The free exhibit will be on view Jan. 16 and 17 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. in the atrium of the Helen Glass Centre for Nursing, home of the College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences.

It will also be displayed at CancerCare Manitoba, second floor, on Jan. 19 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and Jan. 20 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Titled I’m Still Here: Healing through Art after Cancer, the exhibit shows how cancer patients processed their journey through the disease as part of a therapy group that combined mindfulness practices with expressive art. The group was created as part of a study in 2019.

The study was led by Dr. Kendra Rieger, adjunct professor of nursing at UM and associate professor of nursing at Trinity Western University in Langley, B.C., along with UM nursing faculty members Dr. Tom Hack and Dr. Christina West and Miriam Duff, a psychosocial oncology clinician at CancerCare Manitoba.

In addition to works by 32 participants, the exhibit features quotes from the artists and a 15-minute audio guide that can be played on a smartphone.

“The audio guide includes narration interspersed with participant quotes read by actors, so it becomes an immersive experience as people are seeing the art and hearing from the participants in their own words,” says Rieger.

There was a diverse age range among participants, Rieger says, with the majority being white females, 65 per cent of whom were diagnosed with breast cancer. Four participants identified as male.

“Our findings revealed how mindfulness enabled participants to let go of their ruminations and calm their minds so they could fully engage in expressive arts activities,” the professor says.

“Combining mindfulness practices and art-making within a group context became a powerful way of discovering and processing hidden thoughts and emotions.”

The initial project was funded by the Manitoba Medical Service Foundation and The Winnipeg Foundation. The Manitoba Centre for Nursing Health Research at UM is the main funder of the exhibit. Rieger is also supported by a research chair funded by a Health Research B.C. Scholar Award.  

“One of our main purposes was to find out from cancer patients, in their own words, the benefits they derived from participating in the mindfulness-based arts therapy program,” says Hack.

“They told us how they were able to use art to process and reprocess their cancer experience. By processing it, they were better able to move through and beyond the experience.

“It was very moving for the participants. They became tearful as they shared what their artwork meant to them and what the group experience meant to them. We found that quite profound.”

The exhibit has been shown at an international conference on psycho-oncology in Toronto and at Trinity Western University.

Additional research team members included Patrick Faucher, lead of strategic and creative services and knowledge translation at the George and Fay Yee Centre for Healthcare Innovation, Alysha Creighton, an artist at Trinity Western University, Dr. Mandy Archibald, assistant professor at the College of Nursing, and Amie Zaborniak, a PhD student in nursing.

The annual Pinning Ceremony is organized by the UM Nursing Students’ Association (NSA) and the College of Nursing, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences. This year, 106 new graduands received their nursing pin and recited the UM Bachelor of Nursing Pledge, which was inspired by the 1893 Florence Nightingale Pledge and has been adapted by the university.

The event, held at the Pinnacle Club at IG Field, was emceed by Dr. Netha Dyck, dean of the College of Nursing, and included greetings from the Province of Manitoba’s Hon. Jon Reyes, Minister of Advanced Education, Skills and Immigration and Hon. Audrey Gordon, Minister of Health.

“The job you’re about to embark on is not an easy job. It often requires long hours imposing great physical and emotional demands. Manitoba has recognized that those challenges increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. However…it is a rewarding and fulfilling career,” Gordon said.

Other speakers included Lanette Siragusa, vice-dean, education for Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Joyce Kristjansson, acting executive director of the Association of Regulated Nurses of Manitoba, and Class of 2022 valedictorians Zachary Rawluk and Gary Regis.

“I cannot imagine another cohort of students that has lived through what you have lived through,” Siragusa said. “Besides the pandemic, there has also been social unrest, historical trauma that has been unearthed, and now a war in Ukraine. You are graduating at a time of monumental history for all of us collectively.”

College of Nursing instructor Danielle Yaffe received her third consecutive teaching excellence award, which is awarded twice annually by the NSA.

Yaffe said, in a keynote address, that she was reluctant about online teaching when the pandemic hit and thanked the students for making the transition easier. “You changed my perspective, ultimately proving me wrong. You were the light in the darkness and reignited my passion for teaching by engaging and connecting.”

The 106 BN graduands and four master of nursing graduands received their degrees that afternoon at UM convocation at the Investors Group Athletic Centre.

