Some of my earliest experiences in life involved nurses. I was born premature and underweight, and NICU nurses in North Bay were there for me and my worried parents. When I was nine, I was hit by a car and spent most of a summer in a pediatric ward in Belleville. The nurses took good care of my wounds and my spirits. Years later, critical care nurses in Toronto helped me through a heart attack. I have needed nurses at some of the most vulnerable moments of my life. That is not something I forget easily.
Before I trained as a psychologist, I worked as an orderly at the Shaver Hospital in St. Catharines for two and a half years. On day shifts, I watched nurses manage the full weight of their responsibilities up close. On night shifts, when staff were short, I sat at the bedside of dying patients. I still remember the Head Nurse who helped me steady myself after I witnessed my first patient death. While finishing my BA in Psychology at Brock University, I also worked part-time as an autopsy assistant. Those years gave me an unusually direct exposure to mortality, to the reality of what illness and death look like, and to the people who show up for patients and families in those moments. Nurses were always at the centre of that.
After completing my training as a Clinical and Health Psychologist, I worked as a Psychological Consultant to the Lung Transplant Program at Toronto General Hospital. I supported patients, families, and medical staff through the waits, setbacks, and losses that were a regular part of those early years of the program. I also consulted to the Inpatient Psychiatry Unit at TGH, where I worked closely alongside nurses for several years, and I still remember conversations I had with them in break rooms, cafeterias, and hallways. These experiences gave me a deep appreciation for what nurses bring to their work, and what that work quietly costs them.
The decision to start the Nurse Wellness Program came into focus when I heard the story of an experienced NICU nurse who was close to burnout. She cared deeply about her patients and her team, and she was running on empty. She had tried several therapists, looking for someone who truly understood nursing life and could make space for what she needed to talk about: the grief of too many deaths, the weight of responsibility, frustrations with management, team tensions, and the toll of shift work. The search itself was exhausting at a time when she had nothing left to spare. Her story stayed with me. It pointed to a gap I felt both professionally qualified and personally motivated to do something about.
I started the Nurse Wellness Program because nurses shouldn’t have to struggle to find therapists who understand their challenges, and who know how to help. I feel honoured to do this work with our NWP therapists. Together, we are dedicated to offering nurses the timely support that they deserve.
Specialties
- Clinical oversight and supervision of the Nurse Wellness Program
- Psychological consultation to medical programs and hospital units
- Health psychology and chronic illness
- Trauma and occupational stress in healthcare settings
- Burnout and compassion fatigue in nursing
- Virtual psychotherapy for nurses across Ontario