To mark Nursing Week, Unity Health is highlighting three nurses from across our sites who exemplify the power nurses have to transform healthcare through their everyday contributions to excellent, quality patient care. Their stories reflect the depth and diversity of nursing careers and experience across the organization.

Each individual story reflects their strength, compassion and commitment in a different way.

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Wendy Legacy, Clinical Educator, Providence Healthcare

Wendy Legacy brings more than 26 years of nursing experience to her role as Clinical Educator at Providence Healthcare, where she supports the Nursing Practice and Patient Flow team. Her work helps connect patients with the right care at the right time, while strengthening nursing practice across the organization.

Her career has spanned orthopedics, cardiac care, trauma, neuro, intensive care, perioperative services, procedure rooms, rehabilitation and clinics. That range of experience has shaped her approach to patient-centered care and collaboration.

Over her career, Wendy has served as a staff registered nurse, charge nurse and clinical nurse educator, building deep clinical expertise along with a strong commitment to teaching, mentorship and staff development. Supported by a master’s degree in leadership and management, she is helping to strengthen clinical practice and support nurses across the organization.

She chose nursing to make a difference and to continue learning throughout her career. A guiding principle she returns to often: “Nursing is an art of the heart.”

Wendy chose nursing because she wanted a career that would make a meaningful difference in people’s lives while allowing her to keep learning and growing. She says early mentors helped shape her approach to care and inspired her to keep striving for excellence.

Some of the most meaningful moments in her career have come from listening to patients share their own journeys which enabled her to see care from their perspective. Those experiences have reinforced the importance of compassion, respect and thoughtful practice in every interaction.

What’s her advice?

Her advice for new and aspiring nurses is simple and powerful: “take pride in being a nurse and in the important work that you do.” Healthcare evolves every day and so does the opportunities to grow, specialize and lead.

Through her leadership, mentorship and patient-centred approach, Legacy is transforming healthcare by helping patients feel seen and supported and by empowering fellow nurses to provide safe, high-quality care.

Jasleen Chaira, Registered Nurse, Inpatient Mental Health Unit at St. Michael’s Hospital

Jasleen Chaira’s nursing journey began in the Collaborative Nursing Program at Toronto Metropolitan University, where she built the academic foundation for a career rooted in compassion, evidence informed others practice and service.

She joined St. Michael’s Hospital as a clinical extern on the Inpatient Mental Health Unit during her third year. The role gave her early exposure to mental health nursing and helped her build foundational skills in this specialized area of practice.

After completing her BScN, Chaira returned to the unit as a registered nurse and took part in the Nursing Graduate Guarantee program, gaining experience in mental health and addictions services while strengthening her confidence, autonomy and clinical judgment.

Jasleen continues to grow her nursing practice in mental health and addictions, and in April 2026 she completed her Master’s of Nursing degree at Toronto Metropolitan University. Her path reflects a strong commitment to lifelong learning, professional development and advancing the quality of care for patients and families.

Jasleen says her decision to go into nursing was shaped by conversations with nurses, personal experiences with the health-care system and a desire to support people with compassion and empathy during vulnerable moments.

She finds the most meaningful part of her work is in supporting their mental health journey, from admission to discharge and working collaboratively to understand their goals, strengths and care needs. Her conversations with patients continue to shape her practice and reinforce the value of individualized, equitable and compassionate care.

What’s her advice?

Her advice to new nurses is to stay connected to their purpose, make self-care a priority and remain committed to learning and reflection throughout their careers.

Through her dedication to mental health nursing and her commitment to patient-centred care, Chaira is transforming healthcare by helping patients feel heard, supported and empowered in their recovery.

Melanie York, Geriatric Emergency Management Nurse, St. Joseph’s Health Centre

Melanie York’s pathway to nursing has been shaped by her background in business and a growing interest in how systems, data and clinical care intersect to improve outcomes, particularly in geriatric emergency care.

During her Bachelor of Nursing program, she became interested in the care of older adults and began asking how healthcare teams could improve dignity and outcomes while making care less challenging for clinicians. After graduating, she worked across several areas of acute care before finding her place in the Emergency Department at St. Joseph’s, where the fast pace, team-based decision making and complexity of patient care deepened her interest in geriatric emergency nursing.

Melanie says her interest in geriatric care began in childhood while helping care for her grandmother.

One of Melanie’s most memorable experiences occurred while caring for an older couple in the Emergency Department. Despite significant frailty, they supported one another with dignity, humor and quiet resilience, navigating a complex healthcare environment as a team.

Witnessing the couple’s adaptability and humanity reinforced her belief that older adults are not defined by vulnerability alone, but by strength built over a lifetime. That perspective continues to shape her practice and her advocacy for dignified, thoughtful care that recognizes the barriers many older adults face in the health-care system.

What’s her advice?

Her advice to new nurses, especially those entering the profession as a second career, is to see previous experience as an asset and to stay curious about the needs of aging populations.

Through her work in geriatric emergency care, York is transforming healthcare by challenging assumptions, improving care for older adults and helping create a more respectful and responsive health system.

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