Nancy Wright Scholarship in the School of Nursing

Nancy Wright was part of BC’s nursing family for more than 30 years, providing primary care to people who struggled with mental health and substance use. She completed her Diploma in Nursing at Vancouver General Hospital in 1987, her Bachelor of Science in Nursing and Master of Nursing degrees at University of Victoria in 1999 and 2002 respectively. She completed her Nurse Practitioner designation at University of Northern British Columbia in 2008. In recent years, she worked as a nurse practioner with Island Health and was a senior instructor at UVic School of Nursing. 

Nancy was a foundational member of the BC Nurse Practitioner Association (BCNPA) and worked tirelessly to advance the profession as a member of the BCNPA, ensuring that the importance of the nurse practitioner role and perspective was clearly highlighted in all aspects of care. Her passion for advocacy was demonstrated through her work in mental health and substance use as a member of teams who work to reduce the health risk associated with high risk behaviours and/or addictions.

Nancy loved to travel and was passionate about music. With her signature shock of flame-coloured hair, she managed to infuse joy, art and music into everyone’s life. She travelled the world working as a nurse in places ranging from Saudi Arabia to the Yukon. Along the way she collected a huge swath of friends, with whom she kept in regular touch.

On August 28, 2020, Nancy passed away very suddenly from a cerebral aneurysm. She was a devoted wife, mother, sister, aunt and friend and will be missed by all who knew and loved her. She is remembered as someone who was always striving to advance social justice, fighting the good fight in her life and through her work.

To honour this, Nancy’s family has created an award in Nancy’s name through the University of Victoria, School of Nursing. The scholarship will support students in the Masters of Nursing Nurse Practitioner program with a demonstrated interest in nursing with marginalized populations, including (but not limited to) people who may be low income, street involved, living with mental health issues or members of the LGBTQ community.

Anyone wishing to contribute to the scholarship can donate online here.