Kate Mahon
BN (1980)
With a desire to serve the Dalhousie School of Nursing in a new way, Kate has assumed the role of President of the Dalhousie Nursing Alumni (DNA) since October 2013 and is gathering an energetic group of individuals to work with her to support the School of Nursing by closer linkages with Dal Nursing Alumni.
Committed to lifelong learning
Kate Mahon is a native Haligonian, with a Bachelor of Nursing (1980) from the Dalhousie University School of Nursing. Kate holds post-graduate certificates in critical care, including specialty certification with the first CNA critical care nursing certification exam in 1995. She completed a Masters of Health Studies from Athabasca University in 2004.
Pursuing passion
As a new graduate, Kate pursued her passion for pediatrics as a staff nurse at the Health Centre for Children, Vancouver General Hospital in BC. In 1982, she returned to Nova Scotia and a position in the ICU at the IWK Children's Hospital where she found her "niche" in critical care and assumed the position of Head Nurse of the IWK ICU only five (5) years after graduation.
Demonstrated leadership
Her leadership career spanned almost 30 years at the IWK where she held progressive management positions with direct line authority and financial responsibility for diverse interprofessional teams. She retired as the Director of Critical Care, Emergency and Perioperative Services in 2011. Kate consistently demonstrated a high level of leadership competency and earned a solid reputation as a strong and effective leader by all members of the patient care team.
Health consultant
Kate has shared her passion for effective clinical leadership by facilitating leadership courses for over 200 staff at the IWK. Now, in her post retirement career, she has established her own health care consultant business - Authentic Leadership by Design Inc.- through which she continues to apply and share her leadership knowledge and skills with a variety of clients across the country. Kate has recently assumed the role of Executive Director of the Trauma Association of Canada to provide strategic leadership and operational support to this Association. She is an accomplished and inspiring public speaker, sought as a key note and/or plenary presenter at both national and international conferences.
Volunteer endeavours
Kate has always felt strongly that it is important to give back to the nursing profession and she models this through her volunteer involvement at the local and national levels with various professional associations. She was a founding member of the NS Chapter of the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses (CACCN) in 1986 and spent five (5) years on the National Board of Directors of CACCN, including a national leadership role for professional practice as President of CACCN from 2010-2012. She chose as her President's theme "Find Your Voice!!" The theme was purposely selected to encourage nurses to realize greater recognition and visibility by publicly speaking up about what they know and what they do.
Kate has been a key member of two national expert steering committees through her volunteer work with the Canadian Association of Pediatric Health Centres (CAPHC). She continues to Co-Chair the CAPHC Interfacility Critical Care Transport System Committee in the development of the first national standards for pediatric-neonatal and high risk maternal air medical transport services. Working with CAPHC and the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP Canada), she was also integral to the development of the guidelines for the safe introduction of standard concentrations of drug infusions in a pediatric critical care environment. She has been an external nurse consultant/reviewer of pediatric critical care services in five (5) organizations across Canada, making recommendations for service changes, using a strengths- based approach to find out what works well within organizations and what motivates people in their work.
Extra-curricular activities
In an amusing way, Kate has resumed the hockey career she started as an undergraduate when she was a member of the Dalhousie Women's Hockey team and has returned to the ice, now playing competitively within the NS Women's Hockey League. She is also proud to tell you that she has replaced herself in the system as her daughter Sinead Mahon graduates from St FX this spring in Nursing.