Honorary degree

Jan Currie received an honorary Doctor of Laws degree at the convocation ceremony.

The University of Manitoba conferred an honorary Doctor of Laws degree on retired nursing leader Jan Currie at convocation. She called the new nursing graduates “pioneers” for the way they adapted the majority of their education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“New processes, new roles and a general disruption of your education will always be what you remember that led you to today,” she said.

Currie also reflected on how interprofessionalism and gender equality have evolved in health care over the 50 years since she received her UM bachelor of nursing degree. 

She said that when she graduated, the bachelor degree program was new and it wasn’t easy for grads to get jobs in hospitals, as those facilities often had their own diploma programs and would usually hire from within.

She thanked the two “visionary nurses” – Diane Letwin and UM alumna Doris Setter – who hired her for her first position at the rehabilitation hospital at what is now Health Sciences Centre.

“They took a chance on me and influenced my success from that day on. We never know how significant it can be to give someone a chance,” Currie said.

Currie went on to administrative roles as a head nurse and program manager, and later advanced to executive roles as CEO at Deer Lodge Centre and vice-president and chief nursing officer at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority. She has won many awards and remains committed to providing service to the community. She currently serves as a member of the College of Nursing Advisory Council.

The ceremony also included two Distinguished Professor Awards for College of Nursing faculty members Dr. Tom Hack and Dr. Roberta Woodgate.

The prestigious title is conferred on academic staff members who have demonstrated outstanding distinction in research, scholarship, creative endeavours, professional service and teaching. Up to three people may receive this honor each year.

Hack has been with the College of Nursing for over 20 years. He is also currently the director of psychosocial oncology and cancer nursing research with St-Boniface Hospital Research Centre.

His research is focused on coping with cancer and communication between cancer patients and health providers. This includes a series of studies showing the benefits of providing cancer patients with audio recordings of oncology consultations.

He has received numerous awards for his research, including a Research Chair in Psychosocial and Supportive Care Oncology Research from the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation (2013-2016).

“I am deeply grateful to the University of Manitoba for acknowledging me with this distinction. I’ve dedicated my research effort to serving the needs of cancer patients and their families. It feels good to know that my academic peers consider my work to be meaningful, valuable,” Hack said.

“I’ve always wanted to be a teacher, as early as my high school days. Providing guidance and knowledge to students is a privilege that comes with great responsibility – a responsibility I relish.”

Hack earned a bachelor of science from the University of Calgary and a master’s and PhD from UM.

In 2019, he was inducted as a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences and received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Canadian Association of Psychosocial Oncology.

He was also the first Canadian to receive a prestigious pre-doctoral clinical psychology internship at Harvard Medical School, and currently serves as president of the International Psycho-Oncology Society.

Dr. Netha Dyck, dean of the College of Nursing, called Hack a gifted mentor and teacher of future health researchers.

“I am delighted to congratulate Dr. Hack on this tremendous honour. Dr. Hack is a widely respected and highly regarded clinician scientist, educator, and mentor, known both nationally and internationally. His research has had a tremendous impact in advancing cancer treatment options and shaping current standards of practice in psychosocial oncology in Canada and beyond,” Dyck said.

The study, led by College of Nursing professor Dr. Tom Hack, is a nine-year follow-up to his previous analysis into the performance of nursing researchers in Canadian peer-reviewed journals. Hack was joined in this effort by James Plohman, research coordinator at Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research, College of Nursing student Ashley Bell and Dr. Bev Temple, associate dean of the  School of Health Sciences, Red Deer College.

“For the initial study, my mentor, Dr. Lesley Degner approached me with the idea. We thought this would be a good way to encourage academic excellence and recognize scholarly leadership,” Hack said. He noted that he and Degner, who is now retired, were both on the 2010 list.

“During the last decade, the number, variety, scope and depth of indices used for this purpose have grown, so we thought it was time to look at this again,” he said.

Dr. Roberta Woodgate

The study reviewed specific articles and the total career citations of each author in five different categories. Authors needed to have the rank of professor, associate professor or assistant professor. Forty-nine academic institutions were analyzed and, in total, 44 researchers from 17 academic institutions earned a spot on the five “top 25” lists.

