Our vision is to CONNECT a global community of nursing and *allied professional cardiac surgery (including cardiothoracic and aortovascular surgery) researchers. Through CONNECT we foster and support international cardiac surgery research to address global cardiac surgery challenges.
About
Globally, more than a million patients undergo cardiac surgery each year. Nursing and allied professional teams are constant in the patient experience. As a key component of the cardiac surgical workforce, we can reduce variability, disparity and inequity in patient access and outcomes.
Within nursing and the allied professions there is an overall international shortfall of academic and clinical academics specialising in cardiac surgery research. This undoubtedly affects the ability of the professions to advance and improve healthcare delivery, and patient outcomes and experience. To expand research opportunities and grow nursing and allied professional clinical academic and academic cardiac surgery researchers engaging in international collaborative research, we aim to provide a robust virtual research environment with appropriate mentorship and support. This is necessary to develop new interventions to prevent, identify, manage and reduce complications related to all stages of cardiac surgery.
CONNECT, established by Prof Julie Sanders (UK), Prof Suzanne Fredericks (Canada), Prof Rochelle Wynne (Australia) and Dr Geraldine Martorella (USA), is a network of nursing and allied professional researchers focused on strengthening collaborative cardiac surgery research through shared initiatives including supervision, mentorship, workplace exchange programs and multi-site clinical research.
Become a member
If you are a nurse or allied professional involved in cardiac surgery research and are interested in joining CONNECT please submit the attached CONNECT online membership form.
People
Professor of Cardiovascular Care
Projects
CONNECT Mentorship and Scholar Engagement Programmes
CONNECT members have a wealth of experience and expertise and many are willing to provide mentorship to others, including peer-to-peer mentorship. Mentorship is not necessarily limited to 1-1 meetings but could also include undertaking a scholarly visit, internship or engaging in a research project as a means to gaining exposure and building networks with international researchers and their teams.
Additional Projects
Publications
CONNECT Publications
Papers
- Fredericks S, Lin Q, Sanders J, Wynne R, Pedrosa R. (2024). Evaluating a social media strategy for an international cardiothoracic research network: A cross sectional study. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics. 19(1).
- Hayes, M. V., O Keefe-McCarthy, S., Magboo, R., Bowden, T., Bruneau, J., Chen, Y., Batista dos Santos Pedrosa, R., Then, K. L., Van Valen, R., Fredericks. S. (2024). Continuing to CONNECT and move forward through global initiatives. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing.
- Magboo, R., Bowden, T., Bruneau, J., Chen, L., Fredericks, S., Hayes, M., O’Keefe-McCarthy, S., Pedrosa, R., Then, K., Van Valen, R. (August 27, 2024). Using webinars to CONNECT cardiothoracic surgical nurses and allied professionals to promote knowledge translation of evidence into practice. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing.
- Bowden, T., Bruneau, J., Chen, L., Fredericks, S., Hayes, M., Magboo, R., O’Keefe-McCarthy, S., Pedrosa, R., Then, K., Van Valen, R. (April 29, 2024). CONNECTing Nurses and Allied Professionals through a Cardiac Surgery Masterclass Programme. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2024.0034
- O’Keefe-McCarthy, S., Magboo, R., Pedrosa, R., Bruneau, J., Fredericks, S., Van Valen, R. , Chen, L., Then, K., Bowden, T., Phillips, E. K., Hayes, M. (March 4, 2024). Using an international research network to CONNECT through mentorship experiences in cardiothoracic surgical research. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2024.0018
- Wynne R, Fredericks S, Hyde EK, Matthews S, Bowden T, O’Keefe-McCarthy S, Martorella G, Magboo R, Gjeilo KH, Jedwab RM, Keeping-Burke L, Murfin J, Bruneau J, Lie I, Sanders J on behalf of CONNECT: the Cardiac Sugery International Nursing and Allied Professional Research Network. Multimodal analgesic effectiveness on acute postoperative pain management after adult cardiac surgery: protocol for a systematic review. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Published online 11.04.23. DOI: 10.1097/JCN.0000000000000989
- Fredericks S, Bae T, Sochaniwskyj M, Sanders J, Martorella G and Wynne R. Creating a social media strategy for an international cardiothoracic research network: A scoping review. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Published online February 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvad029
- Martorella G, Fredericks S, Sanders J, Wynne R (2021). Breaking pandemic chain reactions: telehealth psychosocial support in cardiovascular disease during COVID-19. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. 20. 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa011
- Fredericks S, Wynne R, Martorella G, Onyeozirila M, Willis S, Kwaku F, Moon S, Sanders J (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: International visiting teams.British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 15 (12). DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0131
- Sanders J, Wynne R, Martorella G, Fredericks F (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Patient experience. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 5 (10): https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0090
