NANB/TD Meloche Monnex Centennial Doctoral Scholarship

I have been a nurse for the past 17 years. I became a nurse because, from a young age, I always enjoyed caring for people. I also wanted to make a difference in people’ lives.

After working 15 years in the intensive care unit and obtaining my Master’s of Nursing, I enrolled in a PhD program because I wanted to improve healthcare for patients. My doctoral study is about understanding how the reduction in nurse staffing can impacts patient adverse events, such as infections or mortality in New Brunswick. The mixed method study uses large administrative data from the last five years (econometric analysis). Because nurses safeguard patient care, the study also explores the nursing work practice (ethnography). By better understanding the rate of adverse events, and the role of nurses in preventing and managing patient harm, the results will hopefully shape patient safety policies.

I am most proud of my perseverance facing a number of barriers which slowed the progress of my doctoral work. Initially, the pandemic had big impact on prolonging data collection. Secondly, retrieving data from several sources within both hospitals systems and the provincial government proved to be both complex and challenging, as multiple stakeholders were often hesitant to share data. My perseverance has provided me with a greater strength of character.

I sincerely thank the Canadian Nurse Foundation for the NANB/TD Meloche Monnex Centennial Doctoral Scholarship. I am grateful and humbled by receiving such a prestigious award. Being recognized by my peers is meaningful because its means that my work is valuable for the nursing profession.