Alison Middlebro'

I completed my baccalaureate in nursing at the University of Ottawa in my mid-twenties. I already had some post-secondary education in arts, and had some work experience, but when I started my nursing program, it felt right. When we had our first exposure as students to nursing in a psychiatric setting, I knew I had found my calling! Over the years I have worked in Manitoba and Ontario at general hospitals, specialized psychiatric facilities and for community organizations. My experience in psychiatric/mental health nursing, with short stints in community health and long-term care, have led me to my current position of director of patient care services for the Schizophrenia Program of the Royal Ottawa Health Care Group, a job I love. Nurses learn to think about individual patients and their needs, but also about the social and physical environment each person occupies. Wanting to understand the broader picture of health and its determinants led me to study epidemiology, and I completed my Master of Science in epidemiology in 2011.

RNAO has a track record and tremendous credibility in advocating at the policy level for the health of Ontarians. I am standing for a second term as a member on the Provincial Resolutions Committee so I can see up close, and support the process of great ideas being generated from all of us as nurses - discussed, adopted and supported by our professional association for the benefit of all.