Nine UCalgary Nursing graduate students awarded ARNET annual scholarships

Nine UCalgary nursing graduate students were awarded scholarship funding from the Alberta Registered Nurses Educational Trust this summer. ARNET plays a vital role in supporting the continuing education and research initiatives of Alberta’s 50,000 registered nurses and nurse practitioners. These scholarships not only recognize the dedication and hard work of these future health-care leaders but also aligns with ARNET's mission to enhance nursing excellence through educational advancement. 

“Nursing leaders play a critical role in shaping the future of health care in Alberta. They are at the forefront of patient care, health system management and innovative research that drives improvements in clinical practices and patient outcomes,” says Dr. Lorelli Nowell, RN, PhD, Associate Dean, Graduate Programs, UCalgary Nursing.

“As these students embark on their professional journeys, their achievement reflects a commitment to improving patient care and fostering innovation within the nursing field across the province.” 

These scholarships have allowed nurses to develop their leadership skills, engage in cutting-edge research, and ultimately contribute to the enhancement of health-care services in Calgary. Read below to learn more about UCalgary's nine ARNET scholarship winners.

Camille Piquette

Camille's research focuses on Acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a rapidly progressing and life-threatening hematological cancer, that significantly impacts an individual's health while exerting resource constraints on both the health-care system and family caregivers of those afflicted. Little is known about how people newly diagnosed with AML understand their disease and how this influences treatment.

Her research focuses on qualitative exploration to elucidate how patients perceive and comprehend their diagnosis, the impacts on their prognosis perceptions and how this informs their treatment decision-making. By understanding the perspectives of people diagnosed with AML, Camille asserts that we may improve shared care decision-making, enhance the quality of life and evaluate whether current cancer care education models meet the nuanced needs of patients diagnosed with AML.

 

Anne Bisschop

Anne is a PhD student in the Faculty of Nursing. Her research will examine the integration of technology into nursing workflows. With the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) in various sectors, Anne is looking to further explore the world of AI and see how it can be effectively integrated into nursing. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alise Stark

Alise completed her first graduate certificate for Contemporary Topics in Aging in August 2023. Her focus during the last two semesters of study was on a quality improvement project to improve handover communication at designated supportive living facilities and the communication between home care and these facilities. 

She is now working on her second certificate at the Faculty of Nursing: Leadership for Health System Transformation. Through this certificate, Alise has explored her own personal leadership practices, her role in transforming health care systems and the use of design thinking practices to explore complex health care challenges, to create innovative solutions. 

 

Erie Melnychuk

Erie is a neonatal intensive care (NICU) nurse working towards her Master of Nursing via the Graduate Certificates laddered pathway which has allowed her to explore both Addiction and Mental Health, as well as Palliative and End of Life Care nursing. By focusing on these two areas of nursing, it is her goal to work towards improving the mental and emotional health of parents and families of hospitalized infants in Alberta. 

 

 

 

 

 

Jeniece Berg

Through painting and interviews, Jeniece's research is aimed at understanding the experiences of women who have been domestically abused. Domestic abuse is a serious public health issue in Canada; 1 in 3 women will experience domestic abuse in their lifetime. Despite this staggering statistic, not enough societal or political attention is being paid to this phenomenon. 

She theorizes that this is because most of the research on the topic excludes survivor's voices. It is time to bring these women's voices to the forefront and humanize their experiences for everyone to see. Her hope is that her research brings the awareness and attention this issue deserves. 

 

 

 

Taylor Wheatley 

Taylor's research aims to uncover the nuanced experiences and perceptions of nurses in integrating palliative care for hematopoietic stem-cell transplant patients. By highlighting the pivotal role of nurses in early palliative care, she seeks to facilitate open discussions on end-of-life preferences and enhance the overall nursing experience, fostering healing amidst adversity. 

This research holds profound implications for oncology nursing, emphasizing the importance of addressing the unique needs of nurses caring for hematopoietic stem-cell transplant patients. Through this work, she aims to catalyze advancements in palliative care practices within hematology-oncology settings, honouring the resilience and dignity of patients grappling with hematological malignancies.

 

 

 

Tabea Dixon

Through the University of Calgary course-based Master of Nursing program, Tabea has studied assessment of palliative patient total pain and learned how to holistically understand patient suffering. She believes that advanced nursing practice must address all the domains of suffering that patients with a terminal illness experience. She has also studied nurse communication of palliative prognostic information in partnership with the physician and interdisciplinary team. With her palliative care focus, she hopes to empower nurses to participate in prognostic-related communication and elevate their nursing practice by engaging in difficult conversations with patients.

 

 

Sara Nosworthy

Sara's clinical and academic work has provided her with opportunities to collect and manage data, engage in intervention development and testing, participate in research team meetings, co-author papers and textbook chapters, and present at national and international conferences. This background provides a solid foundation for her Doctor of Nursing (DN) work. The supportive and diverse training environment in the DN program focuses her ability to identify opportunities for improvement and develop, implement and evaluate streamlined and innovative processes to improve healthcare practice, resulting in optimal care for patients. 

Through her DN work, Sara plans to develop and pilot a self-triage app to help improve patient’s timely and appropriate access to health care. This will ultimately result in cost-savings to the health-care system, pushing the boundaries on how health care can be accessed by the public with the potential for this innovation to be spread provincially and nationally.

 

Additional ARNET scholarship winners from UCalgary Nursing include Tracy King, Nursing PhD student.