Research
A Vibrant Research Community
Across the Lifespan
Research and scholarship in the College spans the continuum from pre-conception care to end-of-life care.
Dr. Lorraine Holtslander, funded by an
Oncology Nursing Society Foundation
Research Fellowship, is developing and
testing an intervention for caregivers
of palliative care cancer patients to
promote positive adjustment during
the transition from caregiving into the
phase of bereavement. The goal of her
research is to develop programs that will provide support
to bereaved family caregivers, and to develop policies for
care to promote healthy and safe outcomes through the
difficult transition from caregiving into bereavement.
Dr. Robin Evans, funded by the
Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region
Nursing Research Endowment Fund,
is studying fatigue experienced by new
mothers in hospital. While much information
exists about new mothers’
fatigue once they arrive home, there
is very little research on fatigue
experienced during mothers’ time in hospital. Findings
will help fill the gap in knowledge about mothers’ fatigue
in hospital, and, because fatigue is known to contribute
to postpartum depression, may contribute to new ways to
prevent post-partum depression.
Headed by Dr. Angela Bowen, the Post Partum Peer Support Network program is funded through RBC Nurses for Kids in the College of Nursing. The program trains and facilitates peer support volunteers to provide telephone support to women experiencing postpartum depression. Women who use the program, volunteers, and program facilitators are currently being asked about the effectiveness of, and their level of satisfaction with, the program, to ensure it is meeting the needs of women with postpartum depression.
Dr. Shelley Spurr’s research explores adolescents’ perceptions and experiences of wellness. The Caring for Kids Where They Live program, funded by Workforce Planning Branch, Ministry of Health, evolved from Shelley’s dissertation research as a partnership between faculty and students from the colleges of Nursing, Dentistry and Kinesiology. The goal of the program is to create an interprofessional pediatric clinical learning environment for health professional students within the Greater Saskatoon Catholic School System, and an educational environment that promotes high-school students’ well-being, learning and life-long success.
Dr. Donna Goodridge’s program of
research focuses on best practices
and quality of care for persons
with chronic illness, with a strong
emphasis on end of life care and
treatment decision making. In
addition to studying administrative
data sets, such as those from
Saskatchewan Health and Statistics Canada, she leads
several mixed methodology projects focusing on the
perceptions of persons with advanced chronic obstructive
pulmonary disease regarding care transitions. She
currently holds a five-year CIHR New Investigator Award.