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College of Nursing

Biography

Dr. Helen Vandenberg is an Associate Professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Saskatchewan. She joined the faculty in 2015 and specializes in the history of hospitals and health systems in Western Canada, as well as the philosophy of nursing. Her research explores the development of hospitals, public health, and nursing education during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, with attention to how culture, religion, place, and policy shape healthcare systems and professional identities.

Dr. Vandenberg has published in journals such as the Canadian Journal of Health History, Nursing Philosophy, European Review of History, and Nursing History Review. Her scholarship bridges nursing history and philosophy, combining historical inquiry with critical analysis of culture, ethics, and nursing knowledge development. In collaboration with Dr. Louise Racine, she is advancing a philosophical critique of anti-intellectualism and corporatization in post-secondary education, examining their implications for nursing education.

She currently serves as an Associate Editor for Nursing Philosophy and teaches courses in nursing leadership, philosophy, and health history. Her current projects explore the history of Japanese Canadian nurses at the Lamont School of Nursing in Alberta, and the early history of public health nursing in Saskatchewan. Dr. Vandenberg earned her PhD in Nursing from the University of British Columbia, and both her BSN and MN from the University of Lethbridge.

Research Interests

  • History of hospitals, health systems and nursing in Western Canada from 1860-present
  • Health systems, health policy and healthcare transformation
  • Philosophy
  • Culture and culture theorizing in nursing
  • Rural nursing
  • Nursing leadership
  • Nursing education

Methodology

  • Historiography
  • Social History
  • Ethnography
  • Quantitative
  • Mixed Methods

Teaching

  • Dr. Vandenberg has taught a number of courses and labs at the graduate and undergraduate level including:

    • NURS 201 - Perspectives on Health Wellness and Diversity in a Global Context
    • NURS 203 - Assessment and Components of Care II
    • NURS 204 - Communication and Professional Relationships
    • NURS 440 - Inter-professional Perspectives: Health Systems and Policy Development within a Global Context
    • NURS 450 - Practice Integration
    • NURS 818 - Statistical Methodology in Nursing
    • NURS 891 - Concept Clarification in Advanced Nursing Practice

  • She currently teaches:

    • NURS 410/810 - History of Health Systems, Public Health, and Nursing in Canada
    • NURS 422 - Issues in Leadership and Management Transformative Practice in Health Care Organizations
    • NURS 895 – Philosophy of Nursing Science

Publications

Grants

Vandenberg, H. (September 2025 - August 2026). The Lamont School of Nursing and Japanese Canadian Nursing, 1925-1950, $19,939. 2025 History of Medicine Project Grant, AMS Healthcare (External Peer-Reviewed).
Vandenberg, H. (July 2024 - September 2024). Preserving Saskatchewan's Nursing Education Legacy, $5,000. College of Nursing, University of Saskatchewan (Internal).
Kent-Wilkinson, A. & Vandenberg, H. (July 2022 - December 2024). Exploring the Secrets and Provenance of the ‘Florence Nightingale Medicine Chest’ in Canada, $6,999. SSHRC Explore, Office of the Vice-President Research, University of Saskatchewan (Internal).
Dyck, E., Clifford, J., Muhajarine, N., Vandenberg, H. & Harkema, C. (March 2022 - March 2026). Remembering and Rebuilding: Saskatchewan's COVID 19 Public Archive, $199,094. Partnership Development Grant, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (External Peer Reviewed).
Vandenberg, H. (January 2022 - April 2024). The History of Saskatchewan’s Early Hospitals, 1873-1920, $9,593. 2022 History of Medicine Project Grant, AMS Healthcare (External Peer Reviewed).

External Committees

Dr. Vandenberg has been involved with several external organizations: