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2025 Scholarship and Award Recipients

Rhianna Nelson
Rhianna’s career goal is to work in addictions or acute psychiatry. Her particular interest area involves acute psychiatric crisis work, supporting individuals recovering from addiction. In time, it is Rhianna’s goal to pursue her Master’s Degree in Psychiatric Nursing at Brandon University.

Alexandria Baluta
Future plans include advocacy to formally include RPNs in perinatal anxiety treatment as well as public health perinatal mental health care. In addition, Alexandria is interested in research focused on epigenetics, trauma as well as preventative tools for postpartum mood disorders.

Kira Koehler
Kira brings lived experience to her role as a psychiatric nurse which informs her practice, and affords her a level of unique understanding and empathy. Her plan is to work in an acute psychiatric unit with children and adolescents while also seeking casual employment in more medically-oriented settings to maintain her acute medical skills.

Matthew Parrenas
The implications of his presentation included the critical appraisal of regulatory policies that currently impact practitioners of registered psychiatric nursing, highlighting the historicopolitical influence amongst current regulatory practices that promote against the regulation of registered psychiatric nursing on the dated basis of protecting ‘public interest’ in jurisdictions where registered psychiatric nurses are not regulated, creating and promoting discourse regarding provincial legislative amendments to support the regulation, integration, and full scope of RPNs in all Canadian healthcare systems and finally illuminating the refusal to regulate RPNs to ‘protect public interest’ as misaligned with evidence-based calls to address pressing public health concerns and health care system issues.

Kirston Blom
Kirston is committed to highlighting the systemic gaps that Indigenous people face in healthcare and justice settings, noting that Indigenous offenders with complex mental health needs and cognitive disabilities encounter significant barriers, such as a lack of specialized care and culturally competent professionals. Her research aims to address these deficiencies by advocating for a more holistic approach while integrating traditional healing with modern psychiatric care. Kirston plans to reflect on any gaps in her research, proactively resolve those gaps, and gain a deeper awareness of Indigenous culture and perspective, utilizing any resources made available during this conference.
Kirston aims to contribute to a more just and compassionate healthcare system for the First Nations population in Saskatchewan.

Lendre Pilon – Excellence in Psychiatric Nursing Practice - Clinical
Lendre is highly respected on the multidisciplinary team, and has gained the trust and regard of the team’s psychiatrist, the Director of Health Services, Senior Management, frontline Correctional staff and Health Service colleagues alike. She is a leader on multiple levels, including covering for her supervisor, mentoring newly graduating psychiatric nurses and students and modeling a confident, well-informed approach among her colleagues. Lendre values teamwork and participates in planning with other community partners such as Forensic Psychological Services and Community Mental Health Programs. She is an autonomous thinker, and is also adept at discerning when to apprise leadership of relevant issues, while ensuring appropriate documentation.

Kayla Lemieux – Excellence in Psychiatric Nursing Practice - Clinical
Kayla is respected among colleagues and the broader community alike for her clinical judgement and use of leading practice interventions in her work with individuals who present with high risk features. She remains committed to ongoing professional development, completing her Masters in Counselling Psychology degree subsequent to her psychiatric nursing degree.

Dr. Candice Waddell-Henowitch – Excellence in Psychiatric Nursing Practice - Research
Congratulations to Dr. Candice Waddell-Henowitch recipient of the 2025 RPNF Award of Excellence – Research. Dr. Waddell-Henowitch, RPN, BScPN, MPN, PhD, an Associate Professor at Brandon University has made significant contributions to the field of psychiatric nursing by addressing various gaps in the literature through her extensive research. For example, she has advanced evidence-based psychiatric nursing practice through research in critical areas, including the health and mental well-being of rural Canadians, Indigenous men’s health, community wellness, and sexualized violence. Additionally, she has explored anti-racism strategies in psychiatric nursing education. Dr. Waddell-Henowitch’s research is guided by trauma-informed and culturally sensitive methodologies. She also plays a pivotal role in mentoring and guiding undergraduate and graduate psychiatric nursing students, particularly those in the Master of Psychiatric Nursing program, as they undertake their research and complete their theses.
She contributes to innovative educational practices through her ongoing professional development, training, and research. Fostering inclusivity is important to her as she creates welcoming environments that support diverse learning needs. She disseminates her research findings in a variety of ways, including peer-reviewed articles and presentations. Dr. Waddell-Henowitch has an impressive academic portfolio, with 30 published manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and over 40 peer-reviewed presentations. She has actively contributed to the academic community by serving as a peer reviewer for numerous grants, manuscripts, textbooks, and conference abstracts. Additionally, Dr. Waddell-Henowitch is the President of the YWCA Westman and is on the Board of Directors for the YWCA of Canada. She has an extensive history of service to the Faculty of Health Studies and Brandon University, and has played key roles on several committees, including the Brandon University Senate Research Committee and the Brandon University Research Ethics Committee.

Megan June Roziere – RPNF Bursary (2024)

Jelaine van der Meulen – RPNF 2025 Gold Medal of Excellence (Winnipeg Campus)

Courtney Nicholson – RPNF 2025 Gold Medal of Excellence (Brandon Campus)

Award Recipients
National Scholarships
- RPNF Undergraduate Scholarship (3rd Year) – Rhianna Nelson
- RPNF Undergraduate Scholarship (4th Year) – Kira Koehler
- RPNF Graduate Scholarship – Alexandria Baluta
National Grants
- RPNF Indigenous Studies Grant – Kirston Blom
- RPNF Marlene Fitzsimmons Grant – Matthew Parrenas
Manitoba Awards of Excellence
- Clinical – Lendre Pilon
- Clinical – Kayla Lemieux
- Research – Dr. Candice Waddell-Henowitch
RPNF Brandon University BScPN Gold Medal of Excellence
- Winnipeg Campus – Jelaine van der Meulen
- Brandon Campus – Courtney Nicholson
RPNF Bursary
- Megan June Roziere
Notice of AGM

Support tomorrow’s psychiatric nurse today!
The RPNF created scholarships and grants to assist Registered Psychiatric Nurses and psychiatric nursing students to further their professional education.
Our Scholarship and Grant Program is funded through your donations. The RPNF attracts and grows your donations in an investment fund.

Scholarships and Grants for Registered Psychiatric Nurses
The Scholarships and Grants Committee of the RPNF processes, selects, and awards the scholarships and grants funded by the RPNF.
The scholarships and grants are awarded to Registered Psychiatric Nurses in Canada or students preparing to become Registered Psychiatric Nurses in an approved psychiatric nursing education program.

RPNF Awards of Excellence
The Awards of Excellence in Psychiatric Nursing Practice are presented to Registered Psychiatric Nurses in Manitoba to acknowledge contributions of RPNs to the profession.
The Awards of Excellence provide public recognition of the professionalism and practice excellence that enhances the profession of Psychiatric Nursing.

Politics, Personalities, and Persistence
One Hundred Years of Psychiatric Nursing Education in Manitoba by Beverley Clare Williams Hicks
Politics, Personalities and Persistence, written by RPNF Director Dr. Beverley Hicks tells the story of the evolution of registered psychiatric nursing in the province of Manitoba. This comprehensive account traces the distinct profession’s transition from the asylums of Manitoba, where for seventy years psychiatric nurses had cared for the mentally ill when few others were interested in them, to the halls of academia in Brandon University in 1986, the first university in Canada to grant a baccalaureate degree to psychiatric nurses. Contact us at info@rpnf.ca for more information and to order. A portion of proceeds from the book will be donated to the RPNF Inc.