NELSON HIGH SCHOOL CLASS OF 1954

Sally (BUTLING) MacLean

I didn’t like high school very much so it was not hard for me to leave school and also to leave Nelson. My biography is full of twists and turns but through it all, my ties to Nelson and the Kootenay's have endured and now I spend my summers in the same place where I spent my early years in Canada, on the East Shore of Kootenay Lake.

My career as a registered nurse began in Vancouver in the tradition of many small town daughters who wanted to leave home and see the world. And that’s what I did – I left home, I saw the world, and I’m not done yet. Along the way I went back to school three times, married, raised two sons and now I have a grandson. I worked as a clinician, teacher, manager, researcher and volunteer. I spent a year backpacking in Europe and that experience had more of an impact on my future than any amount of formal schooling. For one thing, it motivated me to become a volunteer with the Canadian Nurses Association, providing technical assistance and support to nursing organizations in such countries as Nicaragua, Uganda, and Ethiopia.

I lived in Calgary and learned to ski in Banff. I spent a year in Ottawa where I lived out a childhood dream of skating to work on the Rideau Canal. I still return to Ottawa for my annual skate. I also worked in Montreal where I tried to become proficient in French. This was the least successful of my projects. I also lived and worked as a public health nurse in Abbotsford, Courtenay and Nelson.

In 2000 I started a new career as an international health services consultant and over the past three years I have worked on projects in Kosovo, Pakistan and now Rwanda. What’s next? I am not a very good planner so I’ll just keep on doing what I’m doing and keep an eye out for new opportunities and experiences.

From Canadian Association for International Nursing:

 

 

 Sally MacLean, RN, MScN

            Sally MacLean has been involved in international nursing programs and projects for the past 16 years in several different capacities, including manager and volunteer consultant for the Canadian Nurses Association (CNA) and as an independent nursing and health policy consultant on Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) funded projects in partnership with McMaster University, the Canadian Public Health Association and with the Canadian Society for International Health and Queen’s University.  This experience has taken her to Pakistan, Uganda, Ethiopia, Nicaragua, Rwanda, Bosnia, Serbia and Kosovo. The main focus of her work has been on developing nursing and health policies that aim to strengthen nursing and midwifery services through education reforms, professional regulation, chief nursing officer positions, and professional associations. In addition, she is involved with volunteer organizations in Canada to promote engagement in global health issues that are of concern to nurses. She has served on both the CNA International Nursing Advisory Committee and the University of BC International Advisory Committee and is currently a member of the CNA Global Nursing Leadership Reference Group.  She also served as president of the BC Global Health Nurses Interest Group and is currently a member of the CAIN Board of Directors.

Sally is committed to a vision of global health practice that includes a pivotal role for nursing in addressing global health issues, and to the development of competencies and a system of credentialing Canadian nurses for global health practice.