Nursing alumna a passionate advocate for collaborative, patient-centred care and healthy workplaces

Dec. 1, 2016

As Chief Executive Officer of the Registered Practical Nurses Association of Ontario (RPNAO), Nursing alumna Dianne Martin advocates for the province’s thousands of registered practical nurses. In addition to providing leadership to Ontario’s nurses, she also works hard to make a difference in the lives of patients and nursing students through policies, reforms and education.

Dianne is working to refocus healthcare decisions on the needs of patients, which will help them take control of their own wellness. She’s also spent a good portion of her career addressing the workplace bullying she says is prevalent in the industry and providing support to nurses suffering from work-related post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dianne hopes the resources she and her team have created will assist employers, re-engage nurses in the profession, and help reduce or eradicate bullying and PTSD.

Having come from an underprivileged background, Dianne provides scholarships for nursing students and makes regular visits to elementary and secondary schools across the province to promote nursing and postsecondary education in general.

Dianne credits Georgian’s nursing program with giving her the leadership abilities she uses every day at the RPNAO, and says that the college also gave her the knowledge and skills that allow her to analyze, synthesize, articulate and foster consensus among large, disparate groups.

A proud college graduate, Dianne says that attending Georgian kick-started her flourishing career and she enjoys giving back to the college as a member of the Georgian College Board of Governors.

Dianne won a prestigious 2016 Colleges Ontario Premier’s Awards in the Health Sciences category.