- Fredericks S, Wynne R, Martorella G, Sanders J (2020): An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Student perspectives. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 5 (8): https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0045
- Sanders J, Wynne R, Martorella G, Fredericks F (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Clinical academic careers. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. June 8th. 15 (6). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0033
- Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R, Sanders J (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Advanced practice. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. April 20th. 15 (4). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0010
- Sanders J, Wynne R, Martorella G, Fredericks F (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: An introduction. British Journal Cardiac Nursing. January 2nd. 15 (2). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0009
Activities
CONNECT-CTSNet Video Series
CONNECT have worked with CTSNet to publish 6 videos entitled ‘CONNECTING Patients, Clinicians, and Outstanding Cardiac Care Through Nursing and Allied Professional Research’. The series can be found at https://www.ctsnet.org/article/guest-editor-series-connecting-patients-clinicians-and-outstanding-cardiac-care-through and include:
- “The Sex Factor”—Better Cardiac Surgery Care for Women by Stacey Matthews
- Postsurgical Pain After Cardiac Surgery—An Update on the Evidence By Kari Hanne Gjeilo
- SSI in Focus: Assessment, Prevention, and Management by Rosalie Magboo
- Reporting Outcomes: What, When, and Why Patients’ Perspectives Matter by Rochelle Wynne
- Cardiac Surgery Healthcare Professionals’ Engagement in Research at the Bedside: Challenges and Opportunities by Suzanne Fredericks
- CONNECTing Evidence and Practice of the Future: The Who, Why, and What of the Cardiac Surgery International Nursing and Allied Professional Research Network (CONNECT) by Julie Sanders
CONNECT Inaugural Webinar
On the 10th November 2021 CONNECT hosted its inaugural webinar. Cardiovascular surgery nursing and allied professional research colleagues joined from Australia, Canada, Norway, USA and UK joined to learn about the co-founders, the work of CONNECT so far, to discuss future plans and projects and to network with each other. Three new CONNECT initiatives were discussed which will start in 2022 – more details will follow in relation to these projects as they progress.
CONNECT Webinar 2: Annual Meeting October 2022
On the 27th October 2022 CONNECT hosted its second webinar in the form of an annual meeting. New CONNECT members were welcomed and an update on all programmes of work over the last 12 months was provided. Several new initiatives for 2023 were also highlighted. The 2023 annual meeting is proposed for 26th October.
Conference Sessions
Presentations CCCN-CONNECT joint session: CONNECT with Cardiovascular Nurses and Allied Health Professionals for International Collaboration in Research. Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses Spring Conference 2023 (workshop) Sanders J, Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R on behalf of CONNECT. CONNECTing globally: Driving evidence for better patient outcomes and experience. EACTS 2022 (oral presentation). Sanders J, Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R. The Cardiac surgery internatiONal Nursing and alliEd professional researCh network: CONNECT. SCTS 2022 (oral presentation) Sanders J, Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R. Delivering the evidence for best practice: The launch of the Cardiac surgery internatiONal Nursing and alliEd professional researCh network (CONNECT). EuroHeartCare 2021 (oral presentation). Joint sessions The ACNAP-CONNECT joint session on cardiac surgery: Underreported outcomes after cardiac surgery. EuroHeartCare 2022 The ACNAP-CONNECT joint session on cardiac surgery: Hot topics in cardiac surgery. EuroHeartCare 2021
Member profiles
Ana Alves, Lead Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, UK
- Research interests: patient outcomes, aortic dissections, understanding comorbidities and genetics' influence on patient outcomes, inclusive healthcare.
- Email: anapinhoalves@gmail.com
Hady Atef, Lecturer of Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy, Keele University UK
- Research interests: sleep and cardiac rehabilitation
- Email: h.a.balabel@keele.ac.uk
Dorte Baek Olsen, Clinical Nurse Specialist of Heart and Lung Surgery, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Research interests: Pre and postoperative care, open heart surgery, prehabilitation, patient experiences
- Email: dorte.baek.olsen@regionh.dk
Barbara Bailey, Nurse Practitioner, University Health Network, Canada
- Research interests: adult congenital heart disease, cardiovascular surgery
- Email: barbara.bailey@uhn.ca
Davina Banner, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular health, cardiac surgery, rural health, patient-oriented research
- Email: Davina.Banner-Lukaris@unbc.ca
Britt Borregaard, Associate Professor, Odense University Hospital, Denmark
- Research interests: cardiac surgery, heart valves
- Email: britt.borrgard@rsyd.dk
Tracey Bowden, Clinical Research Fellow / Senior Lecturer in Cardiac Care, City, University of London, UK
- Research interests: cognitive outcomes following adult cardiac surgery
- Email: Tracey.Gibson.1@city.ac.uk
Jill Bruneau, Assistant Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular health promotion, risk factor management, chronic disease management, knowledge transition.
