Nursing Student Leadership Conference

Brain Waves is a free, interactive neuroscience and injury-prevention program for students in Grades 3–6. Delivered by the BC Injury Research and Prevention Unit (BCIRPU) at BC Children's Hospital, the program uses activities and demonstrations to teach brain anatomy and function, the five senses, concussion awareness, and brain protection, including proper helmet fitting.

This fourth-year nursing leadership project aims to expand access to Brain Waves in the West Kootenays by coordinating 10 in-person presentations across School Districts 8 and 20. Project activities include collaborating with program field guides, identifying local schools, preparing outreach materials, and reviewing presentation resources to support delivery. An additional component involves gathering feedback to demonstrate the program's value and support ongoing funding, while exploring opportunities for continued regional delivery beyond the leadership project.

By providing children with practical knowledge before an injury occurs, Brain Waves supports upstream health promotion and injury prevention. This project demonstrates collaborative nursing leadership through partnerships with BCIRPU, program field guides, and school communities. Implementation considerations include school participation, presenter availability, scheduling, and funding for travel and staff time.

People with developmental disabilities have statistically been shown to exhibit much more sedentary lifestyles, and are disproportionately excluded from mainstream opportunities for physical exercise (Shorna et al., 2026). The barriers to physical exercise work as an influencing factor which predisposes people with disabilities to poor health outcomes (Shorna et al., 2026). This leadership project was born in response to the underrepresentation of people with diverse abilities in the mainstream sport settings. 

This leadership project explores ways to create accessible avenues for physical activity among this demographic. This project was made possible in collaboration with the Selkirk College “Steps to Opportunities and Academic Readiness” (S.O.A.R) program. S.O.A.R is a specialized program, for students with DD’s, which offers a variety of programs to foster independence and promote life skills. This leadership project explores the student-directed initiative to incorporate a physical activity program into the SOAR curriculum.

 The leadership conference presentation will explore the current barriers and influencing factors that contribute to prolonged sedentary behaviour among people with diverse abilities. It will then discuss the methods that were used to overcome them, and provide an overview of the S.O.A.R physical activity program. 

Across our local communities, toxic drug poisonings continue to be an ongoing concern, making timely recognition and response an important skill for nursing students and future health care providers. Responding to a suspected overdose in an outreach or community setting can bring unique challenges, including unfamiliar environments, limited resources, and the need to work alongside the person experiencing poisoning and those around them. 

To prepare students for real-life experiences, we are creating a virtual overdose-response simulation aimed at enhancing nursing students' skills in recognizing the signs of opioid toxicity and responding safely and effectively in community and outreach settings. This simulation employs scenario-based learning and interactive decision points, enabling learners to practice assessing scene safety, recognizing signs of an overdose, initiating emergency interventions, communicating with others, and delivering compassionate, person-centred care.

Building on previous Selkirk College student-led work, this project brings together evidence-informed education and community perspectives, including the importance of incorporating lived and living experience. Our goal is to create a practical and accessible learning experience that supports both clinical preparedness and an understanding of the human experiences surrounding toxic drug poisonings.

Join us as we share the simulation's development, explore how evidence and community perspectives have shaped its design, preview the current build, and discuss opportunities to contribute to its continued development.

The Regional Emergency Department Education Program (REDEP), offered through Interior Health, provides specialized education and clinical experience to prepare nurses for emergency nursing practice. Through the BScN REDEP Learning Pathway, undergraduate nursing students complete REDEP throughout their fourth year of the BScN program. This leadership project initially explored the feasibility of recognizing REDEP as elective credit. As our project developed, we shifted our focus to identifying gaps in the information and expectations communicated to students about the program. Drawing on our own experiences as BScN REDEP Learning Pathway candidates, we recognized that limited access to pathway-specific information prior to program orientation contributed to uncertainty regarding academic and clinical requirements. In response, our project shifted toward advocating for enhanced program communication by developing a REDEP-specific information resource. The resource aims to outline key program components, including its requirements, expectations, and what to anticipate throughout the program. By organizing key program information into an accessible resource, we hope to improve student awareness, clarify expectations, and help students decide whether this specialty education opportunity aligns with their interests and future nursing goals. This project highlights the importance of clear communication and preparation when connecting undergraduate nursing education with specialized clinical practice.

