RhPAP Board Member Profile
Name: Sherri Di Lallo RN, BScN, MN
Location: Millet, Alberta
Role: Provincial Councillor with the College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA)
Appointed to RhPAP Board: 2018
About Sheri Di Lallo
Sheri Di Lallo was appointed to the RhPAP Board of Directors in 2018 as a representative of CARNA, the professional and regulatory body for Alberta’s more than 37,000 RNs, including nurses in direct care, education, research and administration as well as nurse practitioners.
The focus of Sherri Di Lallo’s nursing career has been the promotion of Indigenous health and building working partnerships with rural and remote communities and the health care system. Her work has included articles such as Prenatal Care Through the Eyes of Canadian Aboriginal Women; developing and coordinating a prenatal clinic in Wetaskiwin, AB to improve prenatal health for Indigenous women; developing PRIADE (Professional Relationships in Aboriginal Diabetes Education) to support remote and rural health care providers to support their patients with diabetes; co-authoring Diabetes, Information to Share with Your Family; and developing a Metis Nurse Access Program to train individuals to serve rural and remote communities. Her experience has built a foundation of knowledge of rural and remote services, Indigenous populations and their health issues, both from a service and an access perspective, which gives her a unique view on the importance of cultural safety in health care.
Currently the Indigenous Child Health Nurse Coordinator for the Stollery Children’s Hospital, her role is to be effective in supporting physicians, staff, patients and their families between home, hospital and community. Sherri is also involved in the Injury Prevention Center from a rural perspective with the University of Alberta.
Why it is important for your organization to be a member of the RhPAP Board?
The College and Association of Registered Nurses of Alberta (CARNA) strongly supports team-based care and that requires the perspective of different health professions. It is essential to have a full collaborative partnership among the multi-disciplinary team to enhance the education, attraction, recruitment and retention of health professionals in rural communities. For that reason, CARNA welcomes the opportunity to have a representative on the RhPAP Board.
What does it mean to you personally to be a part of the RhPAP Board?
The focus of my nursing career has been the promotion of Indigenous health and building working partnerships with rural and remote communities and the health care system. Being a member of the RhPAP Board allows me to capitalize on my experience with rural and remote services, Indigenous populations and their health issues as well as my knowledge of the challenges faced by health professionals in rural communities. I look forward to working my colleagues on the Board to help address these issues.
What are the important issues you hope to address as a member of the RhPAP Board?
First, it is important to help communities consider their overall approach to healthcare and steps which could support care in their community using a multi-disciplinary team. Specific populations in a community such as Indigenous people, seniors or others may have specific health needs and we need to support service delivery models that can address those needs. We also need to find ways to provide positive clinical and educational experiences in rural settings for members of professions comprising the health team because we know that those experiences are important recruitment tools. The new PCN governance structure should also offer new opportunities to work collaboratively with PCNs to recruit health professionals in rural communities. Finally, we need to be future-focused, identifying technologies which can help address community health needs and impact health professional recruitment decisions.
Why is maintaining an accessible health workforce close to home important for Alberta
Albertans in rural communities should have access to primary health care and routine acute care services close to home. An accessible health workforce can leverage the knowledge and skills of the whole healthcare team to provide care. It can also help integrate the services rural Albertans receive if more of their care is provided within their own community. In order to have that health workforce available, we need to develop effective and recruitment strategies.