Graduate Student Supervision
I am currently accepting MNSc and PhD students who are interested in acute, chronic or cancer pain care, advanced practice nursing, collaborative and interprofessional practice, perioperative care or technology in nursing practice.
Teaching Philosophy
Studying nursing is a process that involves a conversation between the student, the teacher and the world of human beings and the environment in which they live. My role as teacher is to enable students to develop an understanding of the essence of human experience and a nursing lens through which they can critically examine each situation and context in the healthcare environment. My classes are conducted within an atmosphere of mutual respect where candid discussion and diverse opinion are not only welcome but are expected. I encourage students to support their views with classical and contemporary literature and with their own practice knowledge: recognizing that evidence has a variety of sources. My teaching expertise includes Research Methods, Theoretical Perspectives and Philosophy of Nursing Science, Systematic Review Methodologies, Medical/Surgical Nursing and Chronic Disease.
Research
My research program is reflective of my pluralist approach and is inclusive of projects within positivist, interpretive and critical paradigms. I believe that this pragmatism has the greatest utility in addressing the theory practice gap in nursing and is consistent with my research and practice goals. As an expert nurse with a busy clinical practice that has extended from the in-patient to community/out-patient environments, I have the ability to generate research questions that address practice needs and designs that are relevant, feasible and appropriate to the sector of interest. As a result, my research program is grounded squarely in the practice paradigm and addresses my overarching interest of Patient Safeguarding. My projects fall under the Queen’s Nursing and Health Research: Populations with Complex Health Conditions and Health Care Quality.
Clinical Practice
I currently practice at Hotel Dieu Hospital in the interdisciplinary chronic pain clinic one day/week and am credentialed as a nurse practitioner within the Kingston Health Sciences Centre. I hold a joint appointment to the Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine and have particular expertise in complex chronic pain care and non-pharmacologic therapies.