Admissions are for full-time students only. To be considered as having full-time status, students must register to a minimum of 6 credits per session and must be geographically available and visit the campus regularly. The courses in the program are offered in French and in English. In accordance with University of Ottawa policy, students can write exams, course assignments and theses in either English or French. The program is governed by the General Regulations of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies (FGPS), which are available on the FGPS Website.

The PhD program consists of three fields:

• Evidence informed decision making in nursing and health care;
• Sociopolitical, educational and historic contexts of nursing;
• Nursing practice and delivery systems.

Graduate Diploma in Health Services and Policy Research (Temporarily suspended.)

The professors included in the list below are members of the Faculty of Graduate and Postdoctoral Studies. This means that they are authorized to supervise or co-supervise theses. A complete list of the faculty and staff members associated with the program can be found at http://www.health.uottawa.ca/asg/index.htm

BAJNOK, Irmajean, Adjunct Professor

BRAJTMAN, Susan, Associate Professor
Palliative care; agitated delirium at the end of life; end of life care for seniors; interprofessional education; nursing education in end-of-life care

CRAGG, Catherine E., Emeritus Professor
Use of technology for nursing education; interprofessional education; nursing leadership; nursing curriculum

DARMANN-FINK, Ingrid, Adjunct Professor

DAVIES, Barbara, Full Professor
Knowledge transfer; maternal infant health; collaborative multi-disciplinary maternity care; supportive care in childbirth; clinical practice guidelines

DUNN, Sandra, Adjunct Professor

EDWARDS, Nancy, Cross-appointment
International health; multiple interventions for community health; fall prevention for seniors; knowledge transfer and utilization (practice, programs and policy); mixed methods designs

ELLIOTT, Jayne, Adjunct Professor

ELLIS, Jacqueline, Associate Professor
Pediatric pain assessment and management; institutional support for best practice pain management; culture and pain assessment; patient safety and complex nursing interventions; program evaluation

ETOWA, Josephine, Associate Professor
Inequities in health and health care; diversity in nursing; women's health; qualitative research; critical theory; participatory action research (PAR) approaches

FORGERON, Paula, Assistant Professor
Social Functioning of Adolescents with Chronic Pain ; Pediatric Pain Management ; Global Health ; Knowledge Translation ; Mixed Methods

FOTH, Thomas, Assistant Professor
Nursing history and discourse analysis, Ethics, Actor-network theory, Subjectification processes and nursing, Critical theory and "Frankfurt School", Queer theories and postcolonial theories, Professionnalisation

FOTHERGILL BOURBONNAIS, Frances, Emeritus Professor
Qualitative research; pain and symptom assessment and management in palliative care; family assessment mechanisms; strategies to facilitate care of patients with HIV/AIDS; aspects of critical care nursing, interprofessional education

GAGNON, Marilou, Assistant Professor
Critical theory and feminist perspectives; medico-pharmaceutical complex; interface body-technology; people living with HIV/AIDS (women living with HIV/AIDS); marginalization and deviance, politics of HIV/AIDS; women's Health

GIFFORD, Wendy, Assistant Professor

GRAHAM, Ian, Cross-appointment
Knowledge transfer and utilization; Evidence-based practice; Ottawa model of research use; Implementation trials; Clinical practice guidelines; Decision making; Qualitative methods, Survey methods

GRINSPUN, Doris, Adjunct Professor

GUIMOND, Pierrette, Assistant Professor
Decision-making; experiential learning; critical thinking; reflective practice; preceptorship; clinical teaching

HARRISON, Denise, Assistant Professor
Pain management in sick infants; Sucrose analgesia in diverse populations of infants and children; Knowledge translation of research into clinical practice

HIGUCHI, Kathryn, Associate Professor
Knowledge transfer and innovation with health care professionals; teaching and learning in health professions education; clinical reasoning/decision-making; clinical practice guidelines

HOLMES, Dave, Full Professor
Critical theory; post-structuralism; queer theory; governmentality; social control; forensic psychiatry; sexuality; public health.

JACOB, Jean-Daniel, Assistant Professor
Critical theory; Violence and risk management; Psychiatric nursing; Forensic psychiatric nursing; Socio-political aspects of nursing; Ethics

KREUTZER, Susanne, Adjunct Professor

LAPERRIÈRE, Hélène, Associate Professor
Community nursing; community evaluation; partnership state/popular civil society; collection action; formation of health professionals from minorities; care and cooperative housing; HIV/AIDS; popular education in health; Latin America, systematization of experiences; collective research and volunteering.

