Roberta Heale

oberta Heale has worked in health care for over twenty years. She graduated with a nursing degree from the University of Toronto in 1988 and worked as an RN in acute care settings for eleven years, until completing the primary health care nurse practitioner certificate in 1999. Roberta completed a Master of Nursing from Athabasca University while working full time as an NP. In 2006 she accepted a position at Laurentian University School of Nursing and continues clinical practice on a casual basis at an Aboriginal Community Health Centre. She has strong interests in environmental issues and is a member of the Canadian Nurses Association Environmental Health Advisory Committee.  In 2007 Roberta commenced the Doctor of Nursing Practice degree from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio. She is involved in several research projects with a focus on NP education and practice. She has served on local, provincial and national nurse practitioner committees and organizations. Roberta has been a strong advocate of the Canadian health care system, as well as for primary health care reform and specifically the full utilization of the nurse practitioner in practice settings. The pinnacle of these efforts is the Sudbury District Nurse Practitioner Clinics.  Roberta is a co-founder and President of the Board of Directors of this first nurse practitioner governed family practice. The overwhelming success of the NP Clinic model has led to a commitment by the Ontario government for twenty-five more. Roberta continues to work toward an accessible and responsive health care system.