Newsletter - Registered Nurses Association of the Northwest ...

RNANT/NU Newsletter - Spring 2009 Page 9
CNA Centennial Awards
On November 26, 2008, as the wind-up to
a year of Centennial events, the Canadian
Nurses Association held a Centennial
Awards event. The Centennial Awards
are a one-time award created to celebrate
100 exceptional registered nurses whose
personal and professional contributions
have made an outstanding and significant
impact on the nursing profession.
For more information, go to the CNA
website www.cna-nurses.ca, and link
through News & Events, then Award
Programs. RNANT/NU members Marnie
Bell and Barb Round were nominated and
selected to receive this award.
Never in my wildest dreams did I imagine that my nursing experience in the north would
lead to national recognition! To be on the stage with so many impressive nurses, many of
whom I have admired, learned from and quoted over the years was the ultimate honour.
I have had such amazing opportunities in my career,
mostly by virtue of being in the north, where I was
encouraged to try for positions that might have been
unavailable to me in a larger centre. I started out as
an obstetrical nurse, and enjoyed my mums and babies
immensely, but was drawn into administration, then
made a left turn into community education, and the
opportunities just kept on coming. I gained broad
experience as I taught in community college, was a
medical examiner’s investigator and occupational
health nurse, did nurse recruiting, and finally became
Executive Director of the NWTRNA. During my 6 years
in that post, we worked with governments to change
the Nursing Profession Act, and changed our name to
RNANT/NU. Though retired, I am still fiercely proud that
our Association was one of only two organizations to
span both territories after the creation of Nunavut, and
worked hard to balance language and activities to be
inclusive of Nunavut nurses, even thought our office
remains in the NWT.
There are few words available to describe the immense
honour and lump-in-the-throatedness I experienced in
receiving this award. Each of us were called up on the
dias with the President and CEO of CNA to be presented
a gold medal showing CNA House on one side, and the
new CNA Coat of Arms of CNA on the other. As well,
we were each given with a gold lapel pin, featuring the
Shield from the Coat of Arms. We were told that they
made 100 just for us and then the mold was broken, so
no one else will ever have a pin like this. Even though
I had been informed that I had been selected several
months beforehand, the experience of being there was
truly unbelievable.
I would like to thank all of the wonderful nurses I
worked with over the years, who taught, challenged
and inspired me. I am still doing some consulting work,
and hope there will be opportunities to meet and
consult with some of you again.