Victoria Smye, RN, PhD, FCAN

Director, Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing

Victoria Smye headshotVictoria Smye is a faculty member and the Director of the Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, Faculty of Health Sciences at Western University (2017-present).

She began her academic career as a faculty member at the University of Victoria in British Columbia (2001-2005) after almost 25 years in clinical practice. Prior to her current position at Western she was a faculty member and Director, Nursing Programs, at Ontario Tech University (formerly UOIT) (2014-2017) and a faculty member (2005-2014) and Associate Director, Undergraduate Programs (2011-2013) in the School of Nursing at the University of British Columbia (UBC).

Her program of research is focused on addressing health inequity with particular relevance to policy and practice in the areas of Indigenous health and gender-based violence. For example, through her research Victoria has contributed to anti-stigma/racism and health equity work in Canada and internationally and the uptake of equity-oriented approaches that include the concepts of cultural safety, trauma- and violence-informed care and harm reduction.

Over the past two decades she has worked closely with several national, provincial and local mental health organizations as a Board Member and has been a consultant to organizations such as the Mental Health Commission of Canada and the Native Mental Health Association of Canada (now the First Peoples Wellness Circle). In addition, she has been involved in a full range of committee and board activities across Canada to contribute to the shaping of nursing education provincially and nationally.

Learn more about Professor Smye and her research.