԰������

For nurse and academic Dr. Tricia Prince, RN, MN, EDd, it has always been about the patients.   

Over a career spanning three decades in cardiology, her commitment to both patient care and education has been unwavering. 

Prince has held numerous roles throughout her career, including front-line nurse, nurse educator in vascular and cardiovascular surgery, and clinical instructor helping train the next generation of nurses. Most recently, she completed a Doctorate at the University of Calgary’s Faculty of Education focused on clinical nursing education. 

Her recent doctoral research addresses the theory practice gap with a specific focus on how clinical nursing instructors facilitate the development of clinical judgment with undergraduate nursing students. 

Prince explains that sound clinical judgment allows for early recognition of patient status change and optimizes patient outcomes and that for expert nurses, clinical judgment is intuitive. However, for nursing students they grasp the “what” from the textbooks and require in person coaching to develop the “how and why” of thinking like a nurse.

“Nursing education relies on sessional instructors, but there is often a disconnect between what happens in the classroom and what happens in the clinical setting,” says Prince when asked about her doctoral studies. 

“From my perspective, the gaps between theory and practice need to be addressed in the clinical setting with our clinical instructors. My dissertation has provided good data to enhance clinical education and foster the development of clinical judgment, ensuring that theory and practice meet where it matters most: at the bedside to optimize patient care and safety.”

It’s a topic Prince knows well. She has worked as a nursing sessional clinical instructor at Mount Royal University since 2000, accepted a tenurable faculty position in 2021, and was recently appointed Assistant Chair of Experiential Learning in the university’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.

Despite her long career in nursing, Prince didn’t initially plan to enter the profession. When she first began post-secondary studies, she intended to become a lawyer. But after taking her first nursing class, everything changed.

“I never looked back,” she says.

Prince completed her undergraduate nursing degree in her hometown of Edmonton at the University of Alberta before moving to the United States to pursue cardiology nursing opportunities in Texas and later Boise, Idaho.

She eventually returned to Alberta as a newlywed, following her husband to Calgary while he pursued his studies. Back home, she quickly found herself once again drawn to cardiology, taking nursing positions at both Foothills Medical Centre and the former Calgary General Hospital.

Driven to continue growing in her practice, Prince began a master’s degree at the University of Calgary faculty of nursing in 2006, eventually defending her thesis in 2010 while pregnant with her third child.

Despite her advanced education and academic leadership roles, Prince says patient care remains central. Alongside her teaching, research and administrative responsibilities, she continues to work as a front-line nurse at Foothills Medical Centre in the Cardiac Intensive Care Unit, Short Stay Cardiology and the Cardiac Function Clinic.

When asked about the motivation behind her decision to continue her front-line nursing role, Prince says, “I absolutely love my own clinical practice, and I find that when I don’t do it, I need to get in there and take care of my patients.”

She also loves that each shift provides a new opportunity to stay current, learn from her colleagues as well as from the patients and families she works with.  Prince also takes her learnings back to the classroom, where she encourages her students to be lifelong learners. 

“Education is highly valuable, and advanced education at the bedside is ideal” she says, I hope to lead by example, showing that a doctorate doesn't have to take you away from patient care. It gives you additional tools to support patient care.”

Reflecting on the profession, Prince says nursing has changed significantly during her career, but its foundation has stayed the same: providing the best care to patients and families as part of a team. 

“I have been so fortunate to have wonderful coworkers, educators and managers throughout my career,” she says. “Despite the complexities of the current medical system, if nurses continue to be a team and support one another, everyone will flourish, especially our patients.”