2010 Sasha Bella Fund awards: CCCU nurse Elena Nikolsky and social worker Ruta Niedra

In April, two recipients were selected by peers and myself for Sasha Bella Fund awards for exemplary family-centered practice in the Labatt Family Heart Centre. On May 11 at the yearly Nursing Excellence Awards, CCCU nurse Elena Nikolsky received the Sasha Bella Award for Excellence in Family Centered Care for extending her clinical nursing practice to a Registered Nurses Association of Ontario research fellowship focused on parent supports in the ICU, specifically nurse sensitivity to the diversity of family coping styles. On June 10, as part of the Dr. Beverley Antle Legacy of Hope Award Ceremony, social worker Ruta Niedra was chosen to receive the first Sasha Bella Fund award given to an allied professional for Excellence in Family Centered Interprofessional Care. Ruta has served families and supported and mentored staff at SickKids for almost 25 years in a very special way, as attested to by an unprecedented nine letters of supports (see extracts). Currently on Cardiac Transplant, Ruta was instrumental in setting up the Labatt Family Heart Centre weekly parent coffee hour and a first LFHC Family Education Day held in 2009.