Nadine Ezzeddine
Instructor and ED Eddy Bennit Professor
Website / LinkedIn / News / Tedx Talk
My name is Nadine Ezzeddine. I am Lebanese in origin; I came to Canada 6 years ago as a student. I am currently an instructor and EB Eddy professor at Dalhousie School of Nursing and a PhD student at Dalhousie Faculty of Health. I hold a Master of Nursing degree from Dalhousie University, and a Master in Microbiology and a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degrees from the American University of Beirut, Lebanon. I held several academic and senior leadership positions in health care institutions in my home country of Lebanon. I am happy and satisfied with my current academic role, and extremely passionate about teaching nursing.
My narrative is that of a middle eastern woman and mother who claimed her right for self actualization in a patriarchal community. I was penalized brutally for my emancipatory endeavours and was denied my right to see my daughters (8 and 5 years at that time). So I made the hard decision, and chose Canada, Nova Scotia to start all over again - a country where a woman has a voice.
Despite the agony and hardships, I was able to create a success story. I came to Canada as a student- without any support. It was, and still is, a continuous journey of ambition and hard work, a constant chase of available resources, and giving back. I eventually succeeded in getting a full-time job and, with provincial support, was able to have my daughters join me.
My daughters and I are happy together now in Nova Scotia. I am proud of where I am and what I aspire to be. My daughters are happy and excelling in their studies. We are now living the life we have longed for, where we have a voice and are encouraged to dream big.
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What are you most proud of professionally? And who or why?
I am proud of my current role and contributions as a faculty member at Dalhousie University. I am mostly proud and satisfied when I work with struggling students and together unpack the limitations they experience. With utmost pride, I observe these students succeed and develop.
What’s your vision for Atlantic Canada in 10 years? What’s our biggest opportunity now?
Halifax is booming, Atlantic Canada is growing. I envision Halifax competing with Canada’s big cities such as Toronto, and Atlantic Canada competing with the bigger provinces.
Our biggest opportunity now is our pandemic response. Atlantic Canada has proven that we are a safe home and that our people are warm and welcoming.
Another opportunity is our diversity, mainly among our students. We have several universities that are diligent and have been successful in attracting diverse students representing priority groups and international students. The key is in retaining these students once they graduate, they are a huge intellectual and workforce opportunity who already chose our province.
What was your greatest stage of growth? What made it a shift for you?
In my early 30s, I decided to take the journey to live my authentic self. Having grown up in an oppressive religious patriarchal community, this transition entailed a few tough years of questioning, reflections, and actions. It was a journey of reconciliation, trying to answer whether my thoughts and life choices were determined by the expectations of my community or were genuinely mine. Operationalizing this transition was hard and painful. Nevertheless, the outcome was a deep understanding of myself and my potentials as well as developing a clear personal and professional vision. A vision that led me to where I am now.
What’s your favourite or most read book or podcast? Now or at each of your greatest stages of growth?
I would say the pivotal books I read more than a decade ago are called “Life Strategies” and “ Self Matters” by Phil McGraw. Those books triggered my quest for my authentic self and to break out of the chains I built around myself because of my anxiety, and expectations of my family, religion, and community
What’s your deepest learning from this past year? How did/will you apply it?
I have learned that we are living in an ever changing world; that overnight, we can lose our routines and face illness, confusion, and uncertainty. The takeaway is that we need to be compassionate and supportive to one another as we have very little power over these changes.
I have learned that the human species co-habit this earth with other organisms, and that an invisible acellular creature can enter each and every house over the globe and kill us. So I think this should be a wake up call for us all to stop fighting and killing one another and stop disrupting the homeostasis of these creatures scientifically (control global warming) to spare ourselves their attack.
Who’s inspired you, directly or indirectly? How have they inspired you?
Early in my career, I worked as a registered nurse on a pediatric floor. The most important teachers were the sick kids I took care of. They inspired me with the manner they deal with illnesses (even fatal ones) and with pain. The resilience of those kids, and their perception of and coping with illnesses was a material for lots of reflections, learnings, and development for me.
I was largely inspired by my daughters. During the times of our separation, they went through a lot of psychological pains. It was agonizing to see their pain, and that empowered me with the strength to create a better life for them. I drew my strength from their resilience, rights, and continuous hope that we will have better times.
What would you have done differently?
I don't think I would do anything differently. I did not choose where I was born, nor the community and religion. The challenges I faced shaped me into the person I am now. I would not want to miss any developing and growing opportunity even if it was painful and filled with tears. I responded to and acted to the best of my capacity- considering the nature of the challenges at each stage. Looking back, I am very compassionate with the woman who faced all these painful challenges and proud of her.
What I love to achieve is to exercise more regularly and learn to swim and skate.
What are the principles you live by?
Ohana: my daughter has a tattoo that states Ohana. “Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten" - Lilo and Stitch.
Other principles include justice, compassion and caring, advocacy, honesty, self care, adaptability and resilience.
How have you recovered from fractured professional relationships? What uncomfortable truths have you learned about yourself in those experiences?
I have experienced few fractured professional relationships over the years, and I learned not to take things personally. During my early professional years, I was so invested in my job and my career was the priority in my life. I lacked the assertiveness to draw boundaries between my career and personal life, which I acquired after a few professional disputes. I learned with time to balance my life: I, my family, friends, and even my community are important parts of my life, and so is my career . So I would say these fractured professional relationships were opportunities for personal and professional growth.
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Mother, educator, instructor, nurse, advocate, researcher