Cashion Discusses Patient Care at St. Jude

Nursing science is rooted in answering research questions that arise from caring for patients. This fact makes it fitting that the keynote speaker at this year’s St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital’s Patient Care Services Symposium was NINR acting director and scientific director Dr. Ann Cashion. During her recent presentation, “Nursing Science: Harnessing Innovation for Patient Care,” she discussed NINR-supported scientific advances. 

With the audience of nurses, physicians and other health care professionals, Cashion shared research on patient care, including work on measuring and treating symptoms in congenital diseases, advances in self-management strategies for adolescents and caregiving for children with chronic conditions, among others. 

She also spoke about genomics, omics and nurse scientists, and NINR and NIH initiatives such as All of Us and the Palliative Care: Conversations Matter campaign. The research and initiatives she discussed demonstrate the pivotal part nurse scientists play in research discoveries that enhance patient care.  

Looking toward the future, Cashion stated that “to maintain and expand their roles as leaders in the research community, nurse scientists must keep pace with the latest techniques, initiatives and innovations in science.”