Our very own Brenda Enns has been awarded the WNRCASN Graduate Student Research Award. This award, introduced in 2007, is intended to support the research activities of WNRCASN members who are graduate students. It is available to: 1) faculty members who are WNRCASN members and who are engaged in graduate studies; or 2) graduate students at WNRCASN-affiliated institutions. The focus of the research must be related to nursing education. Research within this focus may be directed to any aspect of nursing education, including issues of importance to faculty members or students, strategies pertaining to teaching and learning, or curricular challenges.

Brenda will receive funding up to $2500 for her research study entitled Nursing Identity Development in BN Education. This grounded theory study examines the process of developing a nursing identity during education and in particular, how participants enact their nursing values in their current practice. The ultimate long-term vision, which is the spirit behind this investigation, is to ensure that RNs, our colleagues, and our patients all experience a nursing practice that is congruent with the type of nursing that BN students are formally taught and which is depicted in our Code of Ethics (CNA, 2008) and provincial standards of practice.