Dr. Irmajean Bajnok is an international healthcare consultant, with her most recent contributions made as the Project Lead for the ICN Immunization Project. She was the Director of the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario’s (RNAO) International Affairs and Best Practice Guidelines Centre from 2007 to 2017. She played a lead role in the many strategies developed to support and evaluate the implementation of evidence-based practice at local, provincial and international levels. In her roles at RNAO, Dr. Bajnok was recognized as a leader in implementation science and developed a number of creative approaches for the support of knowledge translation locally, nationally and globally. She has travelled extensively in Canada and internationally, working with healthcare professionals and organizations to promote evidence-based nursing practice cultures. From 2000 to 2007, Dr. Bajnok was Director of the RNAO Center for Professional Nursing Excellence. Prior to this, she led an extensive and successful career in practice, academia and administration, including professorial and leadership roles at Western University and Ryerson University. At Ryerson University, where she served as Director of the nursing programme, Dr. Bajnok led faculty in the development of the nursing undergraduate degree programme, the first basic degree programme of its kind at the university. Her practice roles spanned acute care as a Practice Director at the Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto; and home care as the Director of Professional Practice at VON Toronto. She was the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre at Mount Sinai Hospital and served as the Executive Director of the Development of Women’s Health Professionals Programme in Pakistan, a multi-partnership programme with the Aga Khan University, McMaster University, and the governments of Canada and of Pakistan. Born in Saskatchewan, Dr. Bajnok earned her BScN from the University of Alberta. She has a Masters of Science degree in Nursing and a PhD in Epidemiology from Western University. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Ottawa, School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences.
Irmajean Bajnok, RN, MScN, PhD
(CAN) Canada: NurseNominee Highlights:
Dr. Irmajean Bajnok is an international nurse leader who, over the last few decades, has influenced and impacted policies and the nursing ecosystems in multiple countries. Within the nursing profession and practice, she is recognized globally as an agent of change for her innovative work in implementation science. Over the course of her career, Dr. Bajnok has introduced various innovative and cutting edge programmes that have resulted in substantial positive changes to nursing and health communities. She has played key roles in major system innovations in education, policy and practice, focusing on the strengthening of health systems in Canada and internationally. As of the COVID-19 outbreak in 2020, Dr. Bajnok has served as the Acting Director of Policy at the Registered Nurses’ Association of Ontario.