Throughout her neuroscience nursing career, this nominee has excelled and positively influenced her colleagues’ practice through clinical leadership. She fosters high-quality care by precepting and mentoring new nurses and by actively leading and participating in numerous projects. This includes working as a bedside clinical nurse on a neurosurgery unit, and as a clinical teacher and nursing professional development educator across all neuroscience units at McGill University Health Center. She has taught new and experienced nurses and developed or contributed significantly to protocols and standards of practice such as the spine surgery pathway, patient support booklets, and pre/post-op surgery instructional resources. She created a neuroscience nursing online program (NNOP) that aimed at preparing nurses to write the CNA neuroscience nursing certification exam.

She served as the Quebec Councillor for the CANN for 3 years and shares her expertise with research professionals and fellow research nurses at the clinical research unit of the Neuro where she refined her expertise in the ALS field as well as in neurocognitive disorders. As a research nurse she coordinated complex patient recruitment and visits to the CRU. These patients came from out of town, out of province, and overseas.  

One specific example from the nominee’s career exemplifies how she has and continues to positively impact neuroscience patients locally, nationally, and internationally. In 2016-2017, she was instrumental in developing a partnership between The Neuro and the neuroscience department of a hospital in Shenzhen, China. The program started with a delegation from Shenzhen visiting the Neuro for a few weeks. She organized the visit for the nurses before their arrival, planned the training and workshops they would attend, and structured their visit across the various departments to ensure the Chinese visitors would have the best exposure to knowledge and local practices possible. Considering the different scope of practice of the Shenzhen nurses at the time, she worked with them to share her expertise, including epilepsy monitoring and neurological assessment. After the Shenzhen delegation left the Neuro, she traveled to China to teach nurses within their work environment and coordinated and organized presentations and workshops. Her work and dedication contributed greatly to the empowerment of Chinese nurses regarding their capacity and ability to better care for their patients and also to excel in and be part of the neuroscience community. The exchange of best practices, facilitated by her extensive neurological expertise, has led to improved quality of care for patients in Shenzhen.

She is consistently recognized by her patients for her exceptional care and compassion, going above and beyond, creating a sense of confidence and ease among her patients. Through her dedication, she has elevated the nursing profession and has gained the trust and respect of other professionals and those under her care.

Helen Fong is a true DAISY Nurse Leader for International Neuroscience Nurse Leadership.