Vivian was born in Winnipeg and moved to Burnaby, BC at the age of three. Although her father was an engineer, her mother had only a grade eight education, so was really interested in anything Vivian wanted to do academically. There was no history of nursing in her family and she says she kind of “fell into it” on graduation from high school. Nursing won out among the obvious available choices of nursing or teaching, and she has never regretted that choice. She always appreciated her parents for letting her do what she wanted by way of education.
Vivian credits the world-class education at UBC for helping her succeed wherever life took her. After graduation, she began working at Vancouver General, but later moved when her husband accepted a position in Sudbury. She recalls thinking moving to Sudbury was a risky decision, but it turned out to be “the best thing in the world” for her. “We moved every two years after that,” says Vivian, “but this gave a great background. And my education at the University of British Columbia helped me adapt and find work every time. They taught me to think and problem-solve, not just perform tasks like a robot.”
Much of Vivian’s professional career was in acute care nursing and nursing education in Ontario. In addition to her BScN from UBC, she obtained a Masters degree from the University of Toronto and for several years contributed to writing RN exam questions for what was then the CNA testing service (CNATS) examination. In that role, she had the privilege of meeting nurses from across the country. She also worked with OECA (which was a predecessor to TV Ontario) to produce some educational videos for nursing. After 37 years in the profession, Vivian took early retirement in 2003 and returned to BC where she started volunteering in West Vancouver and at the VGH Emergency Department. Vivian feels that her colleagues, students, and patients all added immeasurably to her life experience, for which she remains extremely grateful.
In 2016, Vivian had what she describes as “a sudden illumination… that the government was going to get a lot of my money after I died unless I made provisions NOW to divert money elsewhere.” She then worked with the UBC Development Office to set up an endowment fund to support a new generation of nurses. In recognition of her passion for particular acute care, she arranged a schedule of donations to endow the Vivian Lucas Scholarship in Acute Care Nursing during her lifetime, using her RRIF income for yearly donations to UBC. The award is now offered annually to an outstanding undergraduate nursing student with an aptitude for acute care, and who demonstrates excellent communication, leadership and adaptability. Vivian’s plan allowed her to receive tax savings in the immediate and her estate will also benefit from the tax savings of her future donation. In setting this up while she was still active, she has had the added benefit of receiving letters of appreciation from students who have benefitted from this scholarship. Vivian recalls that the bursaries and financial help that she received as an undergraduate were very helpful. “Being a student at UBC now is not an inexpensive proposition. It would be a shame if worthy students could not be educated in nursing simply because they lack the requisite funds. Lots of other faculties have lots of money put forward to help their students and I think nursing should support its students in the same fashion.”
Vivian has been active and forthcoming in sharing her donation story with others in the hopes of encouraging more UBC Nursing Alumni to ‘pay it forward’ in a similar manner. In 2019 when the School celebrated its Centenary anniversary, Vivian was among those honoured with a Centenary Medal for her important contributions to the School and its students.