Vanessa Shields-Haa

Vanessa Shields-Haas is the recipient of the Isabel McIssac Memorial Scholarship. She is enrolled in the Master of Science in Nursing, Family Nurse Practitioner program, at Frontier Nursing University. Vanessa attended the accelerated BSN at Louisiana State University School of Nursing where she received the Chancellor’s Award. She serves on the board of Maine’s LGBTQ youth advocacy organization, OUT Maine, and co-founded www.RadicalNurses.com, a site for nurse activists to share local and regional best practices and legislative initiatives related to health access and equity.

Vanessa was drawn to nursing after working for over ten years in international development and government service in Washington, D.C. and abroad. She has a Master’s in International Politics and Governance from the University of Bradford’s Peace Studies Department in the United Kingdom. In her practice, Vanessa observes lack of access to affordable, quality primary care in the U.S. as adversely impacting individuals, families, and communities. She sees nursing advocacy as integral to achieving a more equitable and just healthcare system. Her scholarly research on alternative healthcare delivery models is in line with her wider concern of access to health care for all community members, regardless of their ability to pay. This work is laying the scholarly foundation for a future PhD.

In addition to pursuing her Nurse Practitioner degree, Vanessa works as a sexual assault forensic examiner where she provides specialized care to survivors of sexual assault and domestic violence in rural Maine. Providing trauma-informed, stigma free, and social justice focused care is central to Vanessa’s nursing practice. She looks forward to providing quality primary care, including gender-affirming care and comprehensive sexual and reproductive healthcare, as a future Family Nurse Practitioner.