Julia St Louis was the recipient of CREB^®’s Karen Gammie Graduate Scholarship in 2023.

In appreciation of your generosity, Julia wrote this letter to our members. 

"I am writing to you today to thank you for funding the Karen Gammie Graduate Award at the University of Calgary. I was the fortunate recipient of this year’s award, and I am so grateful for the peace and support this financial aid has granted me.

I have been a nurse for almost six years and have spent my entire career in the NICU and PICU. I am thankful to do such meaningful work. As you probably know, it has been a challenging year in pediatrics. With this winter's RSV surge, we have struggled to manage high patient volumes, short staffing, and an increase in acuity. Yet, my colleagues continue to show up and do excellent work, to meet the needs of the children we care for.

My graduate studies were inspired by my experiences learning to care for patients at the end of life in the NICU. These experiences led to the idea for my thesis, entitled “NICU Nurses’ Experiences of Learning to Provide End-of-Life Care.” I hope my thesis work will eventually lead to the development of systematic ways of teaching nurses the essential skills required to care for this patient population and their families, who need their nurses to be prepared. My graduate studies have been an incredible experience thus far. I have been fortunate to receive incredible support at the University of Calgary and engaged with numerous experiences, from participating in many research studies as a co-investigator to competing on the national stage in the Canadian Three Minute Thesis Competition.

Receiving the Karen Gammie Award tremendously benefited me, personally and academically. The financial support allowed me to focus on my studies and conduct research for my thesis. The award will also help my future funding applications as I pursue doctoral studies this fall. Thank you very much for your generosity in funding this award."

For more information about CREB^®’s scholarship programs and endowment funds, click here.