Sheila D. Early
Sheila D. Early, RN, BScN, has four decades of health care experience as a registered nurse, administrator, clinician, and educator in emergency and forensic nursing. Ms. Early co-developed British Columbia’s first sexual assault nurse examiner program in 1992. She developed Canada’s first classroom-delivered Advanced Specialty Certificate in Forensic Health Sciences at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (2005). Ms. Early performed the first nurse examiner medical forensic examination in British Columbia (1994), remaining a practicing nurse examiner until 2007. Her experiences have provided her with the background to provide education to health care providers and other disciplines in forensic healthcare issues relating to violence, trauma, and crime. She has provided forensic nursing education both nationally and internationally for the past fifteen years. She has received nursing awards, including the British Columbia Institute of Technology Teaching Excellence Award (2014), the University of Saskatchewan College of Nursing Alumni Nurse of Influence Award (2014), the International Association of Forensic Nurses Achievement Award (2010), the B.C. Ministry of Health “One of 150 Outstanding Nurses of BC” (2008), the Registered Nurses Association of B.C. Award of Excellence in Nursing Practice (2002), and the National Emergency Nurses Affiliation Award of Excellence in Emergency Nursing Education (1997). Ms. Early was the first non-American president of the International Association of Forensic Nurses (2014). Sheila and her husband Peter have resided in Surrey, B.C., for twenty-seven years.