Community Mourns Death of Nursing Legend, Dr. Shirley Stinson

Dr. Shirley Stinson's major contributions to graduate education for nurses and to development of a national and international nursing research infrastructure made her one of the most honoured of Canadian nurses.

It is with deep sadness that we share the news of the passing of a remarkable and cherished member of our Faculty of Nursing community, Dr. Shirley Stinson, OC, AOE, RN, EdD, LLD (Hon), DSc (Hon), DSL (Hon). 

Shirley Stinson was a force in the profession of Nursing: a visionary leader, a committed teacher, a trailblazing researcher, and a globally recognized administrator and consultant. Her contributions have done nothing short of changing the face of nursing here in Canada and improving the standards of patient care across the world. 

As highlighted in Shirley’s obituary, “her major contributions to graduate education for nurses and to the development of a national and international nursing research infrastructure made her one of the most honoured Canadian nurses. At her investiture as Officer into the Order of Canada in 2002, she was honoured for her work to raise the profile of nursing in Canada and for her contributions ‘to improved standards of patient care around the world.’ She also received the Alberta Order of Excellence, the province's highest award.” 

Shirley was born in 1929 in  Arelee, Saskatchewan, moving shortly thereafter to Alberta with her parents as a young child, where she grew up and attended school. Shirley began her distinguished nursing career at the University of Alberta, where she earned a bachelor of science in nursing, receiving the Gold Key Award in 1953 for academic excellence. She then earned a Master’s Degree in nursing administration from the University of Minnesota. Finally, she became the first Alberta nurse to complete a doctoral program, earning her Doctor of Education from Columbia University in 1969. Dr. Stinson has since been conferred with three honourary degrees – doctors of Law, Science, and of Sacred letters, from the University of Calgary, Memorial University, and St. Stephens College at the University of Alberta, respectively. 

Shirley spent her early career as a public health staff nurse, joining the University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing in 1969, where she was a faculty emerita for the rest of her life. In this role, she advanced her strong belief that graduate nursing students require knowledge of advanced clinical nursing practice, including theory, research, and history – and it was on this basis that she helped establish Western Canada’s first Masters in Nursing program at the University of Alberta in 1975. She also worked with colleagues from the University of Alberta and the University of Calgary to design and lay the foundations for the first Canadian PhD in Nursing program, instituted in 1991. 

Through her leadership and advocacy, the Alberta Foundation for Nursing Research was established in 1982 with Shirley as founding chair. Thus, Alberta became the first province or state in the western world to earmark funds explicitly for nursing research, solidifying Shirley’s growing reputation as the Canadian architect of nursing research. The Foundation further raised nursing’s credibility as a professional discipline and affirmed the importance of nursing research in health care. 

Shirley’s quest to improve patient care through nursing research extended well beyond our borders, and her work helped shape public policy across the globe. In addition to a prolific publication and lecture repertoire, she consulted and advised for the Pan American World Health Organization, the World Health Organization in Geneva, and the Colombian Nurses Association in Bogota.

Shirley Stinson was both the first nurse and the first woman to receive the Senior National Health Scientist Research Award, and she received Canada’s two highest nursing awards: the Ross Award in Nursing Leadership from the Canadian Nurses Foundation, and the Canadian Nurses Association’s Jeanne Mance Award. In addition to numerous lifetime memberships, she received the University of Minnesota Board of Regents’ Outstanding Achievement Award and Columbia University’s Distinguished Alumni Award. Shirley is the recipient of the Sir Frederick Haultian Prize in Humanities from the Government of Alberta; she was inducted into the Alberta Order of Excellence in 1999, and she was appointed the Order of Canada in 2001. This is only a partial list of her honours, all of which only scratch the surface of the depth and breadth of her reach. Shirley’s real impact can only be felt in the millions of lives she touched. 

In 2018, the University of Alberta recognized Dr. Stinson’s vital work by renaming our annual research event the “Dr. Shirley Stinson Research Conference.” We will continue to honour her legacy with this annual conference. 

Shirley Stinson will be profoundly missed, and her contributions will be felt for generations to come, both within and beyond our Faculty, and within and beyond our profession. Her life is a tribute to all nurses, and a reminder of the unbroken chain of commitment between generations of nurses, past, present, and future. 

We are grateful to Dr. Shirley Stinson for her dedication, her passion, her humility, and her unwavering vision, and she inspires us to live up to her profound legacy.

In lieu of flowers, donations may be made to the Dr. Shirley Stinson Scholarship in the History of Nursing through the University of Alberta Office of Advancement (https://www.ualberta.ca/giving/index.html or 780-492-7587 / Toll Free: 1-877-992-7587) or through Brianne Thomas, Director of Advancement, Nursing (brianne.thomas@ualberta.ca).