The Team
Elaine Santa Mina
Project Co-Principal Investigator
Elaine Santa Mina RN PhD is Associate Professor in the Post Diploma Degree Program, Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University. Dr. Santa Mina has expertise in teaching Internationally Educated Nurses, who seek Baccalaureate education to practice as RNs in Canada. Her research programs include IEN education; the development and implementation of evidence based practice guidelines in practice and education; and mental health, specifically assessment and intervention for adults at risk for self-harm and suicidal behaviours. Dr. Santa Mina is Co-Principal Investigator and on the Immigration, Refugee, Citizenship Canada grant collaboration: IEHP Success: Enhancing the System through Research and Collaborative Partnerships. Elaine led the development of the IEHP Connect website with an incredible team of colleagues.
Patricia Bradley
Project Co-Principal Investigator
Dr. Patricia Bradley has extensive teaching experience in Canada and the United States. Pat is currently an Associate Professor and Coordinator of the Internationally Educated Nurses BScN Program at York University. She has co-developed and teaches the Canadian Association Schools of Nursing Academic Nurse Educator Modules.
Sherry Espin
Project Co-Investigator
Sherry Espin is an Associate Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University. She teaches in the masters and post diploma programmes. Sherry’s research is positioned within two broad and overlapping domains: patient safety and interprofessional education and collaboration. In patient safety, specifically she has sought to theorize how healthcare professionals and patients interact with one another in the context of perceived errors of care, reporting of errors and disclosure of errors.Sherry has also explored processes and outcomes related to interprofessional education and collaboration. For example she has worked on a research program examining interprofessional communication on healthcare teams. This research has informed the development of patient safety initiatives like the surgical safety checklist.
Donald Rose
Project Co-Investigator
Donald Rose RN PhD is an Associate Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University. He has held several leadership positions in clinical practice, administration and education. His research foci include: caring science, IENs, nursing ethics, and forensic/mental health nursing. Dr. Rose is Co-Investigator and on the Immigration, Refugee and Citizenship Canada grant collaboration: IEHP Success: Enhancing the System through Research and Collaborative Partnerships. Don supported the development of the IEHP Connect website with his experience working with IENs and mental health nursing.
Gina Marasco
Project Subject Matter Expert
Gina Marasco has been a nurse for over 35 years, practising in a variety of focus areas including Clinical, Managerial, Academic and Research. At York University and later at Toronto Metropolitan University, Gina established many partnerships within the community to facilitate student placements and simulation experiential learning. Gina served as Part-time Faculty at York University in the capacity of Course Director and Clinical Course Director within the IEN and Collaborative Undergraduate Programs. At Toronto Met, she was a Faculty Advisor within the Post Diploma Degree Undergraduate Program. These experiences afforded her many opportunities to work with and support the success of IEN students. She is a member of the project team for the IEHP Connect website. Gina is currently the President of the Lambda Pi at-Large Chapter of Sigma Theta Tau International. She has also consulted on many varied projects with CASN, COUPN, RNAO, RNFOO and HSPnet.
Kathleen White-Williams
Project Subject Matter Expert
Kathleen is a Registered Nurse and holds a BScN (hons), MN, and PhD in nursing. Kathleen is an Instructor with The Chang School, CE Nursing, Toronto Metropolitan University. Kathleen’s teaching and contributions to course development include Research, Leadership and Current Issues and Trends in nursing. Most students in these courses are Internationally Educated Nurses.
Renila Castillo
Project Subject Matter Expert
Rheney Castillo, RN, BScN, MHSc, has expertise in leadership in both the hospital and academic sectors, as clinical manager, senior program director and senior director of special projects. Her clinical focus is in the areas of paediatrics and women’s and infants’ health. At Toronto Met U, Rheney was in the administrative role at The Chang Schools’ Post Diploma Nursing Degree Program (PDDP), and the Midwifery Education Program, through which she has fostered many collaborative partnerships for a variety of educational and programmatic development initiatives.This included support for the implementation of competency-based courses for Internationally Educated Nurses (IENs). Currently serving as continuing education contract lecturer, Rheney supports PDDP students through their clinical practice courses. She is a member of the IEHP research team and has contributed to the content for the IEHP Connect website, and to the literature review on interprofessional education (IPE) for IEHPs.
Rupi Khaira
Project Subject Matter Expert
Dr. Khaira is a Professor in the School of Nursing and School of Health Sciences at Seneca College. She also teaches in the Post Diploma Degree Program at Toronto Met U. Dr. Khaira has experience teaching Internationally Educated Nurses (IEN) working towards the Baccalaureate degree at Toronto Met U. She has worked as a Community and Hospital Case Manager with the Community Care Access Centers (CCACs). As a Case Manager, she has worked hands-on in identifying client needs for complex care elderly clients, co-ordinate services in collaboration with hospital (interprofessional teams) and community partners, and client and family members, in order to ensure a seamless transition from the hospital to home setting. Furthermore, she has worked for the Mississauga Halton CCAC to develop organizational client services policies and procedures (2011-2012), which represents all areas that impact client care in the community setting. Her doctoral research examined nursing student engagement in Ontario Universities. Her research interests include student engagement, success and retention and program evaluation. Dr. Khaira is a Research Coordinator for the IEN Integration Project – Work Readiness Charter. She was one of the team members that developed the IEHP Connect website.
