• RNAO

• Nursing Innovation Grant

Education:
Master of Education for Health Professionals Education
Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing
National Consortium for PhD in Nursing (Indian Nursing Council)
Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bangalore, India

Master of Science in Nursing (Psychiatric-Mental Health)
Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, India

Post Graduate Diploma in Nursing Administration
Goutham Institute of Health Administration, Bangalore, India

Bachelor of Science in Nursing
Baba Farid University of Health Sciences, Punjab, India

Continuing Professional Development and Certifications:
Teaching for Transformation Co-Facilitation Certificate
Leadership Connections: Building our Capacity workshop.
ECHO Addictions Medicine and Psychosocial Interventions.
Motivational Interviewing: Foundations of Practice Course
Motivational Interviewing: Leadership Course
San’yas Anti-racism Indigenous Cultural Safety Training Program
Foundations to Quality Improvement Training by The Excellence through Quality Improvement Project
Dialectical Behavior Therapy skill training by MARSHA LINEHAN
ECHO Coping with COVID, Faculty of Medicine, University of Toronto and Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Toronto
Palliative care certification from Pallium, Canada
eHARM (Hamilton Anatomy of Risk Management) certification
Coach certification in Quality Behavioral Competencies, A quality training program by Quality Behavioral Solutions for Complex Behavior Problems
Emergent Leader program, Centre for Addiction and Mental Health
Evaluation Workshop, Registered Nurses Association of Ontario
Project management workshop by the Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (RNAO)
Certification in Psychiatric-Mental Health Nursing by the Canadian Nurse Association

The CAMH Digital Nursing Competency Platform will serve as a comprehensive hub utilized by nurses at all stages of their careers and varying levels of expertise (novice to expert) across diverse clinical settings.
This Digital Platform will support nurses in their general mental health and specialized nursing competency training and continuing professional development. It will further enable nurses to access, complete, track, and self-assess novice to expert level competency-based training anytime, anywhere, supporting lifelong learning, and workforce transformation, enhancing patient care.
Guided by principles of collaboration and evidence-based practice, the platform will be beneficial for nurses, educators, and healthcare organizations.

This proposal suggests using CAMH’s Global Learning Academy for Mental Health (GLAMH) platform to enhance nursing competencies through self-directed learning, integrating evidence-based strategies, digital tools, and competency frameworks to empower nurses to advance their skills and meet regulatory and organizational requirements.
GLAMH is a centralized learning platform that consolidates all internal and external training for mental health care professionals locally, nationally, and internationally. Its technical infrastructure provides an AI-first learning platform that offers scalable personalized education, fosters communities of practice, incorporates case-based learning, and competency-based approaches, while enabling VR use and tracking learner progress and engagement. The integration of peer-to-peer learning, simulation, and digital assessment tools ensures consistent, high-quality competency development and bridges the gap between theory and practice. The platform democratizes and promotes advancing nursing competencies.

The current CAMH nursing orientation/onboarding and ongoing professional development program affords limited access to novice to expert competency development and consistent ongoing competency assessment. Moreover, nurses lack flexible, scalable opportunities for self-directed skill development and peer support, particularly opportunities for remote learning. The CAMH Nurses have reported that fragmented nursing training opportunities provide limited exposure to standardized competencies tracking or timely feedback, leading to skill gaps and reduced confidence in practice.
As per CAMH’s Market research (2025), healthcare professionals, including nurses, engage in informal, self-directed learning from varied ad-hoc sources relying on emails, articles, and random resources instead of a structured curriculum. This underscores the need for a centralized user-centric platform where nurses can autonomously develop competencies through tailored learning modules, simulation-based practice, peer engagement and real-time competency validation

This Platform will transform nursing practice by equipping nurses with up-to-date, specialized mental health competencies, enhancing clinical judgment and patient care quality. The platform can tailor content to individual learning needs by providing adaptive learning experiences that adjust the complexity of clinical scenarios/questions based on a nurse’s previous responses, ensuring that the learning experience is always challenging yet achievable. This ensures nurses focus on areas where they need improvement, fostering a deeper understanding of the content. The virtual Community of Practice (CoP) allows nurses from various sub-specialties in mental health and experience levels to collaborate, share insights, and problem-solve together. The CoP makes nurses feel less isolated and promotes a sense of community, improving intraprofessional and interprofessional collaboration as well as communication.
The initiative fosters a culture of continuous professional development, reducing skill disparities and supporting career advancement.

The scope of this project demands extensive, sustained collaboration across multiple departments for multiple years to achieve meaningful impact and lasting change.
Year 1: The first year of the initiative will focus on content development in four phases described below:
Phase -1: Needs Assessment and Planning: Dedicated to assessing the requirements for the learning platform’s functionality. This process will include gathering input and information from point-of-care nurses across CAMH to ensure the platform meets their needs and supports effective learning experiences.
Phase-2: Content Translation and Module Development: Building on the findings from phase-1, the project team will begin converting existing educational materials and resources into interactive online learning modules. This phase will ensure that essential knowledge is accessible and engaging for all users.
Phase-3: Expert Consolidation and Competency Alignment: An expert working group will review and consolidate the educational content, aligning it with established competency levels for nurses as per Benner’s Novice to Expert Framework to structure the learning pathways, ensuring that the platform supports nurses at every stage of their professional development.
Phase-4: Establishing Community of Practice: A group of Nurse Educators will be trained to facilitate virtual Community of Practice to encourage collaboration and knowledge-sharing among nurses ensuring that discussions are relevant, and aligned with educational objectives.

Year-1: Technical focus will be on below deliverables.
User acceptance testing (UAT) to ensure that the platform works as expected for target learners, while accessibility testing ensures that the platform is usable by all individuals by working on below deliverables:
• Test Cases and Results: Documenting which tests were successful and which require fixes or improvements.
• User Feedback Reports: Gathering feedback from testers on UX/UI, functionality, and general ease of use.
• Issues/Defects Report: A list of any bugs, technical issues, or usability problems found during testing, with prioritized action items for resolution.
Accessibility Testing would include below key deliverables:
• Accessibility Audit Report: Detailing the accessibility status of the platform and identifying areas for improvement.
• Remediation Plan: Steps for addressing any accessibility issues found during testing.
• Compliance Certification (if applicable): Documentation showing that the platform meets accessibility standards.

Year: 2 Replication of the work to specialized competencies (e.g. Forensic, Addictions, Geriatrics, Child and Youth, Emergency) across CAMH.

Year: 3 Extrapolating lessons learned to Competency framework-based professional development for allied health professionals.

Year: 4 For external adoption, a scalable implementation toolkit will be developed. The platform is designed for scalability, allowing integration of new modules and expansion to additional healthcare organizations. Ongoing maintenance and content updates will be supported by a cost-sharing model and licensing to external partners.
Partner organizations will be supported through structured onboarding process, leadership briefings and technical integration with existing learning management systems if needed. Train-the-trainer programs will empower local educators to champion the platform, facilitate peer learning communities and monitor progress.

Satinder Kaur MSc(N), MEd(HPE), PhD(N), CPMHN(C)
Advanced Practice Clinical Leader – Corporate Nursing
Professional Practice Office
Centre for Addiction & Mental Health

Sherida Chambers MSN, BSc.N, RN
Director of Nursing Practice and Innovations
Professional Practice Office
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health

Stephanie Sleikers
DIRECTOR SIMULATION & DIGITAL EDUCATION
Centre for Addiction and Mental Health