We Are IH: Clinical educator inspires the next generation

Jenna’s career and journey in health care started when she volunteered at a hospice house as a teenager. After completing her education in nursing, she would later became a RN at Interior Health. She says her experience as a teenager sparked her interest in nursing and she hasn’t been able to shake it off ever since.

Eighteen years later, her passion for supporting others, rooting for the underdog, and her dedication to embracing the role of being a lifelong learner has put her in a position to support the next generation of health-care workers as a regional knowledge coordinator/internationally educated nurses in clinical education.

Jenna’s enthusiasm, her love for seeing others achieve their goals and her dedication to creating learning opportunities for everyone lead her to become one of the first clinical mentors to pioneer a project with the Professional Practice Office supporting new graduate nurses as they transitioned from students to practicing nurses. This role supported new graduates to build their experience, skills and passion through educational opportunities and practical learning.

In addition, after recently spending time in Portugal, Jenna was profoundly inspired by the people she met overseas, and that curiosity led her to her new role dedicated to supporting internationally educated nurses transitioning to Canada.

“The best part about being an educator or mentor is that it is a reciprocal process where the inspiration given flows back and forth tenfold," Jenna says.

One area Jenna is excited to explore more in the future is transitional experiences and how learning from each other can be used to improve the health-care system. Transition is not only undertaken by new nurses, but by colleagues, patients and communities. Jenna adds, “It was especially evident in the health-care system throughout the recent COVID-19 pandemic.”

“Jackie has over 20 years experience in nursing. She is the most humble and genuine leader I have had the pleasure to work with. Her greatest strength is her ability to 'take people under her wing' while still empowering them and trusting them to find their own way. She has been a familiar face to our paramedic colleagues as the charge nurse in the Emergency Department for the last decade. Most recently she has been using her experience to guide a unit of novice nurses to success through the pandemic. She is conscientious and dutiful, and models teamwork.” - Jenna Hunter

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