- Email: jill.bruneau@mun.ca
Lisa Chen, Nurse Researcher/Lecturer, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
- Research interests: cardiac nursing research, knowledge transition
- Email: ychen@usc.edu.au
Ijeoma Chukwurah, Clinical Research Practitioner, St Bartholomew's Hospital, UK
- Research interests: surgical cardiac research, trials in ethnic minority and female populations, biostatics analysis.
- Email: ijeoma.maryanne@nhs.net
Dr Tracey JF Colella, Clinician & Scientist, University Health Network/Toronto Rehab/KITE Research Institute, University of Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: women's cardiovascular health, cardiovascular surgery, sex and gender differences in transitions and access to cardiac care, artificial intelligence and deep learning models.
- Email: tracey.colella@uhn.ca
Samantha Cook, Highly Specialist Physiotherapist, Barts Health NHS, UK
- Research interests: critical care, cardiac surgery, aortovascular surgery
- Email: samantha.cook20@nhs.net
Cheryl Dickson, Clinical Nurse Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgery, Australia
- Research interests: ACHD, CTSx
- Email: cheryl.dickson@health.nsw.gov.au
Emily Ellis, Paediatric cardiology advanced nurse practitioner, Evelina London, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, UK
- Research interests: optimising pre- and post-operative care for patients with congenital heart disease especially arrythmia, public health, direct care management.
- Email: emily.ellis@gstt.nhs.uk
Pia Gammelgaard Elbrønd, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
- Research interests: cardiac and thoracic surgery
- Email: Pia.elbroend@rsyd.dk
Anna Falk, ICU nurse, nurse anestehetist, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
- Research interests: depression, delirium, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
- Email: Anna.falk.2@ki.se
Mohammed Goudarzi-Rad, PhD Candidate, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing-University of Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: critical care, cardiac surgery, sedation
- Email: Mohammaed.goudarzirad@mail.utoronto.ca
Kari Hanne Gjeilo, Associate Professor, Dept of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; Nurse Researcher, Dept. of Cardiology and Dept. of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Norway
- Research interests: cardiothoracic surgery, postsurgical pain, cardiovascular nursing
- Email: h.gjeilo@ntnu.no
Richard van Halen, Advanced Nurse Practitioner/Postdoc
- Research interests: management of postoperative complications, postoperative wound infections, acute postoperative pain
- Email: r.nanvalen@qmul.ac.uyk
Maria Hayes, Cardiothoracic CNS, Blackrock Clinic, Ireland
- Research interests: cardiac surgery and prevention
- Email: hayesm2@tcd.ide / maria.hayes1@ucd.ie
Meredith Heily, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne, Australia
- Research interests: post-cardiac surgery patients in ICU
- Email: m.heily@student.unimelb.edu.au
Karin Hinterbuchner, Clinical Nurse, Research Nurse, Tirol Kliniken GmbH, Austria
- Research interests: cardiac surgery, cardiovascular nursing
- Email: hibu001@gmx.at
Ida Elisabeth Højskov, Clinical Nurse Specialist, IMPACT - Research and Care, Department of Heart and Lung Hospital, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Research interests: early rehabilitation after CABG, everyday life in patients with advanced heart failure treated with transplantation or LVAD
- Email: Ida.elisabeth.hoejskov@regionh.dk
Emily Hyde, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Canada
- Research interests: post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), congenital care
- Email: e.hyde@sbgh.mb.ca
Rebecca M Jedwab, EMR Research Nurse Consultant and PhD Student, Monash Health, Australia
- Research interests: impact of electronic medical record system implementations on nurses and their work
- Email: rebecca.jedwab@monashhealth.org
Lisa Keeping-Burke, Associate Dean of Health Research, University of New Brunswick, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular and chronic disease management
- Email: lkeeping@unb.ca
Tieghan Killackey, RBC Financial Group Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing Research and Assistant Professor, University Health Network / University of Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: transitions in cardiovascular care across the lifespan, qualitative health research, virtual care
- Email: tieghan.killackey@utoronto.ca
Irene Lie, Critical Care Nurse, Senior Researcher and Associate Professor II, FESC, Oslo University Hospital and NTNU, Norway
- Research interests: follow-up after discharge from hospital, symptom monitoring, heart surgery, heart failure and PCI patients.
