Chief Nursing Officer of Canada, Leigh Chapman, visits McMaster’s School of Nursing and Hamilton Health Sciences

The Chief Nursing Officer (CNO) of Canada, Leigh Chapman, visited McMaster’s School of Nursing (SON) and Hamilton Health Sciences (HHS) in McMaster’s Children Hospital on Thursday, September 26.

Chapman is a McMaster SON alumna, completing both her undergraduate in 2003 and her masters in 2005. She then completed her doctorate at the University of Toronto in 2019 and became the CNO of Canada shortly after in August 2022.

In the CNO role, she offers strategic guidance to Health Canada on national nursing priorities and represents the Federal Government at both domestic and international forums. She has interests in nursing retention and a scholar’s program in the clinical setting.

With a distinguished career in nursing and healthcare leadership, Chapman has been instrumental in shaping policies and practices that enhance patient care and support the nursing profession. Her extensive experience includes roles in practice, education, research, administration, policy, and advocacy, making her a well-rounded and insightful leader in the field. Chapman’s visit with SON included a tour of the school, where she stopped by to see her graduation photo along our “Gallery of Graduates” in the main hallway. As well as a presentation, and group discussions with students and faculty members.

Her presentation covered her role and expertise as the CNO for Canada, a review of the new Nursing Retention Toolkit that was published in March of this year, and a response to health human resource challenges.

“We are very diverse in Canada, in terms of our geography and in terms of specialization of practice,” says Chapman. “When I think of nursing in Canada, it’s all of nursing. Nursing is one profession across the country. When I’m representing nursing internationally, it’s about all of nursing in Canada. It’s nursing in remote outpost stations where nurses are running the show for entire communities, it’s nursing in very sophisticated ICUs, and really everything in between. It’s about really trying to think of our collective strength in being unified across the country that is critically important.”

After the presentation, attendees and others gathered in McMaster’s Indigenous Health Learning Lodge (IHLL) for the group discussion.

This gathering was an open circle discussion where faculty members and students could share their thoughts about nursing and healthcare raised by one another, as well as ask questions to Chapman. This made for a very engaging session where topics such as Indigenous health, the future of nursing, the Nursing Retention Toolkit, and much more were explored.

After the second session in the IHLL ended, Chapman and Carroll went to the McMaster’s Children Hospital for a tour. President at McMaster Children’s Hospital and Vice President of Women’s and Children’s Health at HHS, Bruce Squires, Chief of Interprofessional Practice HHS, Ari Collerman, and Chief Nursing Officer of HHS, Janny Proba, led the tour to the emergency department, the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU), and the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) within McMaster’s Children Hospital.

Chapman’s interactions with students and faculty, coupled with her insightful presentation, highlighted the critical role of nursing in Canada’s healthcare system. By engaging in open discussions and sharing her extensive experience, she has and will continue to inspire nurses and reinforce the importance of unity within the profession. Her visit not only celebrated her achievements, but also underscored the ongoing efforts to address nursing challenges and improve healthcare outcomes across Canada.