Chief nursing officer and director of health promotion, Ottawa Public Health
As the chief nursing officer and director of health promotion at Ottawa Public Health, Esther Moghadam sees herself as a change agent who can impact others. “Every leader has to be able to expect and manage change. It really is an absolute requirement for success in nursing leadership,” she says, adding “…supporting teams that are healthy, diverse, adaptive and engaged is a priority.” In her role, Moghadam helps her nursing colleagues in the community by ensuring they have the tools, resources and skills they need to work effectively. She hosts monthly open forums to help identify ideas for collective action and learning. Most recently, she helped support her colleagues in obtaining certification as lactation consultants after it was identified that more breastfeeding support for complex issues was needed in the community. When Moghadam is not busy leading her team, she is supporting the Ottawa East Health Team/Équipe Santé Ottawa Est, a Best Practice Spotlight Organization (BPSO) Ontario Health Team (OHT). She is always encouraging her colleagues to participate in RNAO activities, such as the annual Breakfast with Politicians in Ottawa (Region 10). In the future, Moghadam looks forward to helping address the stigma around mental health and substance use with the Community Addiction Peer Support Association and other partners.
The Leadership Award in Nursing Administration is offered to the RN or NP who provides exemplary nursing management by acting as a change agent, resource and mentor within a professional setting. This individual actively collaborates with health-care teams to enhance patient care through the development and implementation of innovative and creative strategies.
