Lindsay Jibb, registered nurse and scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids) and assistant professor at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, has been renewed for a second term as the Signy Hildur Eaton Chair in Paediatric Nursing Research, a position jointly held at Bloomberg Nursing and SickKids.
“This endowed chair has been instrumental to the launch of my career,” says Jibb, “I have been really fortunate to be able to step into this Chair so early on, which has allowed me to achieve some impactful outcomes in my research.”
The Signy Hildur Eaton Chair in Paediatric Nursing Research was established in 1997, the first endowed Chair in Canada to provide a nursing first approach to research in the field of pediatrics.
Advancing research for children with cancer
Jibb credits the funding provided by the Chair for supporting two of the main goals of her program of research – advancing research in the area of psycho-social support for children with cancer, and catalyzing nursing research at SickKids.
“Lindsay has been a pioneer in advancing pain management for children with cancer, using a variety of digital tools including novel mobile applications. As the Signy Hildur Eaton Chair in Paediatric Nursing Research, her research and its impact will continue to be a leading example of nurse-led innovations in care,” says Robyn Stremler, Dean of the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing.
In her first term as Chair, Jibb led initiatives that centered around scaling up digital health interventions that could support children diagnosed with cancer in managing their mental health and pain. Most recently this included a study on a virtual psychosocial support program at SickKids led in collaboration with Dr. Chana Korenblum-Teens4Teens – which sought to help adolescents experiencing social isolation due to their cancer treatment and the COVID-19 pandemic feel connected with peers and supported in their cancer journey.
“Lindsay’s renewal as Chair is a testament to her commitment to improve care by combining clinical research with the unique insights nurses are privilege to every day,” says Judy Van Clieaf, Chief Nursing Officer and Vice-President, Clinical Operations at SickKids.
Future Innovation
Now in her second term as Chair, Jibb is continuing to explore the impact of digital health interventions, particularly those that support the parents of children diagnosed with cancer in an effort to lessen the burden of the diagnoses on them.
“When we asked families what areas they wanted us to address related to cancer care, parent mental health rose to the top,” says Jibb. “Clinical reports from nurses and doctors also indicated that these parents were extremely distressed, which informed which area of research we should focus on next.”
In December of 2024, Jibb launched a new trial that will offer 8-12 sessions of virtual psychotherapeutic interventions, aimed at preventing traumatic stress in parents. The sessions will be led by a social worker or a nurse, providing a greater opportunity to raise awareness of nurse-led psychotherapy and the ability for nurses to fill a gap in psychosocial supportive care.
“Involving nurses in this type of psychosocial care has historically been a blind spot in clinical research,” says Jibb. “Nurses spend the most time with children, and their parents so being able to upskill their capability to provide psychosocial care allows us to think big picture and improve care provision within hospital settings.”