From Classroom to Patient Care: How Teaching Made Kailyn Pasma a Better Nurse

When Kailyn Pasma left life as a teacher to return to school for nursing, it was not a leap into the unknown but a return to a calling she had long felt.  

Before earning her teaching degree, Kailyn had worked as a health care aide in a long-term care home in her small Southern Ontario hometown. The experience left a lasting impression. Although she enjoyed teaching, she found herself missing the hands-on patient care and sense of purpose she felt in health care. Encouraged by her father, who recognized how much she missed the field, Kailyn applied to nursing school after her second year in the classroom.  

She was accepted into the four-year Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at McMaster University, returning to school as a mature student. During her studies, she got married and later transferred to Lakehead University in Thunder Bay, where she completed her degree and began her nursing career through the New Graduate Guarantee program.  

“Going back to school for another four years was not easy,” Kailyn says. “But with the support of classmates, friends, and family, I knew I had made the right decision.”  

Today, she says her background in teaching remains one of her greatest professional assets. Nurses, she notes, are constant educators — guiding patients and families through complex medical information. Her classroom experience strengthened her communication skills and shaped her leadership approach as interim clinical director for professional practice, where she developed strategies to support frontline teams.  

Kailyn moved to Ottawa in spring 2021 and joined QCH as manager of the D3 ALC inpatient unit before transitioning to the ACE unit. After briefly leaving to explore a community-sector role, she returned in 2024 and is the Clinical Manager for the Mental Health team. 

“QCH is where I want to grow my nursing career,” she says. “Being a teacher first made me a better nurse.”