Year in Review 2021-2022

Report to Community

Leadership. Innovation. Resilience.

Welcome to UCalgary Nursing Report to Community 2021-22, a digital-only report, focused on initiatives and achievements between July 1, 2021 and June 30, 2022. As with most years, the overview centres on our Strategic Plan 2021-24 themes: research and scholarship, quality and breadth of learning and community engagement.

While the pandemic has postponed or prevented some of our priorities from moving forward, the following stories show we have been persistent and dedicated to achieving our goals. They remain largely unchanged and we continue to work toward them with leadership, innovation and resilience.

We lead the generation of research and scholarship to improve and innovate nursing education, health outcomes and systems transformation.

Alliance against Violence and Adversity (AVA) project

Nicole Letourneau 1 of 4 UCalgary researchers to receive funding, $2.4M, from Canadian Institutes of Health Research investment of $31.1M in new Health Research Training Platform

Source: UCalgary Research Services Office

PRESENTATIONS	COUNT
International	51
National	55
Provincial	34
Invited-International	19
Invited-Provincial/National	70
PUBLICATIONS
Other papers	6
Chapters	13
Books	2
Peer-reviewed journal articles	174

We deliver resiliency-informed experiential programs that develop the future leaders and innovators of the discipline and nursing practice.

New BN degree route launched for Alberta Indigenous students

Pilot program Iiyikinaami (eye-yik-e-naw-me) Spirit Helper between UCalgary and Old Sun Community College marries western health-care practices with Siksika traditional ways

Read story Learn more about program

Nursing students empower Yazidi refugees through community health nursing project

Survey finds lack of knowledge among UCalgary students about harm reduction resources on campus

We engage with local and global communities to develop sustainable relationships for mutual benefit and increased resiliency.

BN rural degree route piloted at Wainwright Health Centre

Wainwright and area residents interested in earning a university degree to become a registered nurse can now do so without leaving their home community.

Alberta Health and Alberta Health Services (AHS) have partnered with UCalgary to offer a four-year pilot Bachelor in Nursing (BN) Rural Community degree program.

UCalgary will provide delivery of the program, while AHS provides classroom space and hands-on training opportunities at Wainwright Health Centre.

NurseMentor

Our highly successful NurseMentor program began its fifth year. It matches alumni mentors with undergraduate mentees. For 2021-2022, there were a total of 237 participants (111 mentees, 126 mentors) and two virtual events were held allowing mentors and mentees to share their experiences in a collective space.

Alumni Committee

In spite of COVID, our 15-member Alumni Committee met monthly (via Zoom), capably steered by president Arielle Baldasare (BN’18) and vice president MJ Calungcaguin (BN’17), both long-standing members of the committee. Social media accounts were restarted on Instagram (990 followers) and Facebook (136 followers) with two “selfie challenge” contests on Instagram to increase engagement.

UCalgary Nursing Food for Thought Breakfast series

The Nursing Advancement Team continued to offer the UCalgary Nursing Food for Thought Breakfast series virtually with two events (November 2021, February 2022) focused on more technological/digital aspects of nursing and nursing research. The talks – Dr. Reed Ferber’s “The role of wearable technology in health care” and Dr. Tracie Risling’s “#NurseTwitter needs you now: How social media will influence the future of nursing” were each attended by almost 100 guests who enjoyed the non-traditional topics.

Marguerite Schumacher Memorial Alumni Lecture

UCalgary Nursing’s flagship alumni event, the annual Marguerite Schumacher Memorial Alumni Lecture, hosted a panel for our eighth year. "Bringing Global Health Home," emceed and moderated by alumna and instructor Heather Bensler (BN’97), was held virtually, allowing Arsheen Dhalla (BN’10) to participate from Tanzania, as well as Masira Baloch (BN’10) and Jaqueline Wilson (BN’18) from Calgary. The event, held in October, was part of the newly rebranded Alumni All-Access (formerly Alumni Weekend).

Pinning Ceremony

For the first time in two years, we celebrated our newest alumni with an in-person pinning ceremony during June’s convocation week. To minimize risk, we did not hold a formal ceremony, but offered up music, goodie bags, refreshments and of course, the nursing pins. Along with their family and friends, 52 of our graduands staged their “pinning moment” at our specially designated photo area within the Professional Faculties Building; for many students, it was the first time they had met their classmates in person.

Donor support continued despite turbulent times

Although we saw a decrease in total gift amount and number of gifts in 2021 – 2022, we still enjoyed a substantial increase in scholarships and bursaries - from $17,595 in 2020-2021 to $342,695 this year. Our Power in Numbers student emergency fund continues to support an important program for nursing students who require temporary financial assistance. This year, the fund provided 22 students with support during the challenging times of the pandemic.

We are very grateful to our community of donors for their continued gifts in our priority areas of Indigenous Initiatives, Mental Health and Wellness, and Equality, Diversity, Inclusion and Accessibility (EDIA). This includes a new endowment created to support an EDIA graduate scholarship for DN and PhD students.

Learn about Power in Numbers

Donations made between July 2021 and June 2022

The 2021-2022 Report to Community was created by the UCalgary Nursing Advancement Team. If you have any questions or need more information, please contact us.

Year in Review 2021-2022

Leadership. Innovation. Resilience.

Dean's Message

Research and Scholarship