Browsing by Author "Nicholas, David B."

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    Balancing pandemic public health restrictions and family support at the end of life: palliative care and bereavement experiences of parents whose child died during the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2023-10-27) Rapoport, Adam; Nicholas, David B.; Zulla, Rosslynn T.
    Abstract Background Little is known about the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on families of children with chronic life-limiting conditions who died during the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods In this qualitative study, parents of a child (< 18 years) who died during the COVID-19 pandemic from an underlying chronic medical condition were interviewed to explore how the pandemic impacted end-of-life care and bereavement experiences. Parents of children followed by the pediatric palliative care service were recruited from a large children’s hospital in eastern Canada. Results Twenty bereaved parents, consisting of 12 mothers and 8 fathers, participated in individual interviews between January and December 2021. Findings identified impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children’s end-of-life care, experiences in hospital and at home, and family bereavement processes and experiences. Most parents experienced substantial worry about their child’s physical status and the additional risk of COVID-19 given her/his vulnerability. Parents also struggled to navigate public health protocols as they attended to their child’s needs and their family’s desire for engagement and support. Key facilitators that helped families cope included a strong network of formal and informal supports. Conclusion Implications highlight the need to critically reflect on pandemic care in the context of co-occurring end-of-life processes. Findings amplify the need to balance necessary infection control practices with access to essential supports for families.
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    Examining the experiences of pediatric mental health care providers during the early stage of the COVID-19 pandemic
    (2023-05-04) Bright, Katherine; Cullen, Emma; Conlon, Olivia; Zulla, Rosslynn T.; Nicholas, David B.; Dimitropoulos, Gina
    Abstract Background The COVID-19 pandemic fundamentally impacted the way that mental health services were provided. In order to prevent the spread of infection, many new public health precautions, including mandated use of masks, quarantine and isolation, and closures of many in-person activities, were implemented. Public health mandates made it necessary for mental health services to immediately shift their mode of delivery, creating increased confusion and stress for mental health providers. The objective of this study is to understand the impact of pandemics on the clinical and personal lives of mental health providers working with children during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic, March -June 2020. Methods Mental health providers (n = 98) were recruited using purposive sampling from a public health service in Canada. Using qualitative methods, semi-structured focus groups were conducted to understand the experiences of mental health service providers during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results Data from the focus groups were analysed and three main themes emerged: (1) shift to virtual delivery and working from home; (2) concerns about working in person; (3) exhaustion and stress from working through the pandemic. Discussion This study gave voice to mental health providers as they provided continuity of care throughout the uncertain early months of the pandemic. The results provide insight into the impact times of crisis have on mental health providers, as well as provide practical considerations for the future in terms of supervision and feedback mechanisms to validate experiences.
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    Experiences and barriers to Health-Related Quality of Life following liver transplantation: a qualitative analysis of the perspectives of pediatric patients and their parents
    (BioMed Central, 2010-12-22) Nicholas, David B.; Otley, Anthony R.; Taylor, Rachel; Dhawan, Anil; Gilmour, Susan; Ng, Vicky Lee
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    Understanding Workplace Experiences of First-Year Canadian Social Workers: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study
    (2014-09-30) Newberry-Koroluk, Andrea Margaret; Graham, John R.; Nicholas, David B.
    There is limited global research addressing the experiences of first-year social workers in general, and a dearth of scholarship specific to the Canadian context. In 2012–2013, I conducted in-depth interviews with nine early-career (0.6–3.7 years post-Bachelor of Social Work/BSW), young adult (aged 23.9¬–32.9) social workers in Alberta, Canada to answer the question: how do young adult, early-career Alberta social workers understand subjective feelings towards their work experiences in their first year of practice following completion of the BSW? My research method was hermeneutic phenomenology, an interpretive approach to understanding the meaning of lived experiences. Symbolic interactionism provided the theoretical foundation for my research, facilitating dual attention to structural factors and the dynamics of individual interpretation and agency. My findings relate to the intersection of age and gender in the structure and meaning of the experiences of first-year social workers; institutional hierarchy and internalized marginalization of the social work role; first-year social workers’ fears of committing a cataclysmic error in practice; the meaning of encountering one’s own privilege and marginalization; and disappointments in early practice and individual narratives of transformation and idealism renegotiated. The literature review and findings suggest that three interconnected areas influence the subjective experiences of new social workers: institutional structures, social positionality, and lived experience. Through the interplay of these three areas, subjective workplace experiences are made understandable and meaningful to early-career social workers. From a broad inter-disciplinary perspective, this work is a substantial contribution to scholarship on gender relations and the workplace. Implications for social work education include challenging internalized oppression that reflects gendered norms in caregiving work; teaching multiple ways of evaluating practice rather than relying exclusively on post-positivist epistemologies and methodologies; encouraging reflexivity about practitioner social location; and disrupting narratives that presuppose a single “social work perspective” operating in agencies. In the realm of social work practice, applications include actively challenging the devaluation of young women workers and advocating for better working conditions. Future research in social work could explore gender in the early-career period across the life course and gender identity continuum.