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Five-year research report shows depth and breadth
UBCO professor says frontline nurses grapple with a good death amidst new end of life options.
While Canada may have legalized medical assistance in dying in 2016, the moral challenges continue for primary care workers, including nurse practitioners who can legally assess eligibility for and provide assisted death.
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Nursing program at OC and UBCO recognized for innovative curriculum
The Bachelor of Science in Nursing program at UBC Okanagan and Okanagan College has received long-term accreditation from the British Columbia College of Nursing Professionals (BCCNP), which regulates nurse training in the province.
The program has been approved for the next seven years with no terms or conditions. That’s great news for current and future students, and for health care employers and patients, says Prof. Marie Tarrant, Director of the School of Nursing in the Faculty of Health and Social Development at UBC Okanagan.
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UBC professor examines support programs for fresh nursing graduates
This June, 130 students graduated from UBC Okanagan’s School of Nursing. While a new career is an exciting milestone, it can be challenging for new nurses. Statistics show high attrition rates, with many leaving the profession after just two years.
Nursing Professor Kathy Rush has a long history of teaching. Part of her role is ensuring that students who graduate from the School of Nursing succeed at what they do. Rush has recently published a review that evaluated several programs that support nurses as they enter the workforce. We asked why these programs are necessary and more importantly: do they work?
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Exploring how to help Canada's growing older population age successfully from head to toe
CANADA’S POPULATION IS AGING— by 2036, it’s estimated that adults over the age of 65 will represent more than 20 per cent of the population. And this growing demographic craves autonomy and a fulfilling quality of life enriched by community.
From this lens of being informed by older adults, researchers at UBC Okanagan (UBCO) are examining how to best support the goals of our aging population to help them age successfully and with satisfaction.
Nursing LABS
The Nursing Research and Knowledge Hub in the School of Nursing at UBC’s Okanagan Campus is a collaborative research space for nursing faculty, students, and partners to design and conduct research that transforms health and health systems. The Hub is an open community that is home to four areas of research excellence.
Despite a vast body of evidence and practical policy solutions, systematic differences in health and health outcomes persist along social gradients—both within and between countries. These differences, or health inequities, are human-caused and unfair. This research lab focuses on supporting people to develop meaningful ways to align their good equity intentions with the evidence about what causes health inequities.
The Aging and Health Lab seeks to enhance the health and wellbeing of older adults with complex health challenges, across healthcare and geographic contexts. We study health services and transitions in care for older adults with cardiac conditions (e.g., atrial fibrillation) and have a special interest in the application of perspectives of risk.
The focus of research in the Families, Caregiving, and Decision Making in Advanced Illness Research Lab is on assisting families to live and die well with serious illness. One arm of our research has addressed knowledge development aimed at better understanding the experiences of family caregivers who provide care at end of life towards with the aim of improving practice and influencing policy. We have learned about family caregivers’ needs, what happens when they are unable to achieve a desired home death, and the factors that contribute to managing death at home.
Our primary program of research focuses on finding innovative ways to enhance the care of older adults living with life-limiting chronic illness. An important aspect of quality of life for older adults is aging in place, whether at home or in their home community. However, with limited healthcare services, innovative strategies are required. We are trialing volunteer/healthcare provider navigation partnerships to support older adults to age in place.
In the Health Promotion and E-health Co-design and Evaluation Lab, we translate research findings into innovative solutions to promote health and prevent chronic disease. Working in collaboration with community partners, we study user preferences and needs and engage users in the co-design of gender-sensitive and gender-specific approaches to support health behaviour change. Targeted health behaviours include smoking, physical activity and healthy eating, and mental wellness.
In the Indigenous Health Promotion and Cultural Safety Lab, we work with Indigenous Peoples and multi-sector community partners to create culturally safe ways to foster respectful non-racist, non-discriminatory health care provision and policy change. Our work includes decolonizing approaches for community-led holistic health research that honours local knowledge and benefits all generations within communities
This research lab focuses on integrated health systems and service delivery. We are interested in how services are integrated across the continuum of care and intersectoral collaboration with such areas as social services and education.
Our research is focused on how to improve maternal and child health outcomes with an emphasis on breastfeeding and childhood and maternal vaccinations. Our methodologies include large longitudinal cohort studies, population-based cross-sectional studies and intervention studies that are designed to inform and influence public health policies and perinatal health-care services.
This lab is focused on Population Health Approaches to Implementing Research (k)Nowledge for Equitable Systems & Strategies in Health (PHAIRNESS). The aim is to reorient health systems toward health equity through the systematic application of a health equity lens to improve health outcomes.
Our focus of research is promoting healthy and safe child development within a family and community context. Focus areas include child injury prevention, promotion of physical activity for children and families, and understanding the experiences of parents who have a child living with a chronic condition or disability. We are aiming to learn how families can be better supported to promote their children’s health through safe and active physical activities.
Training Opportunities
RESEARCH TRAINING AND MENTORSHIP
School of Nursing faculty members provide opportunities for research training and mentorship within our areas of research excellence.
We welcome inquiries regarding these opportunities. If you are interested in any aspect of post-graduate training within a specific lab, please contact the principal investigator of that lab directly.
School of Nursing faculty members are accepting students interested in completing the course-based or thesis-based stream of the Masters of Science in Nursing, and students interested in completing thesis research in the Interdisciplinary Master’s program. For more information
School of Nursing faculty members are accepting PhD students interested in a doctoral program in Nursing or Interdisciplinary Studies with specific interests in the ongoing programs of research. For more information
Research training at the post-doctoral level within School of Nursing research labs and areas of research excellence is available for trainees with a professional qualification in nursing or doctoral graduates interested in furthering their training in any of the on-going programs of research.
Trainees and health professionals are invited to contact the School of Nursing faculty members directly to discuss opportunities for research internships or practica in their respective research labs. Our faculty members also welcome inquiries from undergraduate students (in any discipline) wishing to explore research practicum opportunities in our labs.
Our School of Nursing faculty members welcome inquiries from students and trainees from around the world wishing to complete part of their research training in one of our nursing research labs.
Employment Opportunities
WORK IN RESEARCH
There are a variety of types of employment opportunities in ongoing programs of research in each of the School of Nursing Research Labs.
(For eligible UBCO undergraduate and graduate students from any faculty) as advertised on the UBC Okanagan Student Services website.
Positions part-time positions for undergraduate and graduate students are frequently available. Positions are open to qualified students from any faculty. Contact lead investigators directly to inquire about opportunities.
Refer to the UBC Human Resources website for current openings.