Nursing Research Day

Strengthening early relationships to buffer the biological embedding of adversity: The Attachment and Child Health (ATTACH™) parenting program and children’s immune function in contexts of adversity

Alex Cuncannon is a second-year PhD student in the Faculty of Nursing, supervised by Dr. Nicole Letourneau and Dr. Kharah Ross. His research broadly examines parent/caregiver-child relationships and social genomics (with a focus on stress-related immune cell gene expression) in contexts of psychosocial and structural adversity (e.g., poverty, and family and gender-based violence). He is interested in advancing understandings of how psychosocial supports and interventions, like the ATTACH™ parenting program, can promote relational health and modulate stress-immune responses. Alex continues to build on four years of experience as a registered nurse in mental health. 

Shaping the future of healthcare: Co-constructing digital competency for person-centered care

Anne Bisschop is a PhD Candidate and Informatics Consultant driven by a fascination with how technology can both hinder and support the human connection in healthcare. Having witnessed the clinical tension between "checking boxes" on a screen and being truly present with a patient, Anne’s doctoral research explores how technological competence and compassionate care are connected, and endeavors to theorize about what person-centered care looks like in the digital age. When Anne is not busy with research pursuits, you will find her gardening, baking for her family of six, or getting out to the mountains for a hike! 

Can we do this again?": Understanding women's experiences of infertility

Carina Zhu is a PhD candidate with the Faculty of Nursing. Clinically, she has worked in acute care, sexual and reproductive health, harm reduction, and addictions and mental health. From 2012-2022, Carina was working in post-secondary education, in nursing and in public health. Currently, she has the best and worst (unpaid) job as Mom to two precocious kids. 

Understanding the experiences of women who have been domestically abused 

Jeniece Berg is a decades-long registered nurse who has personal experience with DA. Instead of shying away from her history, she has returned to the U of C to complete her Masters in Nursing, with her thesis focusing on the experiences of women who have been domestically abused. She is utilizing hermeneutic philosophy as her methodology and has incorporated artful expression as a part of her data collection. With her research she aims to humanize women who have experienced DA, and allow their personal stories and art be expressed. She also aims to be a role model for other women and nurses who may be ashamed of their own experiences with DA with her hermeneutic research. 

Improving emergency nursing care through narrative inquiry: Centering gender diverse experiences 

Sondra Wesner is a Registered Nurse and PhD student in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary. She continues to practice in emergency care in downtown Calgary while conducting research focused on equitable healthcare access. Her doctoral work uses narrative inquiry to examine the experiences of gender diverse individuals in emergency settings and to inform more responsive clinical practice and education. Sondra has over a decade of clinical nursing experience and is actively involved in graduate student leadership and teaching. Her broader interests include health equity, patient experience, and the translation of qualitative research into practical improvements in nursing care.