When the pandemic placed their project on hold, researchers, including five Fairfield University affiliates, modified their study to address the unprecedented circumstances; their findings were recently published in the prestigious “Journal of Pediatric Nursing.”
Linda Roney, EdD, RN-BC, CPEN, CNE, associate professor of nursing at Fairfield University’s Marion Peckham Egan School of Nursing and Health Studies, assembled a team of researchers to study the professional quality of life of pediatric nurses. The team brought together several Egan School affiliates, including current and former students. Though their research was recently published in the Journal of Pediatric Nursing, it almost never existed. For just as the study was set to launch, the pandemic hit and threatened the entire project.
The study, as initially conceived, was a passion project for Dr. Roney, whose professional interests are caring for injured children and preparing the next generation of nurses. By examining the professional quality of life of pediatric nurses, she would better understand how to prepare her students for meaningful careers while also helping nurse leaders better understand how to support their pediatric nurses.
“It is essential that new nurses know what to expect on the job and that they implement a regimen of self-care,” said Roney. “Nurse leaders, in turn, must create environments that encourage nurses to tend to their emotional and physical needs to increase professional satisfaction and decrease burnout.”
Dr. Roney secured funding for the project and was working on approval from the Institutional Review Board (IRB) when COVID-19 reached the United States. By March 2020, the project was delayed. It would eventually be upended.
The best scholarship is timely and responsive. It is not manufactured in a vacuum but grows from active engagement in the world, addressing complex issues in the lives of people and their communities and wrestling with unresolved questions within the disciplines. As Dr. Roney engaged the world around her during the pandemic—on the front lines with COVID-19 patients and in the virtual classroom with nursing students—she discovered an opportunity to mentor new colleagues and to make sense of the challenging experiences of nurses during the pandemic.
At that moment, Dr. Roney upended her original project, significantly modifying it to include theretofore unexpected clinical variables. Fortunately, those changes did not impact IRB approval, which had since been granted.
The resulting study was the first multivariate analysis that measured professional quality of life against the effects of demographic characteristics and clinical experiences among pediatric nurses during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our project is an important first step,” said Dr. Roney. “But we must continue to examine the professional quality of life of healthcare providers, so we can implement strategies to mitigate negative responses to caring.”
Grace Rankin ’21, BSN, RN, a Medical ICU nurse at Boston Medical Center, is a coauthor of the article. As a student in the Egan School, she helped collect and curate data for the study.
Rankin first connected with Dr. Roney during the summer of her sophomore year. “I was interested in pediatric nursing, so I reached out to Professor Roney after reading her bio on the Egan faculty webpage,” said Rankin. “I never imagined that that email would result in a publication.”
Though Rankin graduated before the data analysis was complete, the nursing major and math minor continued to work on the project, and helped draft the published article.
Other Fairfield-affiliated coauthors include alumna Katie (Kubera) Zaino ‘15, BSN, RN, and adjunct faculty members Tina Budd, MSN, RN, CPN, and Bianca Robertson, MSN, BSN, RN.
“Caring through Crisis” appears in the September-October 2024 issue of the Journal of Pediatric Nursing.
