Susanna Edwards

Susanna Edwards is an associate professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing where she teaches community health to undergraduate students in the third year of the Toronto Metropolitan University, Centennial, George Brown Collaborative Nursing Degree Program. Edwards has been involved in all aspects of the third year undergraduate program as a lead teacher, course instructor (Community Health, Leadership and Change) and faculty advisor.  

Her clinical experience as a public health nurse has led to her continued interest in community health issues and to her expertise in community development and community-based research.

Her program of research focuses on hospice-palliative care in a home/community context, with a specific focus on the role of the family caregiver.

Her doctoral thesis was a qualitative, grounded theory study exploring the decision-making process that occurs between a dying individual and his/her family caregiver in the home setting. She received the Golda Fine Memorial Award for research in palliative care for her dissertation, which included the opportunity to be a Scholar in Residence at the Temmy Latner Centre for Palliative Care in Toronto, Ontario.

She is continuing her program of research as a member of two interprofessional research teams and as a member of the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing Living with Illness Across the Lifespan Research Cluster.

Selected Publications, 2006-2011:

Book Chapter:

• Potter, P., & Perry, G. (2006). Chapter 34, Hygiene. In J. Ross-Kerr & M. Wood (Eds.), Canadian Fundamentals of Nursing (3^rd edition). Toronto, ON: Mosby.

Papers in Refereed Journals:

• Edwards, S. B., Olson, K., Koop, P. M., & Northcott, H. C. (2011). Patient and Caregiver Decision-Making in the Context of Advanced Cancer (external link) . Cancer Nursing. Advance online publication.
  
• Guruge, S., Berman, R., Tyyska, V., Murphy-Kilbride, K., Woungang, I., Edwards, S., & Clune, L. (2009). Implications of English proficiency on immigrant women’s access to and utilization of health services. Women’s Health and Urban Life, 8(2).

Presentations, 2006-2011:

Papers in Refereed Conference Proceedings:

• Edwards, S., Olson, K., Koop, P., & Northcott, H. (2010). Palliative care in a home care setting. 16^th International Conference on Cancer Nursing: Enhancing Knowledge, Promoting Quality, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
• Edwards, S., Olson, K., Koop, P., & Northcott, H. (2009). Family dyad decision-making in the context of palliative care in the home. 10^th Annual Interdisciplinary Research Conference: Transforming Healthcare through Research, Trinity College, Dublin, Ireland        
• Edwards, S., Olson, K., Koop, P., & Northcott, H. (2008). Decision-making in a family dyad in the context of advanced cancer. 22^nd Annual Margaret Scott Research Day: Transforming Nursing Practice through Research, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB
• Edwards, S., Cooper B., Townsend M., & Walker C. (2007). A community partnership project: Healthy learning communities - students helping students. Nurse Educator’s Conference sponsored by the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing, Kingston ON
• Thrasher, L., Edwards, S., Sedlezkey, S., & Paton, S. (2006). Facilitating student group work at Ryerson University: Roundtable discussion. Ryerson Faculty Conference, Ryerson University, Toronto ON

Posters in Refereed Conference Proceedings:

• Edwards, S., Olson, K., Koop, P., & Northcott, H. (2009). Dancing on the stairs. 20^th Annual Palliative Care Conference: Education and Research Day, Edmonton AB
• Gurunge, S., Kilbride, K., Tyyska, V., Berman, R., Ali, M., Woungang, I., Edwards, S., & Clune, L. (2008). The influence of the acquisition of proficiency in English on health service utilization of immigrant women. Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing, 1^st Annual Research Day, Ryerson University, Toronto ON
• Guruge, S., Kilbride, K., Tyyska, V., Berman, R., Ali, M., Woungang, I., Edwards, S., & Clune, L. (2008). The acquisition of proficiency in English among a group of adult immigrant women: Implications for health service utilization. 2^nd Biennial Nursing Conference at the Faculty of Nursing, University of Windsor ON