have strengthened our research enterprise and our graduate programming;

Supporting our young and mid career faculty to achieve greater research funding success and academic promotions;

Faculty development in teaching and learning and application of new pedagogies in the classroom, the simulation laboratory, in inter-professional education and clinical learning;

Awards and recognition for our students and faculty at the university, national and international level, including a Rhodes Scholarship – the first nursing student in North America to be so recognized.

None of this would have been possible without the engagement and hard work of the faculty and staff who transformed our vision for the School to reality.  There is a lot that remains to be done to ensure that the Dalhousie University School of Nursing continues to be recognized within the academy, regionally and nationally as a leader in nursing education and research.  Our strategic partnerships and our academic capacity position us well to contribute to education, practice and health policy as a discipline and as members of the health professional team to address the complex issues we face as a society.  It was my genuine pleasure to have been part of the team over the past five years.

Health system transformation needs the contribution of nurses and academic nursing to realize its goals of evidence informed, safe, and efficacious care. I am confident that the School will be there to contribute under the leadership of our new Director and I wish faculty, staff and students continued success in our important work.

Kathleen MacMillan, PhD, RN, FAAN