- Email: Irene.lie@ous-hf.no
Rosalie Magboo, Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow / Senior Sister, Queen Mary University of London / St Bartholomew’s Hospital, UK
- Research interests: cardiac surgery, aortovascular surgery, surgical site infection (SSI), atrial fibrillation (AF)
- Email: r.magboo@qmul.ac.uk
Ruth Masterson Creber, Professor of Nursing, Columbia University School of Nursing, USA
- Research interests: digital health, CABG surgery, health informatics, nursing informatics, patient reported outcomes
- Email: rm3284@cumc.columbia.edu
Stacey Matthews, Coordinator Clinical Evidence, National Heart Foundation of Australia
- Research interests: gender and women-specific cardiovascular disease
- Email: stacey.matthews@heartfoundation.org.au
Joanna Murfin, Advanced Nurse Practitioner - cardiac surgery, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, UK
- Research interests: prehabilitation
- Email: jo.murfin@uhs.nhs.uk
Maria Natsiou, Registered Nurse, AHEPA University Hospital of Thessaloniki, Greece
- Research interests: optimising post-operative care for cardiac surgery patients, improving nursing interventions, enhancing recovery pathways.
- Email: marianatsiou@hotmail.com
Sheila O'Keefe-McCarthey, Associate Professor, Brock University, National Research Director for the Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular pain, symptom recognition and management
- Email: sokeefemccarthy@brocku.ca
Susanne Nielsen, Operating Theatre Nurse, Sahlgrenska Academy, Inst. of Medicine, Dept. of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Sweden
- Research interests: cardiovascular epidemiology
- Email: susanne.nielsen@gu.se
Rachael Parke, Nurse Senior Research Fellow, Cardiothoracic and Vascular ICU, Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand; Associate Professor and Associate Head of Postgraduate Study, School of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Research interests: cardiothoracic surgery and intensive care
- Email: rparke@adhb.govt.nz
Dina Paolini, Cardiothoracic ICU Nurse, Barts Health NHS Trust, UK
- Research interests: cardiothoracic ICU
- Email: dinapaoloni.79@gmail.com
Coleen Power, Nurse Practitioner, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular surgery, cardiac tumours
- Email: coleenmpower@gmail.com
Daisy Sandeman, Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, UK
- Research interests: post-operative delirium in cardiac surgery
- Email: d.v.sandeman@sms.ed.ac.uk
Francisco Ariel Santos da Costa, Registered Nurse, UNIMED Hospital (HRU), Ceará State University (UECE), Brazil
- Research interests: renal protection protocol, cardiovascular nursing care, Acute Coronary Syndrome, vascular complications
- Email: arielload@hotmail.com
Rafaela Batista dos Santos Pedrosa, Assistant Professor (Tenured), School of Nursing, University of Campinas, Brazil
- Research interests: cardiology, complications in cardiac surgery, heart transplants
- Email: rpedrosa@unicamp.br
Evangelina Sigala, Deputy Head Nurse - Nursing Education, Nursing Education Office, Greece
- Research interests: cardiac surgery surgical aortic valve replacement, clinical outcomes, patient safety, clinical instructing, holistic care.
- Email: evitasig@hotmail.com
Emma Skipsey, NIHR Pre-Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow & CICU Staff Nurse, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust/Hull York Medical School, UK
- Research interests: cardiothoracic intensive care, palliative care
- Email: e.skipsey@nhs.net
Malin Stenman, Theatre Nurse, Korlinska Institutet, Sweden
- Research interests: depression, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
- Email: malin.senman@ki.se
Karen Then, Professor and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary
- Research interests: open heart surgery, cardiology
- Email: kthen@ucalgary.ca
Ashley Thomas, Intensive Care Charge Nurse, Barts Health NHS Trust, UK
- Research interests: muscle wasting in critical illness
- Email: ashleythomas@nhs.net
People
Professor of Cardiovascular Care
Projects
CONNECT Mentorship and Scholar Engagement Programmes
CONNECT members have a wealth of experience and expertise and many are willing to provide mentorship to others, including peer-to-peer mentorship. Mentorship is not necessarily limited to 1-1 meetings but could also include undertaking a scholarly visit, internship or engaging in a research project as a means to gaining exposure and building networks with international researchers and their teams.
