Three York nursing faculty recognized with prestigious awards

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Three faculty members from York University’s School of Nursing, Faculty of Health, have earned recognition for achievements in teaching from the Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing (COUPN) – Claire Mallette, Shelley Walkerley and Gemma Percival.

Claire Mallette
Claire Mallette

Claire Mallette, along with Don Rose of Ryerson University, have jointly won the COUPN-AMS Quality Compassionate Caring Award.
• This award recognizes demonstrated excellence in fostering quality compassionate caring among nursing students in a COUPN program. A recent example of this is the leadership she showed in involving classes in York’s School of Nursing in the province-wide Change Day initiative that aims to put the human connection back into health care by encouraging health-care professionals and students entering health care to make a pledge to improve care.

Mallette is the director of the School of Nursing at York University. She was formerly the director of nursing education, placement and development at University Health Network in Toronto. Her portfolio focuses on fostering lifelong learning through leading, and developing educational and professional development initiatives and opportunities for students and nursing staff across the learning continuum.

Shelley Walkerley
Shelley Walkerley

Shelley Walkerley has won the 2018 COUPN Excellence in Teaching Award.
• This award recognizes excellence in teaching by a faculty member in a COUPN university program for full-time nurse educators in a COUPN program who have at least three years of experience and are currently teaching at least one undergraduate or graduate course.

Walkerley has served as the nurse practitioner program coordinator at York University since 2010 and has been contract faculty in the School of Nursing during that time. She is a primary health-care nurse practitioner with a specific clinical focus on tobacco dependence, tuberculosis and other respiratory conditions. She is also a certified in equine-assisted psychotherapy.

Gemma Percival
Gemma Percival

Gemma Percival has won the 2018 COUPN Clinical Instructor Award.
• This award recognizes a clinical instructor who has demonstrated outstanding performance in her/his role as a clinical instructor with nursing students. This award publicly acknowledges the essential contributions that a nurse in a clinical instructor role makes to professional nursing education. The award is for registered nurses registered with the College of Nurses of Ontario who are clinical instructors of nursing students in a COUPN program.

Percival has served as a clinical course director in the School of Nursing since 2011. In this role, she is responsible for providing instruction and leadership for clinical students.

“Its highly gratifying to see these three outstanding faculty members and nursing professionals being recognized for their excellence in teaching and clinical care,” said Faculty of Health Dean Paul McDonald. “They exemplify what our entire School of Nursing is focused on: creating future generations of caring and outstanding registered nurse leaders and the next generation of evidence-based nursing practices. I’m so proud of their contributions.”

The Council of Ontario University Programs in Nursing celebrates achievements and advancements made in university nursing education and scholarship through its annual COUPN Awards program. The awards are presented to Ontario nursing faculty, students and health program partners.

These award recipients will be honoured at a ceremony on April 25 at COUPN.