Professor Sherry Morrell, one of the faculty leaders behind the creation and development of UWindsor’s RN Prescribing program, leads nursing students through an experiential learning exercise. Canada’s first cohort of registered nurses with prescribing authority will graduate this spring. (MICHAEL WILKINS/University of Windsor)
By Sara Meikle
As Canada continues to confront longer wait times and growing pressure across a strained health-care system, the University of Windsor is preparing to mark a national milestone that reflects both urgency and innovation in care delivery.
This spring, UWindsor’s Faculty of Nursing will graduate the country’s first cohort of registered nurses with prescribing authority. The inaugural cohort completed their studies this past fall through a program designed to expand nursing scope, improve access to care and respond directly to evolving health system needs.
As students prepare to cross the stage at Spring 2026 convocation, their graduation represents more than individual academic achievement. It signals a fundamental shift in how Canadians may experience health care in the years ahead.
For the Faculty of Nursing, the milestone reflects its strategic priorities of educational excellence, health-care innovation and community impact. Dr. Gina Pittman and Dr. Sherry Morrell led the development of the program in collaboration with regulatory partners to ensure graduates meet the highest standards of safety, accountability and clinical readiness while preparing to lead in increasingly complex care environments.
“Seeing UWindsor graduate the country’s first cohort of nurses with prescribing authority is a landmark achievement,” said Pittman, who became the inaugural graduate of UWindsor’s PhD Nursing program in 2021.
“It demonstrates our leadership in advancing nursing education and our commitment to preparing graduates who can expand access to care while practising safely and effectively.”
Developed in alignment with the College of Nurses of Ontario, the curriculum combined advanced pharmacology, health assessment and evidence-based decision-making with simulation-based and case-driven learning. Students also completed immersive clinical experiences designed to mirror real-world prescribing scenarios and strengthen clinical judgment.
For the graduates, the impact is both professional and personal.
Graduating student Melanie Caixeiro, inspired by her work in a retirement home during the pandemic, described RN prescribing as a natural evolution of nursing practice.
“It gives me more independence and a different perspective when working with patients,” she said. “I am responsible for getting to know the patient, gathering the correct information and using clinical judgement to make safe decisions about their care.”
Caixeiro hopes the expanded role will help reduce fragmentation in the system.
“RN prescribing allows care to be more continuous and mostly in one place, which can improve communication, reduce delays and create a better overall experience for patients,” Caixeiro said.
For fellow graduate Sydney Czop, nursing has long been rooted in a desire to provide compassionate care, shaped by her family members who are nurses and her grandfather’s diagnosis with Parkinson’s disease. She said prescribing expands both her responsibility and her ability to connect with patients.
“Having the authority to prescribe medications changes my approach to patient care by expanding my clinical responsibility and decision-making,” Czop said. “It allows me to provide more comprehensive, holistic and effective care.”
She added that being part of the first cohort carries both pride and responsibility.
“It reflects trust in nurses’ clinical judgment and education,” she said. “It gives me the opportunity to improve access to timely treatment and build stronger relationships with patients.”
The broader impact is expected to extend across the health system, improving access to timely treatment, particularly in underserved communities, while easing pressure on physicians and emergency departments and strengthening interprofessional collaboration.
Debbie Sheppard-LeMoine, dean of nursing, agreed the achievement reflects the faculty’s strategic direction.
“This program embodies our commitment to educational excellence and health-care innovation,” she said. “It shows what is possible when we align curriculum design, regulatory partnership and experiential learning to meet the evolving needs of the health system and our communities.”
As UWindsor prepares to celebrate its inaugural RN Prescribing graduates this spring, Sheppard-LeMoine added that the program represents continued evolution in nursing education, including expanded research, curriculum development and interprofessional collaboration aligned with real-world care needs.
With Nurses’ Week providing a fitting backdrop, UWindsor is celebrating not only a graduating class, but a historic national milestone — one that reinforces the University’s role as a catalyst for change in nursing education, practice and community health care across Canada.
UWindsor congratulates the inaugural RN Prescribing cohort and invites the campus community, alumni and health-care partners to recognize this historic achievement for the university, the Faculty of Nursing and the students who are already shaping the future of care.