604-739-1944
info@rnfbc.ca

Blog

Compassionate, Curious, Courageous, Inspiration

by loving friends and family of Mary Bellis

Margaret Mary Bellis’s love of children is rumoured to have begun as the second child of six. Mary’s genuineness, curiosity, friendliness, compassion and loyalty to her family, friends and colleagues are legendary and reminiscent of the attributes of one who was raised in a large family.

Read more

Special Message re Our 2020 AGM

What a year this has been for all of us!   As with almost all non-profit societies it has certainly been challenging for us to carry out our mandate this past year. That said, we are proud to report that we still managed to provide 182 bursaries to BC’s nurses to assist with their basic and advanced education in 2020.  We have also been exploring some new opportunities for RNFBC going forward and are excited to share them with all of our members, donors, and friends.

Read more

Rural Nursing Passion

“I immediately fell in love with nursing when I started the program. I am extremely passionate about improving rural health care.”

Caitlyn is in her fourth year of nursing following a degree in biochemistry. She received a 2020 bursary that was matched in partnership with the BC Association of Healthcare Auxiliaries-NE Area and the Registered Nurses Foundation of BC.

Read more

Helen Shore’s Memory Honoured

The Registered Nurses Foundation of BC pays special tribute to Helen Louise Shore and is grateful for the support we have received in honour of her memory.  

Helen made many meaningful connections and contributions during her distinguished life in nursing.  She worked in Community Health Nursing and then dedicated her career to Nursing Education.  

Helen L. Shore also completed a book at age 95 entitled “Shore to Shore: A record of the Shore family of Sheffield, England, to London, Ontario” describing some of her family stories dating back to the 15th Century – including one very famous family member, Florence Nightingale.  

Helen earned many honours for her numerous contributions and achievements.  She was also an active community volunteer supporting nursing and community service organizations.  Helen touched many nurses and countless others through her lifetime.   She is missed by many who share deep admiration for Helen’s contributions.  

Read more

On behalf of the Board and Staff of the Registered Nurses Foundation of BC I would like to wish you a safe and happy holiday season. We are all very aware that the pandemic has posed formidable challenges for everyone this year and that this holiday season will be much quieter and less festive than many of us would like. We hope that despite this you can all find ways to connect with loved ones in safe ways so this year’s celebrations are still meaningful and comforting.

We also know that within a few months we will be past the worst of the pandemic so we will can begin to regain our “normal” lives. Like all of you we can hardly wait! With this in mind, we want to wish you a safe and healthy 2021 filled with good times with love – even if we will have to wait for spring for it to happen.

Heather Mass RN Msc, Interim President
on behalf of the Volunteer Board of Directors
Registered Nurses Foundation of BC

Read more

As St. Joseph’s School of Nursing Celebrates 100 years, please meet Linda Bitterman, Alumnae Executive – Her Nursing Journey and Legacy..

Last winter our St. Joseph’s Alumnae executive were excited, busily planning our 100th year anniversary in 2020 when COVID-19 hit. This got me thinking back to my early nursing days and realized how much a bursary can help a student nurse and how very important the established bursaries like St. Joseph’s are. In talking with RNFBC on how to promote our bursary, we thought what better way than celebrating St. Joseph’s SON 100th anniversary with a story about my personal nursing journey and legacy.

Many students know that nursing is going to be their chosen career, but that wasn’t me! As a teen, I was obsessed with my sports, ie. basketball and skating in the winter, and softball all summer! So, my dream was to be a P. E. Teacher. That all changed in a moment’s time at age 16 when I was a passenger in a head-on 3 car collision. There were 15 young people involved, with one dead and all but one injured, and most with fractures. This was in the days before seat belts so I was sent flying through the front windshield. The boy I was with, who was our driver, pulled me out of the car then laid down and died. He had severed his aorta. I had multiple injuries, internal bleeding, head injury, and over 130 sutures to my face and neck (apparently the nurses counted them. I wouldn’t know as I was still unconscious!). I’m telling you all this because, as a result of my time in the hospital, and all I saw and heard changed the course of my life! I got to really like most of my nurses, but there was one that was very impatient with me. I remember her forcing red Jello on me, and telling me if I didn’t eat it I’d have to have the IV back in! It took a lot of years before I could eat red Jello on my own! I also remember the staff talking about me but I couldn’t open my eyes or say anything! This was something I was very aware of when I was nursing and always remember the sensitivity of the patient’s feelings. Because of my injuries I was out of high school for 2 years before I was accepted at St. Joseph’s here in Victoria. I would always get the same thing told to me – “your marks are good, but we can’t take a chance on you, health-wise.” Thank God for the wonderful nuns who were willing to give me a chance! So I graduated in 1964, but did have to make up about 5 months because of having pneumonia in my last year, but I did make it!

My 1964 Graduating Class

>55 years later….that’s me in the centre in a striped sweater!

Read more

Meet the newest member of our incredible board – Lorelei Gibson!

Early in her career, Lorelei was on the board of directors for the Registered Nurses Association of BC representing Vancouver Metropolitan District.  Moreover, here in 2020, we welcome her back to RNFBC (formerly RNABC) as the newest member of our board team!

Lorelei is a lifelong learner and often embeds in a course of something as she works:

  • Graduated from Vancouver General Hospital School of Nursing.
  • Baccalaureate and Masters in Nursing from the University of Victoria.
  • Holds a Provincial Instructor’s Diploma from Vancouver Community College, and a Prosci Change Management Certificate.

Her contributions to the nursing committee both in staff positions and as a volunteer are impressive:

  • Currently, Lorelei works for Interior Health Authority (IHA), as a Practice Lead for the Mental Health & Substance Use Network following her role as a Practice Lead for Access & Efficiency with IHA.
  • She sits on the IHA Nursing Scope of Practice Council and Clinical Records Standardization Committee.
  • She has previously worked in Child & Adolescent Mental Health at Children’s’ & Women’s (C&W) Health Centres as a point of care nurse, nurse clinician and nurse educator. She later moved into professional practice as the Professional Practice Lead for Nursing and Lead for the office of Policy for C&W.
Read more