Providence Care mental health nurse Brooklyn Martin describes herself as a lifelong learner. Like many, she became a nurse to make a positive impact on the lives of others.  

After four years of nursing, she says she saw an opportunity to have a bigger impact beyond direct patient care and decided to pursue a master’s degree in nursing. Brooklyn’s thesis is focused on nursing research and research engagement strategies for frontline nurses at Providence Care.  

“I was at a point where I was able to look around and identify how things might be better for the staff and the patients. I wanted to learn more about how I could be a part of a bigger change. How do I help implement change and improve nursing practice as a whole? And what better way than empowering nurses to conduct and engage in their very own research, right there at the bedside.”  

Research isn’t just about microscopes, test tubes or lab coats—and it’s definitely not just for doctors or people with PhDs. That’s exactly the kind of thinking Brooklyn wants to change. 

“Research can happen at any level of experience as a nurse directly alongside patient care and day-to-day duties,” Brooklyn explains. “Maybe nurses already have specific approaches in the way they talk to patients and clients, or they have specific ways they handle themselves in certain situations, that can all be turned into a research opportunity.” 

Brooklyn is not alone in her journey. Supervising her thesis work are Providence Care Academic Clinician and Nursing Research Lead Dr. Sarah Moore-Vasram, and Scientist in Nursing Dr. Katie Goldie. Both are nurses who have advanced their education and have joined the Providence Care team to mentor, teach, support and lead others in pursuing their own research interests. 

“We want to help solve real clinical problems that resonate with staff,” explains Dr. Moore-Vasram. “As we collectively identify solutions to problems on the frontline or discover innovative initiatives that staff are implementing, the questions we want to ask ourselves are, ‘what does the implementation of this initiative look like? And how can we study it and then share it outside the walls of Providence Care so we can lead beyond our organization? Research offers an avenue to do this.’” 

Brooklyn is working closely with both Dr. Moore-Vasram and Dr. Goldie and hopes to encourage more frontline nurses to engage in their own research. She says one of the first steps is making research more accessible. 

“Having nurses and frontline staff who know how to engage with research and are comfortable with interpreting it can have such a big and positive impact on patient care,” says Brooklyn. “That’s why helping people engage with research is so important. It doesn’t have to feel intimidating, or like something extra you do. We get that people are busy with their day-to-day work on shift. So we’re looking at practical ways to weave research into what we’re already doing—exploring projects that make a real impact and help us better understand the environments we work in.”

Brooklyn is now developing a staff survey that will be sent out across the organization to assess research capacity and interest and spark involvement in future research opportunities. Her goal is to help build a stronger culture of frontline-led research, something that is already starting to take shape across Providence Care through projects like the SIM RAI (Subacute Inpatient Medicine & the Resident Assessment Instrument) Study.  

This study, long name and all, is happening on a few hospital units at Providence Care Hospital and Providence Transitional Care Centre. It looks at something called the Case Mix Index, which helps show how complex a patient’s care needs are and helps inform hospital funding. 

To do this, staff use a tool that summarizes patient care tasks and some of the activities patients engage in as well as the support required to participate in these activities. It also includes metrics related to mood and behaviour and whether patients have had any big changes in their health. This information is sent to a national database four times a year. But lately, staff have noticed a gap between what the tool says and what they see every day—patients seem to need more care than the scores show. 

The study aims to understand why this gap exists and identify care tasks or other factors that aren’t currently being captured, so the data better reflects both patient needs and the work being done by staff. 

In community programs, a descriptive study is in the development phase to look at the Catalyst program model, which helps adults who are dealing with addiction to crystal methamphetamine. It’s a partnership between Providence Care and Kingston Community Health Centre. 

Over at Providence Care’s AB Smith Homestead House, Kingston’s first hospice residence, Dr. Goldie is developing a prospective research study in collaboration with the health care team to examine the characteristics, symptoms, and care needs of patients accessing hospice care. She’s also helping staff at AB Smith Homestead House find ways to integrate research into their everyday nursing practice.  

Research like this is shaping the future of care and Brooklyn’s efforts are helping ensure more nurses feel empowered to participate. Her story is just one example of how nurses at Providence Care are pushing the profession forward—whether at the bedside or through research that hopes to transform care.

This Nursing Week, Providence Care recognizes how nurses make a difference across hospital, community, and long-term care settings. Whether providing hands-on care in aging, rehabilitative, mental health, or palliative care services or leading initiatives that improve practice and outcomes, nurses are there for both the good days and the difficult ones, offering compassion, dignity, and unwavering support.