Ginny L. Schulz, PhD, RN, CPNP-PC, is a pediatric nurse practitioner in stem cell transplant and cellular therapy at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Her recent doctoral work at University of Missouri Sinclair School of Nursing in Columbia, Missouri, USA, focused on treatment decision making and decisional conflict in families of children and adolescents with sickle cell disease considering stem cell transplant using case study methods. This underutilized research method demonstrated an innovative approach to investigating complex family processes. Her doctoral work was supported by the American Cancer Society Doctoral Degree Scholarship in Cancer Nursing and a Small Project Award from the Center for Patient-Centered Outcomes Research at the University of Missouri School of Medicine. Through this work and other collaborative projects, she has worked with multiple family, decision, and communication scientists from numerous disciplines to lay the foundation to her program of research in pediatric and family communication and treatment decision-making. As she continues to build her program of research, her emphasis will shift to exploring the ethics of child voice and family-level health disparities in communication and treatment decision-making. For more information, contact IFNA member Ginny Schulz.
Dr. Roberta L Woodgate Leads IN•GAUGE, a Research Program Focused on Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare
Roberta L. Woodgate, RN, PhD, (she/her/hers) is a Distinguished Professor in the College of Nursing, University of Manitoba, Canada. Roberta holds a Tier 1 Canada Research Chair Award in Child and Family Engagement in Health Research and Healthcare. Her research program, IN•GAUGE, embraces a dynamic approach to: involve children, youth and families in the research process; interact with researchers and knowledge users in the research, intervention, and evaluation process; and be innovative in the use and exchange of knowledge with the combined goal of improving the health and well-being of children and youth.
Roberta embraces a rights-based approach to research that recognizes that the voices of children and youth have in the past been silenced in research and in the decisions affecting their lives, including their health, and advocates for an approach that recognizes that children and youth are key actors in their own development, with the right to participate in decisions that affect them in accordance with their evolving capacities. Roberta researches the perspectives and lived experiences of children and youth across a wide range of health conditions (e.g., mental illnesses, disabilities, complex care needs and conditions, chronic illnesses) and life challenges (e.g., transitioning from the child welfare system, accessing respite services) as well as various communities (e.g., Indigenous youth and their families and newcomer families). By means of an integrated knowledge translation approach, Roberta leads research teams that support interdisciplinary expertise and the involvement of research end-users including clinicians and decision-makers, but importantly that centre the expertise of children, youth, and families as partners in research.
Dr. Woodgate’s Research Website: www.ingauge.ca
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WoodgateRoberta
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertawoodgate/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUvZpphusBjwmswdRk4m-dw
Dr. Marilyn Swan Develops Family-Focused Simulations and Educational Innovations in Undergraduate Family Nursing Education
Marilyn A. Swan, PhD, RN, is an associate professor in the School of Nursing at Minnesota State University, Mankato, Minnesota, USA. Her development and use of family-focused simulations and educational innovations in the undergraduate curriculum supports family nursing care in practice. Her research focuses on developing concepts within rural nursing theory and exploring the health of individuals and families residing in rural areas. For more information, contact IFNA member Marilyn Swan.
A new entry re: Dr. Marilyn Swan’s accomplishments. March 2024 from Lynn Kuechle, School of Nursing, Minnesota State University, Mankato, USA:
Hats off to Dr. Marilyn Swan!
Swan, a nursing department faculty member since 2012, has been recognized as the inaugural recipient of the Glen Taylor Nursing Institute for Family and Society Faculty Research Dissemination Award.
This award honors Dr. Swan’s outstanding contributions to the field of family and societal nursing research and her commitment to disseminating impactful findings.
The award highlights Dr. Swan’s article, “Familiarity: A Concept Analysis on Rural Life,” which was published in the May 2023 issue of the Online Journal of Rural Nursing and Health Care (https://lnkd.in/gVAmvJQE). Her research explores the concept of familiarity within the context of rural life, shedding light on its significance and implications for rural healthcare.
Dr. Swan’s work garnered further recognition as she presented her findings at both the 16th Annual International Family Nursing Association Research Conference and the International Rural Nursing Conference in 2023. Her presentation highlighted the conceptual foundation laid by her research, providing valuable insights for future exploration and scholarly inquiry.
The article underscores the importance of understanding familiarity in rural settings, emphasizing its role in shaping the experiences of rural nurses both personally and professionally. By identifying the key components of familiarity in rural research, Dr. Swan’s work paves the way for enhanced recognition and appreciation of this vital aspect of rural healthcare practice. For more information, see: https://rnojournal.binghamton.edu/index.php/RNO/article/view/729
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/marilyn-swan-52b28356
Twitter: https://twitter.com/marilynswan19
Beth Skelton Studies Care Coordination Needs of Families of Children with Down Syndrome
Beth Skelton, RN, MSN, CPNP-PC, is a PhD candidate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (USA) and a member of the IFNA Student Engagement Group. Beth is a member of Family and Down syndrome research group led by Dr. Marcia Van Riper, which includes study participants from 50 countries and focuses on studying adaptation and family management in the context of a family member with Down syndrome. Beth has worked with Dr. Van Riper on other studies funded through the University’s Dhillon Jordan Shah Innovation Fund and the School of Medicine’s Innovative Sleep Research initiative comparing family adaptation to having a child with Down syndrome, a congenital heart condition, or both. In addition to her work with Dr. Van Riper, Beth has worked as project manager for Dr. Louise Fleming on a study funded by the Pediatric Endocrine Nursing Society to create a mobile health app application to support persons with adrenal insufficiency. The combination of these experiences contributed to the development of her dissertation study addressing care coordination needs of families of children with Down syndrome and the development of a mobile health application to support parents’ care coordination efforts. Beth is fortunate to have IFNA members Dr. Marcia Van Riper, Dr. Kathleen Knafl, Dr. George Knafl, Dr. Louise Fleming and Dr. Veronica Swallow on her dissertation committee. For more information, contact IFNA member Beth Skelton.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/bethskelton11
Heeyeon Son Studies Families of Children and Adolescents with Cancer
Heeyeon Son, RN, MSN, is a PhD candidate and a fellow of American Cancer Society Doctoral Degree in Cancer Nursing at the Duke University School of Nursing (USA). She is also a member of the IFNA Student Engagement Group.
Her research interest focuses on helping families of children and adolescents with cancer cope with the child’s cancer diagnosis. She is particularly interested in improving parent-child communication in the childhood cancer context to foster their coping and resilience. Her current dissertation focuses on (1) exploring parent-child communication experiences of Korean adolescents with cancer and their parents, and (2) examining the potential relationship between engaging in effective parent-child communication and better coping and adjustment of adolescents with cancer.
Heeyeon’s long-term research goal is to study “family environment,” including family communication to encourage children and adolescents with cancer and their families’ coping and better adjustment across the illness trajectory. She believes that family is one of the most potent sources of support for children and adolescents with cancer. Therefore, she is dedicated to fostering recovery of broken families of children with cancer and helping them have positive power to help children and adolescents with cancer.
For more information, contact IFNA member Heeyeon Son.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/heeyeon-son-97277b100/
