Wendy St. Laurent-Coutts
PhD in Education program: currently enrolled/in progress: Lakehead University,
Cognition and Learning Stream
Master in Public Health with Nurse Practitioner – Primary Health Care certificate 2011/2012
Registered Midwife: Ontario 1998. United Kingdom 1985
Registered Nurse: Post RN BScN - St Francis Xavier University 2008.
RN Diploma – United Kingdom 1983
Informal: clients, families, consumer groups
Formal: post registration, continuing education programs for multiple health disciplines such as MDs, RNs, RTs; hospital based programs, community college program, preceptorship throughout my careers, and now with the BScN program at Lakehead University.
- Knowledge translation as a pathway to improving population health outcomes
- Health promotion, disease prevention with a focus on women's health and the health of families and communities.
- Inter-professional education and collaboration
- Exploring current as well as relevant methods for effective teaching and student engagement using multi-media methods
- Importance of work-life balance in addressing Mental Health concerns among learners, educators, and frontline health care workers
- Compassionate, client-centered care
- Storytelling as a significant part of health research
- Health literacy and the socioecological impacts on knowledge
Career experience:
1980 – 1988 Nursing and Midwifery experience. England. United Kingdom
1988 - 1998 General Duty R.N. Geraldton Community hospital. N. W. Ontario; Thunder Bay Regional HSC [NICU, Family Birthing Center, Labour Delivery].
1998 - current Registered Midwife; Primary Health Care Nurse Practitioner.
While the majority of my career has been as a frontline PHC provider (Registered Midwife for more than 35 years) and Nurse Practitioner - PHC all ages (9 years), the experience has been invaluable to my role as an educator: it enhanced my critical thinking as well as inter-professional communication and collaboration abilities, strengthened my application and approach for client-centered care, and highlighted the importance of informed choice decision making. I acquired clinical (relational) experience in both hospitals as well as community settings. These experiences will guide my teaching, and hopefully, enrich the learning experience for BScN students in our Nursing program.