Nancy Lemelin has been an active CSMLS member for over 20 years, and she consistently shows great commitment to the medical laboratory profession. As a volunteer, she serves on numerous committees, including the CSMLS Content Advisory and Educator Committees. She also has been awarded for her efforts to foster mental health awareness at Cégep de l’Outaouais, where she teaches in the MLT program. We caught up with Nancy to learn more about her passion for the medical laboratory community.
WHY IS PROMOTING MENTAL HEALTH AWARENESS IN THE MEDICAL LABORATORY PROFESSION IMPORTANT TO YOU, ESPECIALLY IN RELATION TO COMBATING STUDENT STRESS?
Mental well-being is an important factor in any workplace. Currently, several factors in our medical laboratory profession may contribute to an increase in job-related stress and mental health issues: increased workload, inadequate staffing and social issues. As an educator, I feel it is important to increase student awareness on how to deal with stress and related mental health issues. My goal is to help reduce the stigma associated with mental illness and provide them with adequate tools to cope with future workplace situations.
WHAT HAVE YOU ENJOYED THE MOST ABOUT SERVING ON THE FIRST CONTENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE?
What I enjoy the most as a volunteer with the CSMLS is that everyone’s opinion matters. Working with the Content Advisory Committee has given me the chance to voice my opinions on various upcoming and ongoing projects at the CSMLS. It’s never a chore to participate in the discussions because everyone is working together towards the same goal, which is to offer content that is geared towards the current needs of today’s laboratory professional.
DESCRIBE YOUR ROLE WITH THE EDUCATOR COMMITTEE. CAN YOU EXPLAIN ONE SUCCESS ACHIEVED TO DATE?
As an educator, my volunteer role with this particular committee is to help foster a bridge between the learning community and the CSMLS. Our goal is to give the medical laboratory science education community a voice. One of the main topics that we have discussed so far is pertaining to the recommendations for simulation of MLA competencies and its limitations. Since this is a fairly new committee, there haven’t been many meetings yet, but I do look forward to our next group endeavours