Cinzia Caparso, BSN, RN, is a doctoral candidate in the College of Nursing at Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA.  She is a Jonas Nurse Leadership Scholar for the cohort of 2016-2018. With her professional background as an oncology nurse and personal experience growing up in a family who lost a parent to cancer, Caparso’s research is to understand the concept of dying concerns from patients, co-parents, and children from a diverse population to understand end-of-life from a family unit. Her long-term research goal is to develop nurse-initiated interventions to improve the quality of life of all family members when faced with end-of-life of self or a loved one. 

Cinzia is a 2021 recipient of a conference grant from the International Family Nursing Foundation to support her attendance at the virtual 15th International Family Nursing Conference (IFNC15).

Recent publication: Caparso, C., Appel, J., & Benkert, R. (2020). Dying concerns in young parents with advanced cancer (PWAC): A scoping review. Palliative and Supportive Care, 19(1), 1-10. doi:10.1017/S1478951520000309

For more information, contact IFNA member Cinzia Caparso

Toia Francis is a junior (3rd year) undergraduate nursing student at the University of Southern Maine, USA. She reports knowing that she wanted to be a nurse since the age of 12 when she began to nurse her mother. Her mother has been a nurse for 18 years; her grandmother on her father’s side of the family is also a nurse, and both have inspired her.  She enjoys giving back and caring for others. She is especially passionate about mental health. Toia currently works part-time as a psychiatric technician at a behavioral health care facility. Her long-term goal is to enroll in a Psychiatric Nurse Practitioner Program after completing her bachelor’s degree in Nursing.

Toia is a 2021 recipient of a conference grant from the International Family Nursing Foundation to support her attendance at the virtual 15th International Family Nursing Conference (IFNC15).

For more information, contact IFNA member Toia Francis.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/toia_francis

Orla Hayes is a third-year undergraduate nursing student studying children’s and general (integrated) nursing at Dublin City University, Ireland. Nursing has always appealed to Orla as it provides an opportunity to care for people of all ages across the lifespan. She is particularly passionate about children’s nursing and inspired by the concept of family-centered care, which stimulated her student membership in the IFNA UK-Ireland Chapter and subsequently in IFNA. In the future, a combined clinical and research-focused career is something Orla envisages pursuing. As a stepping stone in this trajectory, she is currently applying for a summer research internship focused on child, youth, and family involvement in health research.

Orla Hayes is a 2021 recipient of a conference grant from the International Family Nursing Foundation to support her attendance at the virtual 15th International Family Nursing Conference (IFNC15).  

For more information, contact Orla Hayes.

Tine Ikander, RN, MScN, is a doctoral student in the Department of Oncology at Odense University Hospital, Denmark, and the University of Southern Denmark. 

With her background in palliative care nursing, Tine’s doctoral research is focused on individuals and their families experiencing incurable cancer and receiving general palliative care in the hospital. She is interested in improving the quality of life of individuals and families living with incurable cancer and including them in end-of-life discussions. 

Recent publication: Ikander, T., Jeppesen, S. S., Hansen, O., Raunkiær, M., & Dieperink, K. B. (2021). Patients and family caregivers report high treatment expectations during palliative chemotherapy: A longitudinal prospective study. BMC Palliative Care, 20, 37. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-021-00731-4

Tine is a 2021 recipient of a conference grant from the International Family Nursing Foundation to support her attendance at the virtual 15th International Family Nursing Conference (IFNC15).

For more information, contact IFNA member Tine Ikander

Twitter: @IkanderTine

LinkedIn: https://dk.linkedin.com/in/tine-ikander-a3058094

Dr. Kyoko Kobayashi is a Professor at St. Luke’s International University in Tokyo, Japan. Dr. Kobayashi’s research focuses on child-and family-centered care of pediatric patients and their families. Currently, she is working with a multidisciplinary team at St. Luke’s International Hospital on a cohort study of childhood cancer survivors and their families. This study aims to understand better how nursing interventions can enhance survivors’ and families’ condition management skills, employment status, and life quality.

Dr. Kobayashi is also involved in a joint research project to promote partnerships between nurses and families by gathering evidence that contributes to policy change and clarifying the interaction between family care and child health. In Japan, the partnership between healthcare professionals and patients is developing and requires families and nurses’ joint efforts to improve nurse awareness and family literacy. Based on a survey and interviews with families about inpatient nursing care experiences for children and families, the study investigators will develop specific policy suggestions at the national level about care for the family as a unit.

Dr. Kobayashi uses several validated measures in her research, including the Family Management Measure and the Pediatric Quality of Life Scale (the PedsQL). The latter serves as an outcome measure in her work focusing on cancer survivors and their families.

For more information, contact Dr. Kobayashi at [email protected].

LinkedIn:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyoko-kobayashi-910b0422/