Research Summary
My research interests emphasize symptom management and supportive care for children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer and emphasize novel uses of technology to capture the symptom experience from the individual perspectives of children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer.
Education
- BSN, Nursing, University of Utah College of Nursing
- MS, Parent-Child Clinical Nurse Specialist, University of Utah College of Nursing
- PhD, Nursing, University of Utah College of Nursing
Biography
I hold a joint appointment as a Professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing and as a Clinical Nurse Specialist with the Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders at Primary Children's Medical Center. I have over 30 years of experience as a pediatric oncology nurse and hold national certification as a pediatric oncology nurse. My research interests emphasize symptom management and supportive care for children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer. My research interests also emphasize novel uses of technology to capture the symptom experience from the individual perspectives of children, adolescents, and young adults with cancer. I am a founding member of the Consortium to Study Symptoms in Adolescents and Young Adults with Cancer (CS2AYAC), a consortium of group of nurse researchers in the United States with a shared interest in studying symptoms in adolescents and young adults with cancer. Our team developed the Computerized Symptom Capture Tool (C-SCAT), which uses a heuristics model to examine the symptom experience from the AYA’s personal perspective. We demonstrated the initial feasibility and acceptability of the C-SCAT from the perspective of 72 AYAs with cancer. In a follow up study, we demonstrated the preliminary efficacy of C-SCAT as a resource to support symptom self management among AYAs receiving chemotherapy. We are presently evaluating the C-SCAT's ability to improve symptom self-management among AYAs receiving chemotherapy in a multi-site R01 funded by the National Cancer Institute. Through a K23 Award (1K23NR014874-01 National Institute of Nursing Research), I engaged elementary school-age children and pediatric oncology clinicians as co-designers of a symptom assessment app Color Me Healthy. Programming was supported by the University of Utah's Therapeutic Games and Apps Lab (The GApp Lab). We demonstrated the feasibility and acceptability of this app and have made improvements to the user interface to support a larger evaluation of the app's clinical utility to improve symptom management.
Career Highlights
2021 Inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing (FAAN)
2022 Inducted as a Fellow in the Association of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nurses (FAPHON)