RN
Valerie Fiset, recipient of the 2026 Nursing Now Ontario Award in the RN category, began her nursing career in the Canadian military after completing her studies at Queen’s University. While caring for military members on a medicine and oncology unit, she developed an early passion for palliative and end-of-life care, a field that would shape much of her professional journey.
After leaving the military, Fiset completed a master’s degree focused on helping patients with advanced lung cancer make more informed decisions about chemotherapy treatment. Over the years, she worked in a variety of clinical, leadership and academic roles, including clinical nurse specialist in palliative care, oncology manager, consultant in long-term care and home care, professor and academic administrator at both Algonquin College and St. Lawrence College. She also completed a PhD examining how nursing students apply best practice guidelines for pain and symptom management during clinical placements.
Fiset is currently director of the Champlain Hospice Palliative Care Program, where she has helped drive significant changes in palliative and end-of-life care across the region through education, collaboration and system leadership. Her work has included redesigning interprofessional rounds, advancing evidence-informed clinical pathways and improving transitions across hospital, home and long-term care settings. She has also championed culturally safe palliative care initiatives for underserved communities, including Indigenous and rural populations, and worked to expand equitable access to community-based care.
Peers and colleagues describe Fiset as a thoughtful and compassionate leader who brings calm, clarity and respect to emotionally complex situations. Her work continues to shape palliative care delivery, education and system transformation across Ontario.
Fiset says palliative care is not about “working with people who are dying,” but about supporting people “to live the best they can until they die.”
Nursing now awards.
