Robin Scobie

Robin Scobie is a Professor Emerita in the University of Victoria School of Nursing. She became a full-time Assistant Teaching Professor (previously, Senior Instructor) in 2002, first at the Langara College campus and then at the Victoria campus. She continued in this role until her retirement in December 2016. She then worked as a sessional instructor until 2019.

Robin brought a passion for and expertise in community health nursing into her teaching position, having worked for 30 years in diverse settings: in Inuvik and Tuktoyaktuk, NWT; in Ottawa as a Nurse Practitioner, an Easter Seal Nurse, and a Public Health Nurse (PHN); in Kaslo, BC, as a rural PHN; and in Calgary as a PHN. In 2000, she completed her Master of Science in Nursing degree at the University of Ottawa, with a focus on primary health care.

At UVic, Robin taught a range of undergraduate courses, both theory and practice, on campus and online, in the continuing BSN program and in the Post Diploma BSN Program. She was student-centred in her approach and took on many roles engaging with students and supporting their learning, including as the Term 6 Coordinator working with students as they transitioned from the college program to third and fourth years at UVic, and as a Field Guide for students in the mentorship project which eventually resulted in the establishment of the Nursing Student Society and a UVic chapter of the Canadian Nursing Students’ Association. 

Robin contributed significantly to the nursing curriculum. She exemplified her commitment to the promotion of health equity, social justice, diversity, and collaboration in her development of courses and course content that permitted all UVic’s students to emerge as global citizens upon graduation. She was active in developing the Global Health Issues course (NURS342) on campus and online, collaborating with UVic and partner faculty at Aurora, Selkirk, and College of the Rockies. Robin helped develop innovative clinical placements, including summer practicum placements at BC Easter Seals Camps, and co-authored an article about this practice placement: “Let’s go to camp! An innovative pediatric practice placement,” published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.

In 2012, Robin received the HSD Award for Teaching Excellence (faculty). Her love of learning was described as infectious, and her energy and enthusiasm for students, contagious. Students described Robin as “supportive” and “thought-provoking” and her courses as “eye-opening.”  Robin was also known for her commitment and contribution to faculty development. She was the inspiration behind Talking Teaching — a monthly session for faculty to learn from each other, and to discuss the scholarship and experience of teaching.

Robin attended and presented at a number of conferences, including Jonkoping University, Sweden in 2011, where her topic was Bringing the Lens of Global-Mindedness into the Nursing Student Classroom.

In retirement, Robin is continuing her role as a global citizen by volunteering with the Van Gogos group, part of the Stephen Lewis Foundation Grandmothers to Grandmothers Campaign.