LAUZON, Sylvie, Full Professor
Nursing epistemology; nursing care for older adults; nursing care for older adults with cognitive disorders; family caregivers' health and experience

LLOYD, Monique, Adjunct Professor

MCCABE, Janet, Adjunct Professor

MCPHERSON, Christine, Associate Professor
Palliative care (symptom management and psychosocial issues); health psychology (chronic disease); social gerontology; research methods (qualitative, quantitative); systematic reviews

MERCER, David, Adjunct Professor

MOREAU, Denise, Assistant Professor
Women's health (adult & youth); health of francophone women living in a minority situation in Canada; maternity representations & practices; health communication; health promotion

MURRAY, Mary Ann, Adjunct Professor
Palliative Care

NOEL-WEISS, Joy, Assistant Professor
Human lactation and breastfeeding ; Nursing ; Ethics (theory and application) ; Ethical dilemmas for nurses and for lactation consultants ; Maternal breastfeeding self-efficacy ; Peer support for women who want to breastfeed

O'BYRNE, Patrick, Assistant Professor
Marginalized populations; sexual health; sexually transmitted infections and HIV; critical theory and Politics; nursing

PERREAULT, Isabelle, Adjunct Professor
Analysis of Discourses and Practices with Regard to Lobotomy at Hôpital Saint-Jean-de-Dieu, 1940–60.

PERRON, Amélie, Assistant Professor
Marginalized populatons; psychiatry and mental health, forensic nursing; identity and subjectivity; risk; power relationships; ethics and politics, critical theory, discourse deconstruction; policy deconstruction; epistemology

PETERSON, Wendy, Assistant Professor
Perinatal health services for priority ('vulnerable') populations, pregnant and parenting youth, postpartum nursing care of adolescent mothers, mental health and adolescent parenthood, health care provider-client relations, patient satisfaction, access to determinants of health, integration of preventive services and interdisciplinary collaboration, qualitative methods, survey development and psychometrics

PHARAND, Denyse, Teaching Associate
Clinical teaching evaluation in nursing; preceptorship in nursing teaching; violence in psychiatric setting; best practice guidelines in nursing practice

PHILLIPS, Craig, Assistant Professor
The ecosocial context of health as a human right ; Vulnerable populations ; Sexual minority health and gay men's health ; HIV, HIV antiretroviral therapy adherence ; Smoking cessation ; Ecosocial theory ; Social epidemiology

POLOMENO, Viola, Associate Professor
Perinatal sexuality; intimacy of the parenting couple; relationship love-health; intervention programs on intergenerational family health promotion; perinatal education; perceptual interpersonal approach; development, psychometric evaluation and translation of family research instruments

RASHOTTE, Judith, Adjunct Professor

SMITH, Dawn, Associate Professor
Equity and access to services; improving capacity to provide care for minority populations; health services and policy research; public and population health; Aboriginal health; community health; rural health

SPRAGUE, Ann, Adjunct Professor
Perinatal nursing; bed rest; preterm birth; knowledge translation; risk management

SQUIRES, Janet Elaine, Assistant Professor

ST-PIERRE, Isabelle, Adjunct Professor

STACEY, Dawn, Associate Professor
Patient decision making (nurse coaching, patient decision support tools); knowledge translation to patients; telephone nursing; implementation of innovations in practice/organizations, oncology supportive care nursing

STUART, Meryn, Adjunct Professor
History of health care; history of women and the professions; history of nursing and wars; poststructuralism; feminism; feminist theory

THIFAULT, Marie-Claude, Associate Professor
History of nursing in Canada; history of women in Quebec and Canada; history of nursing sisters; history of life in mental institutions in the 19th and 20th centuries; women and marginality; gender and madness; cultural history

TOMAN, Cynthia, Adjunct Professor
History of nursing; history of health care; history of medical technology; history of military nursing

TOURIGNY, Jocelyne, Full Professor
Pre-operative preparation of children and parents ; emotional distress in young children ; parents' involvement in children's ambulatory care; fathers' involvement in children's health care, partnership model for parents and professionals

