Two York University graduate nursing students, Sally Baerg and Kadeen Briscoe, have received research awards from the Registered Nurses’ Foundation of Ontario (RNFOO).
Baerg, a master of science in nursing (MScN) student, is investigating “Congestive Heart Failure/Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation Related to Urinary Tract Infection Occurrence.” This study is the first step in identifying factors that can cause a hospital visit for people with either of these two chronic conditions, in the hope of developing strategies for preventing the need to go to hospital through appropriate problem identification and prompt, appropriate treatment. Baerg is the program’s first nurse practitioner student to choose to complete a thesis as part of her graduate studies. She was awarded the Nursing Research Interest Group (NRIG) Award ($1,000).
NRIG has partnered with RNFOO to launch this award to support a graduate nursing student who is in the process of completing master’s thesis research. Applicants must be members of NRIG for a minimum of two years and must have a completed research proposal.
Briscoe, who also an MScN student, is investigating the “Parental Needs Rating by Parents and Nurses: Association with Illness Severity.” This exploratory study seeks to identify the information needs of parents of infants in the neonatal intensive care unit and compare these to what the nurses believe are the information needs of parents. She was awarded a Community Health Nurses’ Initiatives Group (CHNIG) Research Award ($1,500).
This award provides opportunities to registered nurses who have been CHNIG members for a year or more and are pursing research in community health nursing at the master’s or doctoral level in an academic setting. The award can also be given to any community health nurse who has been a member of CHNIG for at least a year, who wishes to undertake research in a clinical setting.
Winners of the 2015 awards and scholarships were celebrated at the RNFOO Fundraising Gala on Wednesday, May 6, at Parkview Manor in Toronto. RNFOO is a charitable organization that provides financial support for nurses and nursing students in Ontario to help them further their educational studies, conduct nursing and health-care research, and support community health initiatives.
For more information, visit the RNFOO website.