Meet The Team

Melissa is an RN since 2012 residing and working mostly in Edmonton, Alberta. Nursing in Primary Care Practice became a passion of hers after  switching from Emergency Medicine in 2018. Since entering a leadership role in 2019 her goal has been to enhance education and awareness of all the wonderful work Primary Care Nurses do within Family Practice. She serves as the Primary Care Nursing contact and representative for Alberta on the Primary Care Alliance, Canadian Family Practice Nursing Association, and the Women's Health Coalition. She's honored to lead the APCNA to contribute to enhancing this specialty in nursing and provide it the recognition it deserves.

Alycia graduated from the Bilingual Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at the U of A, Campus Saint-Jean, and began her career in the Cardiovascular Intensive Care at the Mazankowski Alberta Heart Institute. After working there for a few years she transitioned to Labour and Delivery at the Royal Alexandra Hospital. Through seeing patients at their most vulnerable in both the ICU and while becoming parents, Alycia became drawn to the concept of primary care and began applying on positions with the Primary Care Networks. In December 2019 Alycia began working in a clinic with the Edmonton West Primary Care Network, and transitioned to the role of Clinical Educator for the EWPCN in September 2020. During her time as Clinical Educator Alycia has been working on a Nursing Role Review and Nursing Optimization project to help better define and support Primary Care Nurses, and recently obtained certification as a Change Management Professional. She is really looking forward to this role with the APCNA to continue to work at a provincial level to support Primary Care Nurses across Alberta. 

Alena graduated from the MacEwan diploma program in 2001, then was able to complete her BScN through U of A in 2009. She began her career at Bonnyville Health Centre in rural nursing. Her focus quickly became obstetrics. Alena was also able to instruct for MacEwan’s rural delivery nursing program for 2 semesters. Once the Bonnyville Primary Care Network established in 2006, she developed and ran the OB Clinic prenatal care program for over 7 years. She also helped develop and perform the role of Patient Educator. From there, Alena went back to Bonnyville Health Centre in roles including Clinical Safety Coordinator, Clinical Educator and Clinical Care Coordinator in acute care. This gave her more experience and skills in program development, staff education and leadership. Back to her passion, Alena returned to the Bonnyville PCN to develop the Bonnyville Child & Adolescent Mental Health Clinic alongside a community board, then settled back into primary care nursing. She is currently the Clinic Lead and working with her team to develop and grow the Family Practice Nurse role for her community. Email: alena@bonnyvillepcn.ca

Kate graduated from the Licensed Practical Nurse program at Northern Lakes College in 2011. She has worked at various healthcare settings initially focusing on maternity care and woman’s health. Her transition to primary care occurred 6 years ago enhanced her nursing experience to include team-based management of their complex patients, prenatal and newborn care, and health education and promotion. In 2020, Kate joined the Grande Prairie Primary Care Network’s practice transformation team. As manager of the team and associated program, Kate provides leadership to transformation staff and a group of primary care nurses working in their own family practice settings. Kate is energized by the opportunity to be a part of an up-and-coming specialty of nursing that is family practice nursing and to be able to give nurses an opportunity to provide collaborative team-based that supports better health outcomes for patients. She is a passionate advocate for the patient’s medical home model (PMH) of care and maximizing the role of nurses in advancing implementation of the PMH.

Kim graduated nursing school from the University of Lethbridge in 2008.  Kim had worked in Primary Care throughout her schooling and after graduation, took a position at the Campbell Clinic in Coaldale, where she spent the next 11 years offering Primary Care Nursing expertise and working alongside a multidisciplinary team to the full scope of practice. Kim moved into the position of Clinical Care Coordinator within the clinic adding Quality Improvement and process and policy management to the long list of skills and duties within the clinic. 

In 2019, Kim moved to her current position of Clinical and Quality Improvement Lead with the Chinook Primary Care Network Central Support Office.  This role allows Kim to put the Primary Care clinic voice front and center when it comes to process and policy making strategies across the province and within the community.

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E-Mail: kimberly.daniels@ahs.ca

Kolbi graduated from the Bachelor of Nursing program at Mount Royal University in 2018. Immediately after graduating, she began her career in primary care. First, working in her hometown of Brooks,AB with the Palliser Primary Care Network as a Registered Nurse and Behavioural Health Consultant, and now currently with the Calgary West Central Primary Care Network as a Primary Care Registered Nurse. Kolbi has spent the entirety of her career diving into the world of primary care and is passionate about the role of the primary care nurse. Kolbi has found her career in primary care to be very rewarding and is excited to join the APCNA team to help bring awareness and advocate for the role of the primary care nurse in family practice settings. 

Manpreet graduated from  Mount Royal University
in 2011 and began her career in acute care in hematology and intensive care. In 2015 joined one the largest PCNs in Calgary – Mosaic Primary Care Network. Here she spent the first few years providing chronic disease management working alongside a great multidisciplinary team. She later became a case manager in the Mosaic Pain Management Program which integrated her practice and
knowledge of acute care into chronic care. She developed a passion for QI initiatives and during the
COVID pandemic, had the opportunity to lead her team with COVID support calls. Currently she is currently a part of the ATIN team (Attachment, Transition,
Integration and Navigation). This team has a focus in supporting patient attachment from hospital to
primary care, discharge planning, and care coordination where she continues her passion in education
and QI work. Manpreet is extremely excited and grateful to be joining the APCNA team whilst working
towards providing voice and recognition to Primary Care Nursing.

Chantal received her training at the Lethbridge College and had been a Registered Nurse for 30 years.  Her earlier nursing journey included areas in acute care, psychiatry, maternity/child, antepartum and gynecological surgery.  Primary care had been her focus for the last 20 years.  Since 2010 she had been in the role of Clinical Care Coordinator for Bigelow Fowler Medical Clinics in Lethbridge, Alberta.  At this 23 physician family practice clinic, she lead quality improvement teams in efforts to provide the most efficient and evidence-based comprehensive health care with timely access for their paneled patients. In addition, she was involved with guiding and creating clinic policies and arranging continued learning for staff and patients.
 

Chantal Rennie was a founding member of the APCNA. We recognize her here in memoriam and gratitude.

Abbie has been a Registered Nurse for 18 years. She has worked in numerous areas of nursing in her career but since 2008 has been working in the Primary Care setting. Over the past ten years, she spent 4 years  as a PCN RN assisting family physicians in managing chronic disease. She then moved into clinical care coordinating for a Primary Care Network in the Edmonton area for 2 years. Finally since 2013 she has been working as the Senior Education & Clinical Supervisor with the Palliser Primary Care Network in Medicine Hat. Abbie says 'I am happy to say that so far working within the primary care setting has been my most rewarding part of my career."

Claire graduated from the accelerated Licensed Practical Nurse program through Norquest College in Camrose in 2004. She has worked in a variety of healthcare settings including acute care, public health and community care, with a special passion for obstetrics and women’s health. Her transition to rural primary care as a Panel Manager with the Wolf Creek PCN in 2016 sparked her interest in process change, quality improvement, leadership and collaborative care. She is invested in lifelong learning and is currently enrolled in the Post-LPN Bachelor of Nursing program through Athabasca University. Claire is extremely proud to be a primary care nurse and is excited to represent Central Zone with the APCNA.

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E-Mail: claire.callan@rdpcn.com