Recognizing current and past graduate students associated with the LEAD Team.
Individuals who are interested in pursuing their master’s degree or doctoral studies related to healthcare leadership, nurses’ work environments, health systems, or healthcare policy should forward their curriculum vitae and areas of interest to Dr. Sonia Udod well in advance of the appropriate application deadline.
Kristen Valeri – Doctoral Student
The focus of this nursing administrative research has been on gaining an understanding of health care Managers’ perspective on engagement, and hearing their voice. Managers within the health care system have been identified as pivotal to engaging employees. During times of change Managers are called on to not just cope with change rather to lead, to implement change and to engage their staff. Understanding their perspective and hearing their voice is essential to the success of change within healthcare.
Carnelle ‘Raigne’ Symes – Doctoral Student
Raigne Symes is a member of the Nursing Faculty at Red Deer College, Alberta, Canada. Prior to joining RDC Ms. Symes worked at the University of Calgary in Qatar as a Nursing Faculty member. Ms. Symes has teaching experience in many different areas of undergraduate nursing curriculum including: acute care, pharmacology, leadership, research, scholarship, and nursing theory. Ms. Symes clinical experience ranges from long term care, general medicine and surgical, oncology, adult intensive care, and school health nursing. She has a passion for improving health across the lifespan. Ms. Symes has conducted research on student success, the use of technology in the classroom and integration of teaching innovations in the classroom. Ms. Symes is currently completing her Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Manitoba, with a research focus on nursing educational leadership.
Gina Trinidad has worked in healthcare for over two decades and has progressively advanced in formal leadership roles with the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (WRHA), from the front-lines to executive leadership. She has led many multidisciplinary teams and more recently, her leadership has been instrumental in managing multiple transformational initiatives occurring in the health system both at the regional and provincial levels. Currently, Gina is the WRHA Chief Health Operations Officer and is responsible for the leadership and oversight of operations for
Continuing Care (including long term care facilities and seniors care) and Community Health Services (including Home Care, Population Public Health, Mental Health & Addictions, and Primary Health care delivered across the community access centres) within the WRHA. She is also responsible for the many external partnerships with health care organizations which is a key component in advancing service delivery within the region.
A Registered Nurse by profession with both undergraduate and graduate degrees in Nursing from the University of Manitoba, Gina is a firm believer in lifelong learning and has added certification in lean management and coaching for improvement to her academic repertoire. She also holds a Graduate Certificate in Health Systems Leadership Program from the Royal Roads University and is now currently pursuing a PhD in Nursing.
As a collaborator and co-investigator, Gina continues to be involved in numerous research committees that have been awarded significant funding and has been a Thesis Committee Member for University of Manitoba graduate students.
Since nursing is one of the largest workforces in the health care system, strong nursing leadership, both at the front-line and executive levels, is vital in moving the discipline forward. Gina finds great opportunity in nursing and other health professions to add to health systems’ leadership research and knowledge translation. Her PhD Thesis topic focuses on contributing to the knowledge base of how nursing leadership influences the context of the workplace and ultimately, the quality of care individuals experience. More specifically, Gina plans to employ a qualitative research study focused on front-line nursing leadership behaviors to inform a leadership framework from an intersectional and critical leadership theory lens – an approach that has been largely untapped in nursing to date.
Balancing work life responsibilities with a young family of her own, Gina makes time for volunteering in her community as a Board of Director for a local independent school and more recently, she has taken on the Campaign Cabinet – WRHA Divisional Co-chair, United Way Winnipeg role to raise funds to support multiple community organizations targeted to vulnerable and the less fortunate in the community.
Wendy Ducharme has been a registered nurse for over 28 years. She completed her undergraduate and masters degree at the University of Manitoba in 1993 and 2011 respectively> Wendy’s Masters thesis explored Workplace and Occupational Aggression in Nursing Stations in Manitoba. She completed the Dalhousie Diploma in Outpost and Community Health Nursing in 1997 and the Adult Intensive Care Nursing Certificate in 1999.
Wendy began her career in long term care in Calgary. Upon return to Manitoba and while in Ontario, she worked in acute care (medicine, orthopedics, neuro, SICU and emergency) and in community (VON). In 1996, Wendy began her federal public service career with Medical Services Branch (now First Nations and Inuit Health Branch) where she was a community health nurse in both northern Manitoba and Ontario. During her 18+ years with FNIHB, she transitioned from direct clinical care to be a manager, educator and ultimately the Director of Nursing for Manitoba Region. From 2014 to June 2021, Wendy was the Regional Emergency Program Director for the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority where she worked closely with all Winnipeg sites and program areas. From May 2020 onward, she worked closely with other RHAs on COVID related education and operational activities.
Wendy commenced the PhD program in September 2021. As an administrator for over 15 years, her research interest is interdisciplinary workforce planning.
Jacqueline Molina – Master of Nursing Student
I started my university education at the University of Winnipeg where I graduated with a double major in criminal justice and psychology in 2006. I graduated from the University of Manitoba in 2013 with a Baccalaureate degree in nursing. I have a broad area of expertise that includes: surgical nursing, correctional nursing, emergency, ICU and clinical teaching. I am an ICU educator at present. I am currently in the M.N. stream for Administration. My areas of interest are organizational change, flow theory and patient advocacy. My passion is centred on quality patient outcomes and how we can achieve it in an organizational health setting.
