CANS Leadership

The Eastern Nursing Research Society (ENRS) is dedicated to creating a community of nurses interested in promoting and supporting regional nursing research in the Eastern Region of the United States. Our goals are to provide a Networking Forum for Nurse Scientists, develop Nursing Science, translate Evidence to Guide Practice and Education and to Influence Policy, mentor Nurse Scientists, sustain a Vital Organization.

ENRS consists of the following states: Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington, D.C.

2024 CANS-ENRS Grant Recipient: Na Ouyang

Yale School of Nursing

Exploring Communication in Pediatric Oncology and Parental Bereavement

Cancer-bereaved parents face increased physical and psychological health risks. High-quality parent-clinician communication is essential for parents to cope with adversities, prepare for their child’s end-of-life (EOL), and reduce long-term grief and depression. However, little is known about how specific aspects of communication influence parental outcomes during early bereavement (the first two years post-death), a particularly vulnerable time. We applied an explanatory sequential mixed methods study to explore this gap. In the quantitative phase, we did a secondary analysis of survey data from Dr. Jennifer Snaman. Results showed providing adequate prognostic information may alleviate prolonged grief symptoms by preparing parents for their child’s EOL. In the qualitative phase, we conducted 15 semi-structured interviews with early bereaved parents. Our findings aim to identify the content and style of prognostic communication that best supports parental preparedness and examine how feeling prepared or unprepared influences their grief. 

The Midwest Nursing Research Society (MNRS) has been transforming how nursing is practiced since 1975. MNRS does this two ways: by promoting, disseminating, and using nursing research and by encouraging, supporting, and connecting the next generation of nurse scientists.

MNRS consists of the following states: Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota, Oklahoma and Wisconsin.

2024 CANS-MNRS Grant Recipient: Paula de la Peña

Loyola University Chicago Marcella Niehoff School of Nursing

Evaluating Symptom Clusters in First-time Ischemic Stroke Survivors

The purpose of this dissertation study was to utilize the Theory of Unpleasant Symptoms as a theoretical framework to evaluate symptom clusters that occur across the physical, social, and psychological domains of stroke recovery in first-time ischemic stroke survivors. Clinical notes were analyzed utilizing natural language processing for the presence of symptoms in the immediate post-acute period of fifteen months following discharge from the hospital. Latent class analyses were performed to examine symptom clusters and subclasses of the study cohort associated with each cluster. Results of analyses supported the presence of three symptom clusters that occur during this time period in the study cohort, with members of the cohort belonging to each distinct cluster. This study further highlights the multidimensionality of the post-stroke experience and suggests that providers may not be conducting a holistic evaluation of stroke survivors as it pertains to indicators of their recovery.

The Southern Nursing Research Society's (SNRS) mission is to advance nursing research, promote dissemination and utilization of research findings, facilitate the career development of nurses and nursing students as researchers, enhance communication among members and promote the image of nursing as a scientific discipline.

SNRS consists of the following states: Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and West Virginia. In 1991, the boundaries were expanded to include the Caribbean, Latin America and the Bahamas.

2024 CANS-SNRS Grant Recipient: Stacy Pryor

University of South Florida College of Nursing

YouMatter

Nurses are at a critical breaking point with their physical and mental well-being. Cognitive failure, defined as lapses in memory, attention, and action may occur due to nurse’s physical and mental health, and/or their specific work environment. Nurse cognitive failure is reported to lead to adverse patient events including medication errors and healthcare-associated infections. Specific stressors related to nursing included insufficient staffing to support safe patient ratios, night shift work, and increased patient acuity. Prolonged exposure to stress among nurses has vital implications for practice, particularly if chronic stress may affect or be associated with cognitive abilities. This research study will establish foundational knowledge in the relationships between objective and subjective measures of stress, burnout, anxiety, depression, and sleep quality with cognitive failure risk among nurses and provide empirical evidence for the development of mitigation strategies that may lead to reduced adverse patient outcomes.

The Western Institute of Nursing's (WIN) mission is to bring together a diverse community of nurses in a shared commitment to advance nursing science, education, and practice to improve health outcomes.

WIN consists of the following states: Alaska, Arizona, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming.

2024 CANS-WIN Grant Recipient: Shannon A. Cotton

University of California, Irvine

Skin pigment and pulse oximeter bias: Does skin pigment interact with red or infrared light of pulse oximeters resulting in performance bias?

Pulse oximetry (SpO2) has long been used as a screening and monitoring tool for oxygenation status and is usually a reliable marker of arterial oxygen saturation (SaO2). However, pulse oximetry can overestimate the arterial oxygenation leading to undetected, occult hypoxia and subsequent clinical complications from untreated hypoxia. Recent data have demonstrated unacceptably high rates of arterial oxygenation overestimation by pulse oximetry, especially in patients with darker skin pigmentation. Intubated, adult patients in two ICUs at an academic medical center were enrolled prospectively. Reflectance spectrophotometry was performed with a Konica Minolta CM-700d spectrophotometer (Konica Minolta Ramsey, NJ) to measure the melanin index (MI), which is an estimate of skin melanin content. The MI was then compared to the difference between the pulse oximeter and arterial oxygenation (SpO2 – SaO2). Findings will help understand how skin pigment affects pulse oximeter bias.

The American Nurses Foundation (ANF) is the national philanthropic organization that promotes the continued growth and development of nurses and services to advance the work of the nursing profession. Foundation programs benefit nurses and consumers wherever nurses practice.

The mission of the Foundation is to promote the health of the public and advance the nursing profession. ANF accomplishes its mission through three major functions: nursing research grants, extramural projects/grants, and fundraising.

The National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR)’s mission is to lead nursing research to solve pressing health challenges and inform practice and policy - optimizing health and advancing health equity into the future.

NINR prioritizes research framed through five complementary and synergistic lenses that best leverage the strengths of nursing research and promote multilevel approaches, cross-disciplinary and -sectoral collaboration, and community engagement in research. The research lenses are Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, Population and Community Health, Prevention and Health Promotion, and Systems and Models of Care. NINR-supported researchers explore and address some of the most important challenges affecting the health of the American people.

The vision of Sigma Theta Tau International is to create a global community of nurses who lead in using knowledge, scholarship, service and learning to improve the health of the world’s people.

The mission of the Honor Society of Nursing, Sigma Theta Tau International is to support the learning, knowledge and professional development of nurses committed to making a difference in health worldwide.

2024 CANS-Sigma Grant Recipient: Sarah E. Janek

Duke University School of Nursing

Intersectional Discrimination and Sexual Health Among Young Black Men who Have Sex with Men: Supporting a Community-Engaged Approach

Due to the disparate HIV incidence experienced by young Black men who have sex with men (YBMSM), this research focuses on understanding the relationship between the discrimination and sexual health experienced by YBMSM living without HIV across the United States. I will use an explanatory sequential mixed methods design analyzing data from a subsample of YBMSM from a large NIH-funded dataset (R01MD013623). My study seeks to identify subgroups of YBMSM with different patterns of intersectional discrimination experiences and examine these subgroups’ association with sexual health. This research will use a community-engaged approach to the subsequent qualitative data phase to contextualize and explain quantitative findings through interviews conducted by peer researchers representative of the study sample. These peer researchers will then be involved in the thematic analysis and final mixed methods integration to uncover participants’ intersectional discrimination experiences, sexual health, and potential underlying mechanisms.

Learn More