Assistant Professor Dr. Vandenberg Receives WNRCASN Award
History meets innovation. Assistant Professor Dr. Helen Vandenberg and Lydia Wytenbroek (University of Lethbridge) know being familiar with the history of nursing is crucial to understanding the significance of nursing as a profession. The question is, how do current nursing students learn the history of nursing? Their project, Innovating the History of Nursing in Canadian Undergraduate Nursing Education, is looking to solve this and has earned them the 2017 Western & North-Western Region Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing (WNRCASN) Education Innovation Award.
In 2015, the Canadian Association for Schools of Nursing (CASN) identified nursing history as an essential piece of knowledge in baccalaureate education. Although many educators want to incorporate nursing history into their teaching, there are only a few teaching resources currently available specific to the history of nursing in Canada. “The few resources that do exist have not been targeted for undergrad education, nor do they provide nursing students with a concise, yet broad, overview of Canadian nursing history,” said Vandenberg. “Through this project, we are hoping to develop several easy-to-use and highly accessible teaching resources for educators.”
Vandenberg hopes when nursing students understand the history of nursing, it will give them the confidence to lead change and engage in public policy. “There is a lot written about the history of Canadian nursing, but not a lot has been done to condense it and make it deliverable in an undergraduate setting. Many educators in Canada have resorted to showing a public TV broadcast about American nursing history to Canadian nursing students, because it was the best they could find.”
Over the next year, Vandenberg and Wytenbroek are looking to work with a graduate student to create a series of voice-recorded PowerPoint presentations that will introduce a scholarly overview of nursing and healthcare history in Canada. Once the videos are created, they plan to gather feedback from prominent Canadian nursing history leaders, refine the videos and upload them to the Canadian Association of Nursing History website. “We truly believe the video series will be a first step towards re-invigorating the teaching of nursing history in Canadian undergraduate nursing education,” said Vandenberg.
About the Award
The Western & North-Western Region Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing Education Innovation Award supports a project designed to advance learning in nursing education. It can take a variety of forms such as technology, creative reconfiguration of a curriculum or a course, online learning, or innovative clinical experience. One award of up to $5,000 is funded annually and it is expected the project will be completed within one year.