In 1997, the Executive and Board of Directors of the Ontario PeriAnesthesia Nurses Association (OPANA) listened to their members who desperately wanted to have the advantage of Certification like so many of their nursing colleagues in other specialty areas of nursing.
In order to be eligible to have a Certification Examination with the Canadian Nursing Association (CNA) and to become recognized as a specialty area in nursing, the specialty must first become nationalized, and then publish a set of Standards of Practice relevant to the area of their specialty. The first step, OPANA knew, was to survey the interests of Canadian PeriAnesthesia Registered Nurses across the country and ascertain their desire to form a national association as this was the first in the list of events towards eligibility for Certification in the specialty of PeriAnesthesia Nursing.
At a combined PeriAnesthesia/Perioperative Conference in Winnipeg, Manitoba in 1998, the OPANA Executive chaired a meeting to discuss nationalization of all of the provinces' PeriAnesthesia nurses. At the end of this meeting, they presented their positive findings to a room overflowing with perianesthesia nurses, and then established a Steering Committee by nomination and by volunteers coming forward to work towards establishing this new emerging association.
In light of the perseverance and tenacity in the work required to establish this association, the current Executive and Board of Directors of the current NAPANc would like to thank the founding members for their insight, passion and fortitude in establishing the National Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses of Canada, finally incorporated in 2002.
The originating Founding Members were:
Laura Van Loon SK Joyce Maksymez MB Victoria Millis AB
Diane Buckley ON Jackie Pineda-Silva AB Faye Smith AB
Denise Brind AB Gloria Dow MB Debbie Leek SK
Carol MacEachern NS Kevin White NWT Ruth Wadman AB
Marie McMurphy AB Shelley Jeske AB Carey Redekopp-Kroeger SK
Shirley Emms ON Nova Gardner AB Linda Fontaine AB
Lorna McDonough ON Linda Fritz AB Edna Koloff AB
Ruth Sutton AB Mary Reinhart AB Terri Kitowski ON
Margaret Higgins AB Lynn Murkowski AB Joan Toms MB
Medical Advisor Dr. Norman Buckley, Anesthesiologist, ON
The following became the Steering Committee members responsible for incorporating the Association, and then became the first Executive of the National Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses of Canada once the association was incorporated in 2002:
- Laura Van Loon, Saskatoon, SK, Chair of the Steering Committee and First President
- Diane Buckley, Hamilton, ON, OPANA lead and Steering Committee Vice-Chair
- Linda Fritz, Calgary, AB, Steering Committee Secretary
- Jackie Pineda-Silva, Calgary, AB, Steering Committee Treasurer
The National Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses of Canada formed as a corporation officially in 2002 with the inclusion of 4 provinces and one territory at its inception.
Laura Van Loon became the association's first President, commencing her term officially as President in 2002, and handing the gavel on to Diane Buckley from Ontario in 2003.
Past Presidents include:
Laura Van Loon, Chair of Steering Committee, Saskatoon, SK, 2001
Laura Van Loon Saskatoon, SK 2002-2003
Diane Buckley Hamilton, ON 2003-2005
Joan Toms Winnipeg, MB 2005-2007
Laura Van Loon Saskatoon , SK 2007-2009
Paula Ferguson Toronto, ON 2009-2014
Laura McNulty New Brandon, NB 2015-2020
Leigh-Anne Marshall Middle Sackville, NS 2020-2024
Other members of the NAPANc Executive and Board of Directors have worked very hard in establishing the association and ensuring it's recognition and growth, and must all be credited with the vision and creativity that is now the National Association of PeriAnesthesia Nurses of Canada.
To get involved, please review the section, "Getting Involved" in the menu under "About NAPANc" and continue to peruse this website for further information.