Kimberley Kearsey

A common theme running through this issue of the Journal is resilience. 

We see it in spades in our Q & A with Danielle Kane and her partner Jerry Pinksen. On a warm summer evening this past July, the pair found themselves face-to-face with a gunman in Toronto’s Greek Town. The encounter left Kane paralyzed from the waist down, but she still finds a way to maintain a positive outlook. It’s quite remarkable that the adversity she has faced – and will continue to face as she adjusts to a new normal – is no match for her motivation. 

We see the same resilience in Birgit Umaigba, one of our new nursing graduates profiled in our annual membership feature. She arrived in Canada from a precarious personal situation in Nigeria. In a new country and experiencing her first winter, she stayed positive and never gave up hope of one day becoming a nurse. She talks about how success in her culture is an expectation, and how she had faith it would one day be hers. It’s difficult to imagine how that resilience was possible while facing economic and cultural barriers that might send most of us running. 

Many of the members featured in this issue have found strength from within, and the RNs in our story about transitioning from nursing to politics are no exception. Each one has taken a leap of faith that requires determination and confidence in their ability to make things happen. For these RNs-turned-politicians, who have put their future in the hands of voters rather than fate, the same guts and commitment to something bigger applies. The resilience of these and the other members in this issue can be tied back to one thing: a desire to give back.