School of Nursing News

At the College of Registered Nurses of Nova Scotia Awards (CRNNS) banquet Dal on May 10 School of Nursing faculty member Dr. Megan Aston was awarded the Excellence in Nursing Research Award). Students Brianna Richardson and Martha Paynter received the Rising Star Award). Martha also recieved the Health Advocacy Award. Congratualtions on your awards!

Dr Megan Aston, recipient of the Excellence in Nursing Research Award

Dr. Megan Aston is a professor at the Dal School of Nursing where she was recently appointed associate director of research and international affairs. Megan is known as an exemplary collaborator and contributor to many professional groups including the Canadian Association of Perinatal and Women’s Health Nurses Research Committee and the Community Health Nurses of Canada Research and Health Policy Committee.

Megan conducts research, funded internationally, nationally and locally, that seeks to inform public health practice. She has served as a principal investigator and co-investigator for numerous research studies, leading more than 15 research projects as well as serving as co-investigator on an additional 12 studies. She also conducts international and global health research including mentoring students and colleagues in Tanzania and the Gambia. Megan shares research findings at international, national and local conferences and through peer reviewed publications. In addition, she shares research findings through educational videos, workshops and invited lectures.

Brianna Richardson, recipient of the Rising Star Award

 Marsha Brianna Richardson is currently completing her first year of her PhD (Nursing) studies at Dal University SON. Her doctoral research focuses on examining how eHealth learning influences parental confidence and capacity in procedural pain care with their newborn babies. As a student, she has taken on many leadership roles such as co-president of the Dalhousie Graduate Nursing Society. Brianna is also employed at MOM-LINC Lab, Centre for Pediatric Pain Research at the IWK Health Centre. According to her nominators, Brianna’s “genuine, kind and caring nature, her inquisitive and curious mind paired with exceptional intellect and commitment to improving care for newborns and their families makes her stand out among her peers as a tremendous role model and leader.”

Brianna is an active collaborator and effective communicator in interdisciplinary teams, both in clinical practice and in the university community She seeks out new and relevant knowledge to inform her clinical practice through her own research and by attending relevant conferences. She is committed to higher learning, and has been successful obtaining research funding, writing and publishing nursing research, advancing her research knowledge, disseminating the findings of her work at conferences, and taking on leadership roles within the School of Nursing and the broader Dalhousie University community.

Martha Paynter, recipient of the Rising Star Award and the Health Advocacy Award

Martha Paynter is the recipient of not one but two awards this year! She is a Dal PhD (Nursing)student and an RN at the IWK Health Centre. Martha founded and chairs Women’s Wellness Within: An Organization Serving Criminalized Women. She is very involved on campus and was elected class Valedictorian. She received the Dalhousie Off-Campus Leadership Award. She also received awards from the Canadian Nursing Student Association and the Canadian Nurses Foundation. In 2017, she received the Senate of Canada 150th Senate Medal for service to the country through volunteerism. Earlier this year she was awarded a prestigious Dalhousie's Board of Governors' Award.

Martha also volunteers as a certified birth doula with the Doula Program at the IWK Health Centre/ Chebucto Family Centre, a program serving low-income, newcomer and single mothers in Halifax.  She also has been engaged in advocacy work to advance the use of human donor milk to improve health outcomes for vulnerable babies, serving as a director of the Board of Atlantic Milk Bank Coalition. She welcomes invitations to speak about nursing advocacy, the health of marginalized populations and perinatal care issues. Martha delivers dozens of workshops, speeches and seminars every semester on and off-campus, across the community and the region.