Within the Kootenay Boundary (KB) region, sexual and reproductive health (SRH) is influenced by structural and social determinants of health. Systemic gaps in SRH care can lead to adverse health outcomes, such as delayed access to care and decreased autonomy, which are compounded by navigational challenges. Through extensive research and collaboration with the regional SRH nurse, the major systemic gap identified within the KB area is a lack of centralized, accurate information to guide access to SRH services. To address this gap, we partnered with community services, including the KB Division of Family Practice, to update the Pathways BC website with comprehensive information regarding SRH services. This project aims to enhance individual autonomy and improve community SRH through an accessible, consolidated online resource. This presentation outlines the project’s background, rationale including literature review findings, current approach, and proposal for a long-term sustainability plan. By attending this session, community members, nursing students, and service providers will gain insight into the creation of a comprehensive, consolidated SRH service resource. Additionally, attendees will be able to support SRH self-efficacy and empowerment by connecting individuals with community-based care and health resources.

The project Nursing the Spectrum: A Toolkit aims to address a notable gap in nursing education surrounding Autism Spectrum Disorder. The Bachelor of Sciences in Nursing curriculum does not currently contain an educational component focused on neurodiversity, Interior Health does not offer any training or education on neurodiversity, and the Government of Canada has acknowledged a need for development within the healthcare system to properly support the Autistic community. Autistic individuals often require adaptations due to sensory processing and communication challenges which nurses must understand to provide safe care. This project has a specific focus on acute care pediatric clients with Autism Spectrum Disorder by creating an individualized care plan template that addresses sensory needs and adaptations, educational toolkit outlining neurodivergent-affirming care including a language guide, and a de-escalation algorithm. The product of this project will assist health professionals in decision making to mitigate negative events within the hospital setting with the overall goal to better the experiences of clients, families, and staff.

Eating disorders (EDs) are a range of complex mental health disorders that receive minimal attention within nursing programs. Patients with EDs require nursing care based on knowledge, compassion, and evidence. However, gaps currently exist in nursing curricula and in healthcare professionals’ training and education. Limited understanding of these disorders may contribute to misconceptions, stigma, and challenges in providing appropriate patient care that focuses on the physical, psychological, and social impacts of EDs. Through a review of primarily current, peer-reviewed literature, along with credible healthcare resources and clinical information from reliable organizations, several areas for improved education were identified.

This leadership project focused on improving ED education and clinical preparedness in nursing curricula through an educational guidebook and accompanying case study. The guidebook provides foundational information about EDs, including symptoms, physiological impacts, treatment approaches, and nursing considerations. The case study encourages students to apply this knowledge to a clinical scenario, explore appropriate nursing interventions, and consider the importance of relational practice.

Together, these resources aim to strengthen nursing students’ foundational knowledge, challenge harmful perspectives, reduce stereotypes, and promote evidence-based, patient-centred care.

How much do you understand about planetary health? When you hear the term, you may initially think about planets or space, or you may think it is all about climate change. However, it is much more than that. Planetary health examines how human-caused disruptions to the Earth’s natural systems can affect human health and life on Earth, but it is also solutions-based. 

For this leadership project, we completed a Planetary Health Report Card (PHRC) to assess how well Selkirk College is integrating planetary health into its nursing curriculum, interdisciplinary research, community outreach and advocacy, support for student-led initiatives, and campus sustainability. We invite you to join the discussion about planetary health. We will share what we learned through our research, what Selkirk is doing well, where improvements can be made, and our recommendations for the future. Taking action to promote planetary health is a natural extension of nursing practice, and we hope the PHRC can provide an impactful opportunity for nursing students to promote systemic change. 

