Josephine Muxlow
BN (1990)
Pioneer of Clinical Nurse Specialist role
Josephine Muxlow, MSc, RN is a Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS), Adult Mental Health with the Atlantic Region (Halifax) of First Nations and Inuit Health Branch, Health Canada. She was one of a small group of nurses who initially pioneered the CNS role in Health Canada to provide consultation and support to regional leaderships and to community nurses practicing in First Nations communities. Ms. Muxlow is the current chair of the Clinical Nurse Specialist Council, Canadian Association of Advanced Practice Nurses.
Contributions in nursing
Ms. Muxlow began her nursing career in England where she practiced as a State Registered Nurse and State Certified Midwife. Following completion of her Post RN Baccalaureate degree at Dalhousie University, School of Nursing, she earned a Master of Science in Psychiatric/Mental Health (Clinical Nurse Specialist stream) from Boston College, Massachusetts in 1993. She describes, among her many contributions to nursing, her role as mentor to students of African descent at the School of Nursing as being among her most satisfying. Ms. Muxlow is actively involved in raising awareness of the key contributions of the CNS role to advance nursing practice (in addition to the nurse practitioner role) in Canada.
Professional memberships
Ms. Muxlow was a member of the team who developed (for the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario) Nursing Best Practice Clinical Guidelines on “Assessment and Care of Adults at Risk for Suicidal Ideation and Behaviour”, as well as “Supporting Clients on Methadone Maintenance Treatment”. She has been a member of the Guideline International Network (G-I-N) for the past seven years.
Author and award recipient
With four colleagues from the G-I-N Allied Health Steering Group, she co-authored a manuscript titled “Supporting a person-centred approach in clinical guidelines” which has been accepted for publication. For her many contributions to nursing and to health care Ms. Muxlow has been recognized with the following awards: the Atlantic First Nation Communities Health Appreciation Award (2007) for work with communities and the Registered Nurses' Association of Nova Scotia Client/Public Health Advocacy Award (2001) for her leadership role with Correctional Services.