“The names that appear represent 3.8 per cent of sample of all the nurse academics in Canada, and we are proud that we have four researchers among that group,” Hack said.

Hack, who is the director of the Psychosocial Oncology and Cancer Nursing Research group of the College of Nursing, was named on the lists, along with Dr. Roberta Woodgate, professor and Canada Research Chair in Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare, Dr. Susan McClement, associate dean of research, and recently retired professor Dr. Maureen Heaman.

Dr. Susan McClement

Retired faculty are not in the scope of the project, but Heaman was still active with the U of M at the time the study was completed in August 2018.

Hack, McClement and Heaman were among the top 25 most cited Canadian nursing researchers, based on citations to all their published journal articles. Hack and Woodgate were among the top 25 for citations to work that they each first-authored.

Hack had three articles in the 25 most highly cited first-authored studies. His highest was The communication goals and needs of cancer patients: A review, with 237 citations. The study ranked 20^th overall. The most cited article was by Dr. Dawn Stacey of the University of Ottawa and had 727 citations.

Hack, Heaman, McClement and Woodgate were all named on the list of the top 25 researchers according to the h-index for all published journal articles. Woodgate, Hack and Heaman were also on the h-index list for those who first-authored articles. The h-index measures the overall impact of a researcher based on his or her total publications and how many times they’ve been cited.

Dr. Maureen Heaman

“It gives you the sense of whether the entirety of an individual’s work has been well-cited.” Hack said.

In terms of overall citations, the U of M ranked third behind the University of Toronto and University of Alberta, which Hack said is significant because those universities have much larger nursing faculties than the U of M.

Dr. Netha Dyck, dean of the College of Nursing, said she is proud to see how strongly the college performed in the study.

“This speaks to the high calibre of these stellar researchers and their exceptional knowledge translation through publication,” she said.

You’ve been diagnosed with cancer. Now it’s time to talk to your doctor about what happens next.

When you first learn you’re facing cancer, there’s a lot of information to take in and big decisions to be made. But when someone asks you later what your doctor said about your diagnosis, you suddenly find you can’t remember a thing.

Dr. Tom Hack says that’s pretty normal.

“When cancer patients have their initial treatment consultations with their oncologists, they’re understandably anxious,” says Hack, a professor and researcher at the College of Nursing and former chair in Psychosocial and Supportive Oncology Research at the Canadian Breast Cancer Research Foundation.

“That anxiety makes it very difficult for patients to process and understand complex information as their doctor tells it to them, and to remember that information after the consultation.”

While it’s perfectly natural to be overwhelmed by medical discussions around a serious illness, forgetting or misunderstanding the details of your condition and your treatment plan can cause even more distress.

Hack believes that if patients were offered audio recordings of their initial consultations, it would be like “bringing the doctor home to the kitchen table.”

That way, you would have the opportunity to go over the information again as many times as you like—even share the session with family or friends so they could hear the details straight from the doctor’s mouth.

“It’s crucial that patients understand the information their oncologists give them,” says Hack. It’s important for two reasons, he explains. It’s not just because we need to know about what’s happening to our bodies and what to expect in the days ahead. It’s also because it’s impossible to be engaged in your own care if you don’t have a handle on all of the facts. Hack says that’s something patients want. They often report that they’d like to play a bigger role in managing their own treatment, but they don’t feel as if they can.

“You’ll see them just defer entirely to their oncology team of medical professionals,” he says. With no formal education about cancer or treatments—combined with the anxiety-related lapses in memory—patients just don’t believe they can take a more active role.

Hack says it could make a big difference if they did.

His study focuses on patients with brain or neuroendocrine tumours, addressing a gap in current research on these two populations that often have poor prognoses as well as cancer-related cognitive impairment.

Hack and his research team are working to demonstrate that recording conversations between doctors and patients can reduce overall patient anxiety, increase patient recall of cancer treatment information, improve patients’ involvement in treatment decision-making, and enhance communication between patients and their families.

“My ultimate hope is that one day, cancer patients worldwide will be offered recordings of initial and other pivotal consultations regarding their cancer care,” says Hack. “The benefits of these recordings are undeniable.”

Tom Hack, B.Comm., B.Sc., MA, PhD
Professor, College of Nursing

Featured Research: Impacts of treatment consultation recording on oncology patient outcomes: a
prospective parallel randomized control trial

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