Nursing instructors play an important role in supporting future nurses, but the demands of teaching can leave them feeling overwhelmed or unsure about how to navigate challenging situations. Supporting instructors is a key factor in their job satisfaction, well-being, and retention. Our leadership project focuses on developing a practical toolkit for nursing instructors at Selkirk College. The toolkit explores different teaching styles, student stress throughout the four years of nursing education, and strategies to navigate difficult student interactions from the student perspective. Through reflective questions, realistic scenarios, and accessible resources, the toolkit encourages instructors to reflect on their teaching practices while considering both their students' needs and their own well-being. Our goal is to provide instructors with a resource they can turn to for guidance, reflection, and support. By helping instructors feel more confident and supported in their roles, we hope to contribute to a healthier teaching environment and improve overall instructor retention and student experience.

Emergency department (EDs) nurses regularly navigate emotionally challenging patient encounters while balancing the demands of a busy and unpredictable environment. Research has shown that emotional responses are a normal part of emergency nursing and can influence communication, clinical decision-making, and patient care. Our fourth-year nursing leadership project explores the potential for a brief pre-encounter resource to support nurses in navigating these challenges. Our interest in this topic began during our community outreach experiences, where we became aware of barriers that can prevent people from feeling comfortable or safe accessing emergency care. This initially led us to explore trauma-informed care in the ED, before narrowing our focus to the emotional demands of emergency nursing and strategies that could offer additional support. Working alongside our field guide, an interim director with Emergency Care BC, we have explored literature on nurses' emotional experiences, the influence of emotions on patient care, and strategies such as cognitive reappraisal, emotional awareness, and brief cognitive approaches. Our project considers how these approaches could inform the development of a practical resource that supports nurses in navigating challenging encounters while recognizing the demands and complexities of emergency nursing practice. 

Dementia is a community health concern that impacts individuals’ psychosocial well-being, social engagement, and quality of life. Many associate dementia with memory loss, but changes in brain function can also affect language processing and comprehension, motor skills, visual perception, and emotional regulation.

Our workshops introduced Nav-CARE volunteers, Rural Pre-Medicine students, and first-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing students to selected physical and sensory limitations through experiential activities. By simulating limitations associated with dementia, this project aimed to enhance empathetic understanding of what clients might navigate and the struggles that can arise in their daily lives. The goal was to provide opportunities to develop strategies for supportive, empathetic care that respects each person’s autonomy and preferences. Participants were encouraged to understand behavioural changes as possible expressions of symptoms, distress, or unmet needs, rather than deliberate uncooperativeness. These activities encouraged reflection while acknowledging that simulation cannot reproduce the lived experience of dementia.

This leadership conference presentation outlines the initiative’s purpose, educational approach, and intended learning outcomes, highlighting how student nursing leadership can challenge stigma and prepare volunteers and students to provide respectful, empathetic support that recognizes individuals’ abilities, preferences, and dignity within everyday relationships and community interactions.

High school can be a challenging time as students navigate academic pressures, friendships, and changes in their personal lives. Creating opportunities for connection and support within schools is an important part of promoting adolescent mental health. Our fourth-year nursing leadership project at JL Crowe Secondary School focuses on improving student connection, belonging, and mental well-being through a lunchtime initiative called the Lunch Bunch. 

Working alongside school staff, we created a group where students could gather in the counselling office during lunch. Our goal was to create a welcoming, voluntary space where students could connect with peers, share experiences, and participate in health-related discussions. Rather than following a set curriculum, we encouraged students to identify topics meaningful to them, including anxiety, infectious illnesses, and graduation stress. This student-centred approach allowed us to adapt our discussions to their interests and learning needs. Our presentation will explore the development and implementation of the Lunch Bunch, the importance of student involvement in health promotion, and the nursing leadership skills we developed through collaboration, relationship-building, and evidence-informed practice.