Faculty of Health Sciences

Inaugural recipients of Wendy Lipinski scholarship named

LETHBRIDGE – Two local registered nurses with Alberta Health Services (AHS) have been named the inaugural recipients of the Wendy Lipinski Memorial Scholarship for Advanced Education.

Em Pijl Zieber and Klaas Vanden Beld received their awards recently at Chinook Regional Hospital. The scholarship was established this year by the Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust (ARNET), with funding from Executive Links/Nursing Links, a Calgary provider of nursing education.

This scholarship serves as a memorial to the contributions of Wendy (MacFarlane) Lipinski, a registered nurse who practised for 18 years in Lethbridge and area. She died of cancer last December at age 59.

Executive Links owner Terese Fleming wanted to honour the nursing contributions of Lipinski, a lifelong friend who had also returned to school as an adult student to take classes in Fine Arts at the U of L prior to her passing.  

“I am a nurse myself and, if I was ever in a position where I would need to receive health care, Wendy was the type of nurse I would want caring for me,” Fleming says. “She was such a kind and caring nurse, so gentle and patient.”

Pijl Zieber and Vanden Beld receive scholarships worth a total of $5,000. They were chosen by an ARNET allocation committee on the basis of academic merit in their graduate-level studies.

Pijl Zieber, 44, teaches community health nursing theory and clinical courses in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Lethbridge. She is enrolled in doctoral studies at the University of Alberta and has a special interest in nursing in marginalized populations.  Prior to joining the U of L, Pijl Zieber worked as an RN in remote communities, Vancouver’s Downtown East Side and at Lethbridge College.

“It is fitting that such an outstanding educator as Em Pijl Zeiber receive the Wendy Lipinski Memorial Scholarship for Advanced Education,” says Faculty of Health Sciences Dean, Dr. Chris Hosgood.

“We are dedicated to providing educators with opportunities for professional development and nursing students with an outstanding education, and wholeheartedly support Em’s commitment to mobilize students to make a difference in their communities.”
 
“It’s an honour to receive this scholarship,” Pijl Zieber says. “It will help me continue with my research, which is focused on how well nursing students are prepared for registered nursing practice. The nursing profession can make even greater contributions to the health of Canadians by enhancing community health clinical education and by mobilizing students to make a difference in their communities. That could have a positive impact on the health of everyone.”

Vanden Beld, 48, is enrolled in a Master of Nursing program through Athabasca University, in the family nurse practitioner stream. This week, he begins a four-month women’s health practicum at a women’s clinic in Nanton – the first of five practicums that include adult, older adult, pediatric and comprehensive care. He will graduate at the end of 2014. Family nurse practitioners can work in primary care and family care clinics, and in home care.

“If there’s one thing I’ve really learned through the years with nursing is you mentor other people and you take care of your own,” says Vanden Beld, who returned to Alberta two years ago after practising in the U.S. for 20 years.
“Through scholarships and funding, it’s really evident that nurses take care of nurses and that’s huge. The pay-it-forward aspect of that sits very deeply with me now – it’s a scholarship with some serious meaning and intention behind it.”
Teri Myhre, Vice President, Acute Care West for the South Zone, says the scholarship is gratifying in a number of ways.
“It’s wonderful to see a former staff member like Wendy Lipinski honoured in such a way,” says Myhre. “And I’m happy that two dedicated Alberta Health Services employees will receive support to continue their studies through the scholarship.”

Fleming says it’s not certain whether the Lipinski scholarship will become an annual award or if the funding will be allocated in different ways.
 
The Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust is a charity dedicated to fostering the health of Albertans by raising, managing and distributing funds in support of lifelong learning for more than 33,000 registered nurses and nurse practitioners in Alberta.

Alberta Health Services is the provincial health authority responsible for planning and delivering health supports and services for more than 3.8 million adults and children living in Alberta. Its mission is to provide a patient-focused, quality health system that is accessible and sustainable for all Albertans.