July 5, 2016
Barb Shellian, Director of Bow Valley Community and Rural Health for AHS Calgary Zone, has been elected 47th president of the Canadian Nurses Association, representing nearly 139,000 registered nurses across Canada.
Story by Laura Manuel; Photo by Paul Rotzinger
An Alberta Health Services (AHS) leader has been elected 47th president of the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA).
Barb Shellian will maintain her role as Director of Bow Valley Community and Rural Health for AHS Calgary Zone, while also representing nearly 139,000 registered nurses across Canada over the course of her two-year term.
“I’m feeling honoured and grateful,” says Shellian.
“I have felt so supported by AHS.”
Shellian is a former president of the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (1995-97) and an active member of the CNA. She is currently co-chair of the International Council of Nurses’ rural and remote nursing network.
“Work at the national level is ultimately about the health of Canadians,” says Shellian. “I’ve visited every province and territory in Canada to get a sense of nursing across the country. (AHS’s) foundational strategies and focus on patient-centred care are applicable across Canada and in alignment with the CNA.”
Sheillian will also act as the Canadian representative on the International Council of Nurses.
“I will be in a position to better understand (Canada’s) health care system and how we compare globally,” she says. “One doesn’t truly appreciate our system until it’s compared to others.”
