She is globally recognized for her contributions to the nursing profession. After receiving her nursing diploma in 1939, she worked in hospitals and clinics across Canada and began teaching at the University of Manitoba’s School of Nursing in 1962 where she became director in 1972. As president of the Canadian Nurses Association she contributed to the wording and scope of the Canada Health Act (1984), which gave nurses more power to treat patients. Having served as Canada’s representative to two World Health Assemblies, she is also a past president of the Manitoba Association of Registered Nurses and was first vice-president of the International Council of Nurses. Appointed an officer of the Order of Canada in 1988, she is presently professor emeritus at the University of Manitoba’s faculty of nursing located in the building that bears her name: The Helen Glass Centre for Nursing.
