Award Description

The Miriam Bracken Award will be given to a Registered Nurse who wishes to pursue further education in perioperative nursing. Applicants may be in a CNA Perioperative Nursing Certificate program, post-graduate Operating Room Nursing program, or a post-basic baccalaureate nursing program. Membership in RNAO and the Operating Room Nurses’ Association of Canada is required.

Origin

The Miriam Bracken Award for Perioperative Nurses was created in 2001 by her daughters, as a tribute to their mother who nurtured them to believe they could accomplish anything they desired.  

Honoree background: Originally from Georgetown, Prince Edward Island,

Miriam attended Mount Allison University, in Sackville, NB to study music, because she was too young to enter nursing school. She continued to pursue her first goal, entering nursing studies in 1942. Miriam completed a Post Graduate Certificate in Operating Room Nursing at John’s Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore Maryland. She joined the Canadian Army as a Nursing Lieutenant during World War II, and worked at the Sunnybrook Veteran’s Hospital in Toronto after the war. After taking 20 years away from nursing to raise her family, Miriam completed a refresher course and returned to work at the then new York Finch Hospital in the Jane and Finch area of Toronto, eventually retiring from her position there.

Miriam was a feminist before the word was popular, and she accomplished her agenda in a quiet and elegant way. She was also an accomplished pianist and gifted soprano who sang in numerous church and community choirs.