School of Health & Life Sciences faculty member Lisa-Anne Hagerman has been awarded a leadership fellowship from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario (RNAO). Hagerman will receive $15,000 in funding for the fellowship which will focus on mindfulness and self-compassion in undergraduate nursing.
Faculty member Lisa-Anne Hagerman has been awarded a leadership fellowship from the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.
“Compassion is such an important topic and it’s one area that, as we become more technologically advanced and the hospital and health care systems become more stressed, will be really important to support quality of care as well as our health care workers,” explained Hagerman. “Self-compassion is part of this work and has been found to reduce instances of burnout and compassion fatigue.”
Through the fellowship, Hagerman will explore integrating mindful self-compassion into the undergraduate curriculum and share strategies that can be used to support faculty and students through the development of a compassion literacy website and an organizational faculty development program.
The second goal will be the creation of a curricular innovation committee that will work to identify curricular strategies that support mindful self-compassion, relational practice and preparation for practice in upcoming nursing graduates.
According to Hagerman, students and practitioners who are self-compassionate demonstrate the ability to form relationships with others and be truly present in moments of suffering. Self-compassionate individuals exhibit positive attributes such as empathy, relational practice, emotional intelligence, compassion for self and others, lowered levels of stress and anxiety and have greater resilience in times of distress.
“One of the driving factors behind my interest in this topic is the love that I have for health care and nursing and I wanted to look at what can I do to give back to support my colleagues and clients," said Hagerman. "I’m also motivated by the incredible support I receive from my colleagues at Conestoga, Heather Cross and Veronique Boscart. Through their positive encouragement, support and mentorship, they’ve helped me take something I was interested in and really turn it into a passion.”
The RNAO leadership fellowship is Hagerman’s third - she has already completed two Advanced Clinical Practice fellowships through RNAO, funded by the Associated Medical Services. The leadership fellowship focuses on taking the learning she has already acquired and bringing it to next level by implementing it.
“To win three fellowships is rare, but I really wanted to try to go forward with my work because it’s important,” said Hagerman. “It was quite the honour to have been selected and I’m very proud to represent Conestoga and the RNAO.”
Hagerman's Conestoga mentors include Boscart and Cross, and her primary fellowship mentor is Dr. Louela Manakil-Rankin of Nipissing University.
Conestoga’s School of Health & Life Sciences offers a broad range of credentials that deliver the most up-to-date training by expert faculty and staff in state-of-the-art facilities. Visit the school website for more information.