(Taken from the book "Dare to Dream: A Celebration of Canadian Women" by Michelle Valberg)
As a graduate of the school of nursing in Kamloops, BC until her death 30 years later in Ottawa, Ontario, Jill looked for ways to make a difference. She strove to better the quality of life for her patients, from hospital ward to Ontario's Victorian Order of Nurses, from oncology/palliative care to care of persons with AIDS.
In her final years, Jill taught palliative care to nursing students at Algonquin College in Ottawa, focusing on what patients and caregivers needed to know to be more effective partners in caring. She also taught caregivers how to cope with the toll caring for a dying patient would inevitably take on their lives.
Jill's biggest challenge came with her first AIDS patient, which occurred at a time when AIDS filled everyone with unanswerable fears. Refusing to turn a blind eye to the issues, Jill educated herself about AIDS by attending courses, lectures, and talking to experts, then sharing what she had learned.
Jill developed the first AIDS awareness program for nursing students and lectured at health conferences, nationally and internationally. A highly successful and popular educator and public speaker, in 1994 she spent four months teaching and lecturing on AIDS awareness in India. After returning to Canada, an offer to establish and AIDS awareness program in and for India followed. A few months later she was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia.
Jill's personal courage in her fight against leukemia extended to her teaching; students were allowed to ask how it felt to be dying. She produced a moving, rich video in which she compared her nursing knowledge with that gained in her battle as an oncology patient. Shortly before her death in August of 1995, Jill received the VON's silver cross for excellence in clinical practice.
Jill dreamt about making a difference. In her all too short life, she instigated change, mitigated pain and grief for families of dying patients, and nursed with compassion and a deep belief in people. In the final analysis, however, above all the acclaim, her two greatest rewards came from being simply 'Mum' and 'Nurse'.
John Sullivan (Husband)
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