CJCCN, Volume 23, Number 2, Summer 2012

As I begin my two-year term as the national president of CACCN, I bid goodbye to our Past-President, my mentor and friend, Kate Mahon, who finished her term on March 31, 2012. Kate’s leadership and vibrancy was evident in her theme “Find your Voice”, as CACCN certainly found its voice during her term.

CJCCN, Volume 23, Number 1, Spring 2012

I cannot believe that this is the final Critical Thinking column I will write as President of CACCN. My term comes to an end on March 31, 2012. I have thoroughly enjoyed being a part of the National Board of Directors (BOD) for the past five years and the opportunity it provided to me to grow professionally while also sharing my expertise as part of a national team of critical care nurses who serve on the BOD from across the country,

CJCCN, Volume 22, Number 4, Winter 2011

There was a story in the paper recently about the famous quote of President John F. Kennedy in his inaugural address on January 20, 1961, when he said: “Ask not what your country can do for you—ask what you can do for your country”. The story was that the line he used was one that he had heard many times as a young man, from a professor at the college he attended, who encouraged his students to give back to the university,

CJCCN, Volume 22, Number 3, Fall 2011

In recent months I have spent a lot of time in hospitals with my two elderly parents, both with health issues. Sadly, my dad passed away recently at the age of 85 in a Veteran’s long-term care dementia unit. He had been cared for lovingly at home by my mother, 83, until March of this year. As I write this article in mid July, my mother is recovering in a geriatric “restorative care” unit after having her artificial,

CJCCN, Volume 22, Number 2, Summer 2011

I just got back from a wonderful evening spent with critical care colleagues whom I once worked with at the IWK Health Centre. We came together as a group to share a meal and to enjoy each other’s company, as we reminisced about the years we worked together in the PICU. As the evening progressed, inevitably many of our conversations centred around the patients we cared for that were memorable for us, as a group and as individuals.

CJCCN, Volume 22, Number 1, Spring 2011

This spring I will be 31 years as a nurse. A pediatric nurse, in fact. And for 29 of those years it has been
my privilege both as a bedside nurse and as an administrator, to serve children and families who face life-threatening illnesses or injuries. In life we wear many hats, but pediatric critical care nurse has been an identity that I have proudly held over these many years. All of us in CACCN share that identity with
the same pride.

CJCCN, Volume 21, Number 4, Winter 2010

Edmonton was alive with the voices of critical care nurses in September at Dynamics 2010. Four hundred and forty critical care nurses to be exact… and what a noise we made together, as we shared our knowledge, told our stories, played, laughed and enjoyed each other’s company for three days. I sat in the audience listening to many presentations and was in awe (but not surprised) of the expertise nurses had to share and had taken the time to speak on a subject or a story that needed to be told.

CJCCN, Volume 21, Number 3, Fall 2010

Vision statement

The voice for excellence in Canadian Critical Care Nursing

Mission statement

The CACCN is a non-profit, specialty organization dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the quality of patient- and family-centred care by meeting educational needs of critical care nurses.

Engages and empowers nurses through education and networking to advocate for the critical care nurse.

Develops current and evidence-informed standards of critical care nursing practice.

Identifies professional and political issues and provides a strong unified national voice through our partnerships.

CJCCN, Volume 21, Number 2, Summer 2010

“Every new beginning starts with an ending” (Bridges, 2004), and so it is the case as I begin my two-year term, as the national president of CACCN, first bidding good-bye to Cecilia Hyslop, who finished her term on March 31, 2010…

CJCCN, Volume 21, Number 1, Spring 2010

After having served four years on the national board of directors of the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses (CACCN), my term as president has now come to an end. Prior to this, another five years were enjoyed serving the Toronto Chapter members on the executive. I have Patricia Hynes to thank for these nine years, as it is in her footsteps I have followed—she nudged me on many occasions in the early days. Over time,