WALSH, Elizabeth, Adjunct Professor

WOODEND, Kirsten, Adjunct Professor
Health services research; cardiovascular disease; women's health (CVD related); multidisciplinary teams; continuity of care

Several key areas of knowledge are required: research methods, statistics, and nursing theory. Applicants who do not have a master’s degree in nursing and/or whose knowledge of research methods or statistics is deficient may be asked to take qualifying courses such as NSG5130 (Development of knowledge and theory in nursing as a discipline), NSG5192 (Statistical analysis in nursing) or NSG5140 (Research methods in nursing). Those who require more than two such courses must complete them prior to admission. Those requiring two or less may be allowed to take them after admission to the program. However, these courses would be additional to the 15 credits required of all students in the program.

Research competence can be demonstrated either through the completion of a master’s thesis or through projects completed during nursing practice or as part of a non-thesis program. Non-thesis students must present a dossier that demonstrates their research skills. The dossier might include research reports, publications in peer-reviewed journals, program development and evaluation reports, abstracts, presentations, etc. The proposed thesis supervisor will provide a written evaluation of the dossier to the admissions committee, who will make the final decision about the student’s suitability for the program.

Proficiency in English is required. Information on language requirements and tests can be found in Section A-3.e) of the General Regulations of the FGPS.

Application Deadline

Documents required for admission to the PhD in Nursing Program

• The official "Application for Admission On-line - Graduate Studies" form;
• Official transcripts of all previous undergraduate and graduate studies;
• Three letters of recommendation. One may be from a clinical supervisor, and at least two must be academic references that address your potential for doctoral studies as indicated by your research and leadership;
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae;
• Narrative statement (maximum 3 pages or 900 words) describing: a) How the PhD in Nursing will enable you to achieve your career goals; b) A brief description of your proposed research project including a statement of the research problem, justification of the research project, its relevance for the nursing profession and an overview of the study design.
• A signed letter from a potential thesis supervisor supporting your application and indicating willingness to supervise your research.

Transfer from Master’s to PhD program

• Two letters of recommendation. One may be from a clinical supervisor, and at least one must be academic reference that address the candidate’s potential for doctoral studies as indicated by their research and leadership;
• An up-to-date curriculum vitae;
• Narrative statement (maximum 3 pages or 900 words) describing: a) How the PhD in Nursing will enable you to achieve your career goals; b) A brief description of the proposed research project including statement of the research problem, justification of research project, relevance for the nursing profession and an overview of the study design.
• A signed letter from a potential thesis supervisor supporting the student’s application and indicating willingness to supervise the potential candidate’s research.

The transfer must take place by the end of the fourth session of study at the latest. The application deadline for such a transfer is the first Monday of May.

• Five core courses (15 credits):
NSG7100 Theoretical and philosophical perspectives in nursing (3cr.)
NSG7105 Research seminar I (3cr.)
NSG7106 Research seminar II (3cr.)

• Advanced qualitative or quantitative research analysis techniques (course selected based on student's need) (3cr.)
Such as NSG6140 Qualitative Research in Nursing and Health Sciences, EDU 7193 Advanced Measurement Theories, EDU 8190 Qualitative Reserach II, PSY 7901 Program Evaluation, PSY 7101 Causal Modeling in Psychological Research.

• NSG7110 Doctorat seminar (3cr.)
• NSG9998 Comprehensive examination
• NSG9999 PhD Thesis

Minimum Standards

The passing grade in all courses is B. Students who fail two courses (equivalent to 6 credits), the thesis proposal, or the comprehensive exam or whose research progress is deemed unsatisfactory are required to withdraw.


Residence

Residency (full-time registration) for six sessions or two years at the beginning of the program.


Duration of the Program

Students are expected to complete all requirements within four years. The maximum time permitted is six years from the date of initial registration in the program.


Thesis Advisory Committee

During the first session of the program, a thesis advisory committee (TAC) is formed for the candidate. The Committee’s membership will be determined by the specific interests of the candidate. It will be composed of the supervisor and 2-3 additional professors. At least one member of the thesis committee, in addition to the supervisor, must be from the Faculty of Health Sciences. The TAC is responsible for guiding the student throughout the program, including course selection, the comprehensive examination, thesis proposal, and thesis defense.

A meeting between the student and the Thesis Advisory Committee will take place at least once per session. The thesis examining board may include members who are not part of the TAC.

Academic Unit Coordinates