Judith Shamian: From Bedside Nurse to Boardroom Policy Shaper
by Susan Korah, Epoch Times Contributor
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Given the pivotal role nurses play in patient care in hospitals and homes, their expertise remains surprisingly untapped when it comes to health-care policy-making in Canada and around the world.
Judith Shamian, PhD, set out to change that. She has just completed her four-year term as president of the International Council of Nurses, the second Canadian to have held this position since the establishment of the organization in 1899. A federation of over 130 national nurses’ associations, ICN represents more than 16 million nurses worldwide. A mover and shaker by nature, Shamian has almost singlehandedly strengthened the profile of nursing and made its voice heard at the national and international levels. She has achieved at least some of the goals she had set for herself during her term from 2013-2017. “My goal was to take nursing out to others,” she says. “ICN is now well-connected with the World Bank, WHO, and other groups, opening doors and building working relationships with external partners.” |
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With her own career trajectory from bedside nurse to boardroom policy shaper, she has also set the bar high for other nurses to follow in her footsteps. Born in Hungary, she lived in Israel for 10 years before moving to Montreal at age 25. |
“I was determined |
“Being the only child of Holocaust survivors and the daughter of a chronically ill mother whom I had to look after with the help of my father, nursing was a natural choice of profession for me,” she says.
Her initial training was in a three-year hospital based program in Jerusalem. Working as an emergency room nurse during the Arab-Israeli war of 1973 and dealing with countless wounded soldiers left an impact on her worldview forever.
“I was determined to use that experience to improve the world,” she says.
After the move to Montreal, a back injury put an end to the bedside nursing part of her career but opened the door to management and leadership positions.
Her initial training was in a three-year hospital based program in Jerusalem. Working as an emergency room nurse during the Arab-Israeli war of 1973 and dealing with countless wounded soldiers left an impact on her worldview forever.
“I was determined to use that experience to improve the world,” she says.
After the move to Montreal, a back injury put an end to the bedside nursing part of her career but opened the door to management and leadership positions.
While she was President and CEO of the Victorian Order of Nurses she influenced such federal policy changes as tax benefits for the caring of people in their homes. A past President of the Canadian Nurses’ Association, she also helped set up the Office of Nursing Policy in 1999 to advise Health Canada.
Shamian’s international work has taken her to numerous countries including Hungary and Botswana for research and teaching, and also to Poland where she helped nurses establish their national association.
Post ICN presidency, she continues to advocate passionately for a broader role for nurses as leaders, political activists, and partners in the policy-making process, and for a multi-disciplinary approach to health care.
Shamian’s international work has taken her to numerous countries including Hungary and Botswana for research and teaching, and also to Poland where she helped nurses establish their national association.
Post ICN presidency, she continues to advocate passionately for a broader role for nurses as leaders, political activists, and partners in the policy-making process, and for a multi-disciplinary approach to health care.
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Susan Korah is a freelance journalist based in Ottawa. She has a Master of Journalism degree from
Carleton University and writes on Canadian and international politics as well as travel and lifestyle. |
Read more about Dr. Shamian's work at the United Nations & the UN Commission on the Status of Women |
Two more inspirational Canadians featured in this article....
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Jacqueline Guest
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Tim Itani
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Photo Credits: Above Left: Courtesy of Judith Shamian; Below Left: Courtesy of Jacqueline Guest; Below Right: from MCpl Vincent Carbonneau, Rideau Hall, OSGG. All photos used with attribution to the 'Epoch Times.'