Nursing Science Quarterly

Nursing Science Quarterly Publishes Review by Summer Undergraduate Student Research Program Participants

7 January 2014

Undergraduate students Nisa Mullaithilaga and Denisia Conley spent the summer of 2013 working at Bloomberg Nursing as part of the prestigious Summer Undergraduate Student Research Program.  Appointed to work with Assistant Professor Kimberley Widger, the BScN students entered into a once-in-a-lifetime nursing research experience.  A portion of their outstanding work has been captured in Nursing Science Quarterly, which has recently published their piece A Review of Enduring Love: Transforming Loss (2011); Why Did Baby Die? Mothering Children Living With the Loss, Love and Continuing Presence of a Baby Sibling (2010); and Nurses Grieve Too: Insights Into Experiences With Perinatal Loss (2010), Videos by Christine Jonas-Simpson.

Mullaithilaga and Conley spent their summer placement working on a number of projects with Dr. Widger.  When Dr. Widger was approached to review the three videos, she offered the students the opportunity to gain valuable research experience by conducting the review themselves.  The resulting work was impressive enough that Dr. Widger only acted as editor for the final product.

The review process exposed Mullaithilaga and Conley to a novel knowledge translation strategy for research in pediatric palliative care produced by Jonas-Simpson.  They were able to write a balanced critique that highlighted the importance of this work in educating health professionals to provide high quality care to families who experience the death of a baby in the midst of the gamut of emotions involved at the personal, and professional, level.  This opportunity is one of many that the Research Program offers interested BScN students.

The Summer Undergraduate Student Research Program runs every year and is comprised of funding from a number of sources including the University’s Life Sciences Committee, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing Bertha Rosenstandt Health Research Fund.  For more information on the 2014 program, please contact research.nursing@utoronto.ca