Professional Practice Conference 2026

BCNU's professional practice conference will take place March 11-12, 2026 at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver, located on the traditional, ancestral and unceded lands of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh nations. 

Ratios Save Lives: From Policy to Practice will bring together nurses, researchers, and health-system leaders to build on the ground-breaking progress achieved in implementing ratios across the province.  

This two-day, salary-replaced event will provide a platform for nurses to share their expertise and guide practical, effective approaches for the next phases of implementation across community, long-term care, mental health, public health, and urgent care settings. 

Check back in early January for the link to apply. 

Guest Speakers 

Alison Leary, MBE, FRCN, is a professor of healthcare and workforce modeling at London South Bank University and a senior consultant to the World Health Organization on human resources for health. She has worked across several industries and uses nonlinear mathematics and data science to improve workforce planning and patient safety. Her modeling for inflammatory bowel disease nursing informed a European staffing standard. She was appointed an MBE in 2019 and is a fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and the Queen’s Nursing Institute.

Karen B. Lasater, Ph.D., RN, FAAN, is the Jessie M. Scott Term Chair in Nursing and Health Policy, an associate professor of nursing, and associate director of the Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research at the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. She has published widely in leading international and interdisciplinary journals, including JAMA Health Forum and the International Journal of Nursing Studies, focusing on nurse well-being, patient safety and outcomes, work environments, and the value of nursing care.

Additional speakers coming soon.