York University Associate Professor Elsabeth Jensen has been elected president of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Association of Canada.
Jensen, a faculty member in the Faculty of Health's School of Nursing, will lead the association for a two-year term until the end of 2023.
Clinical nurse specialists (CNSs) are registered nurses with a graduate degree in nursing who are educated and trained in a specialty area of practice. Examples of areas of practice include mental health, pain management, palliative care, critical care, as well as other areas of practice. CNSs improve outcomes by integrating knowledge, research, education, collaboration, and expertise.
Jensen is a CNS in mental health. She earned a clinical master of science in nursing, specializing in mental health from Wayne State University. She has over 35 years of clinical experience in mental health.
“I am privileged and humbled to be chosen to lead this amazing group of nurses," says Jensen. "They work every day to improve care outcomes and promote best practices in clinical settings for the benefit of patients. It is my hope to bring CNSs out of the shadows and into the light so people can see the enormous added value specialists in nursing practice bring to our health care system.”
Actively involved with nursing organizations for 44 years, Jensen has held many positions on the local, provincial and national scales. In addition to being a researcher, she has promoted the development of nursing research chairs and has become a leader in mental health. She was also a founding member of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Association of Canada and its first Ontario board representative.