Excellence in Teaching

Adele Vukic

Adele Vukic, an Assistant Professor, brings over 22 years of teaching experience and enthusiasm to the Dalhousie School of Nursing. After graduating with a Diploma in Nursing in 1975 she practiced in adult intensive care and neonatal intensive care units. Although not a teacher then, she believed in mentoring and preceptoring early in her nursing career. Beginning in 1979 she worked in Outpost Nursing for 3 years where she continued to foster the development of student nurses who came to the community, and oriented nurses who were new to the field. Realizing the need for formal education to teach nursing education Adele received her Bachelor of Nursing at Dalhousie University in 1984.

She then went to Northern Manitoba and taught in the Red River Community College Access Program for First Nations in Thompson, teaching courses in adult medicine and community health In 1988 she joined the faculty at Dalhousie University School of Nursing in the Outpost and Community Health Nursing Program teaching courses in family, community health, and mental health and later developed cross cultural nursing content for Outpost nursing students entering the program with their BScN degree. Adele earned her masters degree from Dalhousie University in 1997. Adele teaches in the undergraduate, nurse practitioner and graduate programs. She became known for her expertise in diversity and developed the first required course for culture and health care in the undergraduate nursing program. Her work with First Nations and the Indigenous Black communities of Nova Scotia has provided leadership within the nursing faculty to promote a broader representation of these communities in nursing education at Dalhousie. Further, Adele has been to Africa with the Nova Scotia Gambia Association (NSGA) to explore international learning opportunities for nursing students. Since 2002 Dalhousie nursing students have benefited from this initiative by being involved with community development programs in The Gambia and Sierra Leone. This collaboration continues to grow as more and more students seek international health experiences.  Adele believes content is critical in teaching but student learning is vital. Teaching is not simply the “banking” model of content to students and their recall of this content. She emphasizes individual student learning and attempts to get to know students regardless of large class sizes in some of her courses. She teaches based on the premise that students learn the most by hearing, reading, dialogue, but most importantly by doing. Based on her eclectic experience and being a mature student herself, Adele respects adult learners as well as the diversity students bring to the classroom. She bears this in mind as she prepares teaching plans that are inclusive of the various learning styles and develops evaluation methods that are also reflective of diversity. Her ultimate goal is to have nursing graduates who can influence and promote equity in health and health care along with providing quality care. Eighteen years at Dalhousie has provided her with a rich experience which helps maintain her commitment to nursing education. She has been an active member on most of the committees at the School and has been instrumental in influencing change that would benefit students. Her student centered approach to teaching is constant in any of her ideas or decisions she shares with committee that involve the curriculum or programs. Her love of nursing has never waned as she experienced many turning points in nursing and nursing education over the last three decades and she passes this on to her students. She has gone north to nurse over the summers as this has kept her close to the context of nursing and informs her teaching. More recently she is involved in research which also enables her to enhance nursing scholarship and education. Her enthusiasm and passion for teaching is recognized by student evaluations with repeated descriptions of “awesome”, “enthusiastic”, “kind” “knowledgeable”, and “excellent in facilitating class discussion”. Adele looks forward to continuing her work at Dalhousie University. She enjoys the rewards and challenges of nursing students and finds strength in their interest in learning to be effective health care professionals. She practices what she teaches about life long learning and plans to pursue her doctorate in nursing. As a wife and mother of four daughters she has managed to balance the art and science of teaching and be thoughtful of non traditional students in a University environment.