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The College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA) announced the recipients of their Awards of Nursing Excellence in late February with members of the UCalgary Nursing community receiving three of the six honours.

Alumna and Community Advisory Council member, Barb Shellian RN (BN’79, MN’83) receives the Lifetime Achievement Award for her collaboration and passion throughout her 45+ year career. Shellian has championed the health of Canadians and helped advance the nursing profession, especially in rural/remote communities. In her current role, she is responsible for acute care, emergency, surgery, obstetrics, long-term care, supportive living and urgent care for the communities of Canmore, Cochrane, Nanton and Claresholm.

Dean Sandra Davidson RN, PhD, an early adopter of incorporating new ideas, pedagogical approaches, curriculum content and technology in the nursing profession, is the recipient of the CARNA Knowledge Development Award of Excellence. Not only is she responsible for the strategic direction and overall functioning of UCalgary Nursing, she is among only a handful of scholars worldwide who have expertise in Complex Responsive Process-informed research, utilizing this approach to examine power dynamics and complexity in health-care and educational organizations.

Nancy Clark (MN’03) is a doctoral student in the faculty and a trailblazer in medical cardiology. She is recognized with the CARNA Award of Excellence for Innovation. She not only implemented a nurse practitioner (NP) role at the Rockyview General Hospital, she also extended it to improve care in the Coronary Care Unit (CCU), making it the first NP-led CCU in Alberta.