Ru Taggar turns calling for nursing into care for the next generation

Rupinder (Ru) Taggar, Nursing ’91, was exposed to the inner workings of nursing from an early age. Her mother was a frontline nurse until she retired and would often share stories about her day with Ru. But it wasn’t until Ru’s last year of high school, when she was applying for universities, that she decided to pursue nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU).

“TMU — Ryerson at the time — had a really good reputation,” Ru said. “It had a flexible program that offered a diploma, so I could graduate within two years, work as a nurse and then continue to study, which I liked.”

The flexibility of TMU’s program, which enabled Ru to work, was also a decisive factor. Like many students, Ru needed to be employed to support herself through school. 

After graduating, Ru worked for ten years as a clinical nurse in the emergency department of two Toronto hospitals. The position inspired her to expand beyond nursing and begin teaching in post-secondary and hospital settings. Today, as the Executive Vice President, Chief Nursing and Health Professions Executive at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Ru oversees a third of the organization’s clinical programs, and its 5,000 nurses and health professional staff, excluding doctors.

Grateful for foundational nursing skills she obtained at TMU, and knowing how experiential learning provides the essential bridge between classroom theory and real-world practice, Ru is helping to support students at TMU’s Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing so they too can develop the competence and confidence to provide skilled and thoughtful care.

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