Dr. Pat L. Griffin Award

It is an honour to be supported by the CNF as I pursue my doctorate in nursing administration research at McGill University. I am a Registered Nurse, with a BSc in Physiology and Master’s preparation in nursing. My clinical experience has involved caring for patients and families in paediatric and neonatal intensive care unit settings; yet I have always been sensitive to and curious about the administrative, educational, and research impacts on the quality and performance of nurses’ work within the context of the larger health system. Thus my research experience in safety and bereavement care has deliberately focused attention on systems perspectives and influences. My intriguing thesis project is allowing me to explore nursing care practice changes, contextual influences on change at unit and organizational levels, and in particular, the longer-term sustainability of evidence-informed organizational and practice change initiatives centered on improving patient safety in acute care. The issue of sustaining changes in practice is a significant challenge and has received very little research attention. I am excited to be able to creatively contribute to this knowledge area, especially from a nursing perspective. It is a privilege to be a nurse and to have the opportunity to participate in the advancement of knowledge about our profession and our contribution to the well-functioning of the health system. Given the increasing awareness of the divides between research and practice, my interest is to help better understand and be part of collaborative, multi-disciplinary, knowledge-to-action efforts to improve the health of Canadians.