Fanshawe nursing chair wins provincial excellence award

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Dr. Sandy DeLuca, the chair of Fanshawe's School of Nursing won a Council of Ontario Universities' Programs in Nursing (COUPN) provincial award on May 2.

Dr. Sandy DeLuca, the chair of Fanshawe’s School of Nursing, received a Council of Ontario Universities’ Programs in Nursing (COUPN) provincial award on May 2.

The Excellence in University- College Collaboration Award is distributed annually and recognizes the excellence of a faculty member in a collaborative baccalaureate nursing program.

“It was quite a surprise and it’s very exciting. I’m honoured that they chose me, but also the fact that they put the award in place which recognizes the significance of university and college collaboration,” DeLuca said.

According to the Council of Ontario Universities (COU), the COUPN awards were established in 2007 to recognize achievements and advancements made in university nursing education, however the Excellence in University- College Collaboration Award was only established this year, making DeLuca its first recipient, according to Michelle Cyr, director of health sciences at COU.

“She has been instrumental in strengthening relationships between college and university nursing educators and forging a united educator voice on key policy issues including the Nursing Graduate Guarantee, RN prescribing, clinical education, education for seniors’ care, and educational program approval,” Cyr said.

DeLuca was involved in the formation of the COUPN Colleges of Applied Arts and Technology (CAATs) executives committee ten years ago, with the vision that both college and university programs could collaborate and respond to nursing issues with one voice.

“I was educated entirely in a university but my position has been in the college schools so I don’t see nursing education as sector-centric. It’s not about what building you’re in, it’s about nursing education as a whole,” DeLuca said.

DeLuca is the current chair of the Provincial Heads of Nursing sub-committee (CAATs) nursing schools, co-chair of the COUPNCAATs executive committee, and CAATs representative on the Joint Provincial Nursing Committee.

“Dr. DeLuca’s open and collaborative approach to nursing education, her political insight, approachable nature and warm sense of humour have all contributed to the advancement of university-college collaboration,” Cyr said.

DeLuca has not only taught nursing for 35 years, but has held joint appointments at Western University, is a researcher at the Centre for Education, Research and Innovation at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry and has been an elected director on the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing for eight years, according to a Fanshawe news release.

“I believe collaborative positions us to move the debris that is in the way of providing the best and most timely education for students and I think that’s the bottom line of what we do is to provide the best education for our students so that’s always the vision,” DeLuca said.