About Judith
Category Archives: Leadership
Engaging Our Future
Contributed by Guest Blogger: Bob Russell, VON National Chair On January 16th and 17, I had the pleasure of participating in HR2020 – VON’s Health Human Resources Summit. This summit gave us an opportunity to leave behind the confines of … Continue reading
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Life, Leadership and Helping Hands
I recently hosted a small dinner party at my home to discuss issues surrounding nursing leadership and the loss of positions amongst nurse executives and leaders. I had nine colleagues around the table, three of whom had recently experienced job … Continue reading
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Leading, Learning and Taking Nothing for Granted – My Trip to Qatar
Recently I had the opportunity to visit Qatar, a small but mighty Emirate (country ruled by a monarchy) in the Middle East. It has a very strong leadership as well as a strong drive to build and maintain a successful … Continue reading
Curtailing the Cost of Caring
On November 9, I posted a blog (Decisions, Decisions – Managing the Challenges of Senior Care) from one of my staff members who described her personal experience and challenges with family caregiving. From the perspective of VON (a not-for-profit, charitable … Continue reading
Make the Most of Holidays
As a career mother, career wife and career grandma, holidays are very important to me. That is because these are the times I turn the balance from largely focusing on work to spending significant time with my family. As an … Continue reading
Posted in Leadership, Women’s Issues
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Are you fully or partially there?
The first few decades of the 21st century will be labeled for many as, “Do more, faster, with less” or “Keep it up all the time”. When I reflect on this overwhelming feeling I get and hear from many I … Continue reading
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The CEO Breakfast
For the past 15 years, Ottawa has had a forum called the “CEO Breakfast” which allows the CEOs of large private and public organizations to get together a few times a year. One of the leading institutions in the city … Continue reading
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Having a Great Board
You often hear CEOs talk about their Boards of Directors. That’s because while boards only have one employee, the CEO, they carry enormous power. Now, not all boards work in the same way. Boards in the public sector are structured … Continue reading
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Is Florence Nightingale Still Relevant?
Recently my colleague Dr. Sioban Nelson, Dean and professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto, asked me to come to a book launch and comment on a book that she and Dr. Ann … Continue reading
Welcome to My Blog
It was early summer when I told my grandson what I was thinking about doing. He replied, “What? Write a blob?” I said, “No honey, a blog not a blob. Funny sounding word isn’t it?” He agreed, and then, as … Continue reading
Judith Shamian was the President and CEO of the Victorian Order of Nurses (
