Maria came into Complex Continuing Care (CCC) full of energy and enthusiasm and just kept going and going, much like a famous "battery bunny".  Armed with over 25 years of experience and contributions in neurovascular nursing care on the acute side of UHN, Maria dedicated herself to the new role of Advanced Practice Nurse Educator (APNE) on the rehab/CCC side of the house.  She very quickly engaged her fellow point-of-care nurses to identify practice gaps and opportunities for learning.  

She also asked patients what they thought of their care.  In 2018, for example, no nurses in CCC were able to initiate or manage IVs; this situation, of course, meant that patients had to be transported by ambulance back and forth across the city to other hospital sites.  Maria very quickly identified this gap and engaged with key internal and external stakeholders to develop the educational and training resources specifically tailored for nurses in CCC.  As the most senior Nurse Educator in CCC, Maria has been instrumental in providing leadership and insight to UHN-wide Vascular Access training for nurses and has been working in collaboration and partnership with her professional practice colleagues to develop and implement educational materials to support local on-boarding of nursing staff and to create the conditions where nurses can work to full scope.  Maria's leadership has also seen the growth of our CCC Education Simulation resources--where nurses and allied health members alike can practice different interventions or Code Blue resuscitation techniques on life-like mannequins in a simulated patient room.  A staff nurse said this about Maria: "I was encouraged to continue my education in nursing because of Maria...I obtained my baccalaureate degree and am now finishing my Masters degree in Nursing...every nurse should be as lucky as I to have someone like Maria to show them the way..." 

Maria has also been a leader in introducing "gamification" in the education of nurses.  Maria recognized early that digital citizens and tech-savvy nursing students are among us and that we need to educate using different modalities from those that have been used in the past--Maria believed the nursing workforce was ready for gaming as part of their ongoing educational needs.  Maria, with the help of her husband, designed a "Describe that Drug" spinning wheel to teach nurses pharmacology.  When a nurse spins the wheel, he/she needs to be prepared to describe the class of drug, its actions, and side effects when the wheel's pointer stops at a particular medication.  This wheel has also been used during mock Code Blue training, where Maria reviews with staff the commonly used drugs in emergency situations. 

Through all of her work, aside from nursing staff, Maria has never lost sight of the most important beneficiaries of her education--the patients in CCC.  Some of the most vulnerable patients at UHN are found in CCC.  Most patients are older and have multiple co-morbidities that require complex treatment regimes.  Some patients are palliative, some have cognitive impairment and unpredictable behaviour.  Maria has worked tirelessly to ensure that the staff understands the patients' needs and that the patients receive the best care possible.  She has also been a champion for revising hospital policies so that these incorporate the needs (and realities) of CCC patients and reduce health inequities. 

Throughout her 30+ year career at UHN, Maria has been a key driver in improving the patient experience in whatever program she found herself.  She is well-deserving of The DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award.