These awards will honour nurses from any regulated nurse category who exemplify one or more of the following CNA values: courage, diversity, equity, inclusion and innovation. Three recipients will be selected to receive the inaugural 2025 CNA Values Award.
Nominees for this award will be expected to have:
- Made significant contributions to the health care of people in Canada and/or the global population
- Made significant contributions to the status and public recognition of the nursing profession
- Exemplified at least one of the following CNA values:
- Courage: The nominee is passionate about promoting nursing and is an active and unifying voice for the profession. They have demonstrated the use of honest, open, and critical dialogue to advance concrete and bold solutions to issues of importance to nurses, the nursing profession, and health outcomes.
- Diversity, equity and inclusion: The nominee has an established record of speaking out against racism, discrimination, and prejudice in and outside of the nursing profession. They are engaged with policies and reforms that address and transform embedded systems of inequity and oppression. They advocate for optimizing the contributions and integral role of contemporary nursing practice and leadership by providing equitable, inclusion, accessible, quality and culturally safe care and services to all individuals and populations in their role and practice area. They embrace the critical importance of anti-racism and work to combat racism among nurses.
- Innovation: The nominee has an established record of advancing innovation in policy, health systems, and/or health service delivery. They harness the strengths and leadership of nurses, including research produced by nurses, to address community, regional, national, and global problems through innovative system transformation.
General guidelines
In fairness to each nominee, we ask that every nominator follow these general guidelines:
- Completed nominations must include supporting documents.
- Each nominee will be assessed solely on the information in their nomination form. Please do not include phrases such as “see attached curriculum vitae (CV) or resumé” when specific information is requested.
- Each nominee must meet certain eligibility requirements.
- You can only nominate a person for one of the three CNA values.
- This award may be given posthumously.
Demographic information
You will be asked to provide your and the nominee’s name, employer information, position, full address, telephone number, email address and CNA membership details.
Eligibility requirements
The following mandatory eligibility requirements apply (not applicable for nominees who are deceased):
- The nominee is a nurse in good standing with their provincial/territorial nursing regulator (in active practice or, if retired, formerly in good standing). For nurses in active practice, a confirmation letter, e-mail or e-validation from the nursing regulator is required.
- The nominee has not previously received a CNA Values Award for another value or the Sapphire Award or CNA Order of Merit Award (within past five years).
- The nominee has paid the CNA membership fees and is a CNA member in good standing.
- The nominee has consented to the nomination.
- The nominee has been informed that their name will be made public if they receive an award.
- The nominee is a Canadian resident.
A. Summary of experience and major accomplishments
You will be asked to provide descriptions of the nominee’s work experience and other major accomplishments (volunteer activities, awards, etc.). This summary can be a maximum of 165 words.
B. Summary of specific accomplishments
You must provide three 300-word (maximum) summaries of the nominee’s specific accomplishments related to the specific CNA Values Award. When creating your summaries, please consider how the nominee demonstrates the chosen CNA value, as described above.
- The first summary (maximum 300 words) will show how the nominee made significant contributions to the health care of people in Canada and/or the global population by:
- Outstanding commitment to holistic care; use of best practices or evidence-based strategies in nursing care and/or health service delivery
- Creating or assisting in the design, planning, implementation and evaluation of transformative strategies or solutions that are underpinned by the CNA values
- Demonstrating expertise that results in impactful improvements in organizational culture and/or the health system
- The second summary (maximum 300 words) will show the nominee’s contributions to the status and public recognition of the nursing profession. These activities may be evidenced by:
- Outstanding contributions to national organizations such as CNA and organizations related to the nominee’s chosen CNA value
- Leadership and service within CNA or organizations related to the nominee’s chosen CNA value
- Demonstrated leadership in the advancement/promotion of nursing in the public or private sector
- Advancement of nursing theory/research as it relates to the chosen CNA value.
- The third summary (maximum 300 words) will be specific to how you exemplified one of the three CNA Values Awards:
- CNA Values Award – Courage
- CNA Values Award – Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
- CNA Values Award – Innovation
- Significant achievements in their domain of nursing practice (i.e., clinical, education, leadership, policy, research) as evidenced by any combination of the following:
- Advocacy work for nurses and nursing focused on governments, other health-care professionals, the public, and Indigenous health priorities
- A demonstrated clear understanding of issues by consulting widely with those who will be affected by policy decisions and fostering partnerships between relevant groups
- Advancement of workplace culture that promotes improved outcomes
- The sharing of expertise, knowledge and/or research with colleagues across the country through presentations, publications and/or participation on committees
C. Supporting documents
Please note that you must upload the following supporting documents with your nomination:
- Confirmation letter, e-mail or e-validation from provincial/territorial nursing regulator.
- Three separate letters from individuals from three different organizations in support of the nomination. One of these three letters can be submitted by the nominator.
- The nominee’s curriculum vitae (CV) or resumé.
- A biographical note no longer than 250 words with suitable language for sharing with a public audience (e.g., posting on the CNA website).
Privacy Policy: Personal information that is collected will be used only for processing nominations and related followup.
For additional information, contact us.