Additional Projects
Publications
CONNECT Publications
Papers
- Fredericks S, Lin Q, Sanders J, Wynne R, Pedrosa R. (2024). Evaluating a social media strategy for an international cardiothoracic research network: A cross sectional study. Canadian Journal of Nursing Informatics. 19(1).
- Hayes, M. V., O Keefe-McCarthy, S., Magboo, R., Bowden, T., Bruneau, J., Chen, Y., Batista dos Santos Pedrosa, R., Then, K. L., Van Valen, R., Fredericks. S. (2024). Continuing to CONNECT and move forward through global initiatives. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing.
- Magboo, R., Bowden, T., Bruneau, J., Chen, L., Fredericks, S., Hayes, M., O’Keefe-McCarthy, S., Pedrosa, R., Then, K., Van Valen, R. (August 27, 2024). Using webinars to CONNECT cardiothoracic surgical nurses and allied professionals to promote knowledge translation of evidence into practice. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing.
- Bowden, T., Bruneau, J., Chen, L., Fredericks, S., Hayes, M., Magboo, R., O’Keefe-McCarthy, S., Pedrosa, R., Then, K., Van Valen, R. (April 29, 2024). CONNECTing Nurses and Allied Professionals through a Cardiac Surgery Masterclass Programme. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2024.0034
- O’Keefe-McCarthy, S., Magboo, R., Pedrosa, R., Bruneau, J., Fredericks, S., Van Valen, R. , Chen, L., Then, K., Bowden, T., Phillips, E. K., Hayes, M. (March 4, 2024). Using an international research network to CONNECT through mentorship experiences in cardiothoracic surgical research. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2024.0018
- Wynne R, Fredericks S, Hyde EK, Matthews S, Bowden T, O’Keefe-McCarthy S, Martorella G, Magboo R, Gjeilo KH, Jedwab RM, Keeping-Burke L, Murfin J, Bruneau J, Lie I, Sanders J on behalf of CONNECT: the Cardiac Sugery International Nursing and Allied Professional Research Network. Multimodal analgesic effectiveness on acute postoperative pain management after adult cardiac surgery: protocol for a systematic review. The Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Published online 11.04.23. DOI: 10.1097/JCN.0000000000000989
- Fredericks S, Bae T, Sochaniwskyj M, Sanders J, Martorella G and Wynne R. Creating a social media strategy for an international cardiothoracic research network: A scoping review. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. Published online February 2023. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvad029
- Martorella G, Fredericks S, Sanders J, Wynne R (2021). Breaking pandemic chain reactions: telehealth psychosocial support in cardiovascular disease during COVID-19. European Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing. 20. 1-2. https://doi.org/10.1093/eurjcn/zvaa011
- Fredericks S, Wynne R, Martorella G, Onyeozirila M, Willis S, Kwaku F, Moon S, Sanders J (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: International visiting teams.British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 15 (12). DOI: https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0131
- Sanders J, Wynne R, Martorella G, Fredericks F (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Patient experience. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 5 (10): https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0090
- Fredericks S, Wynne R, Martorella G, Sanders J (2020): An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Student perspectives. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. 5 (8): https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0045
- Sanders J, Wynne R, Martorella G, Fredericks F (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Clinical academic careers. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. June 8th. 15 (6). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0033
- Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R, Sanders J (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: Advanced practice. British Journal of Cardiac Nursing. April 20th. 15 (4). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0010
- Sanders J, Wynne R, Martorella G, Fredericks F (2020). An international focus on cardiac surgery nursing: An introduction. British Journal Cardiac Nursing. January 2nd. 15 (2). https://doi.org/10.12968/bjca.2020.0009
Activities
CONNECT-CTSNet Video Series
CONNECT have worked with CTSNet to publish 6 videos entitled ‘CONNECTING Patients, Clinicians, and Outstanding Cardiac Care Through Nursing and Allied Professional Research’. The series can be found at https://www.ctsnet.org/article/guest-editor-series-connecting-patients-clinicians-and-outstanding-cardiac-care-through and include:
- “The Sex Factor”—Better Cardiac Surgery Care for Women by Stacey Matthews
- Postsurgical Pain After Cardiac Surgery—An Update on the Evidence By Kari Hanne Gjeilo
- SSI in Focus: Assessment, Prevention, and Management by Rosalie Magboo
- Reporting Outcomes: What, When, and Why Patients’ Perspectives Matter by Rochelle Wynne
- Cardiac Surgery Healthcare Professionals’ Engagement in Research at the Bedside: Challenges and Opportunities by Suzanne Fredericks
- CONNECTing Evidence and Practice of the Future: The Who, Why, and What of the Cardiac Surgery International Nursing and Allied Professional Research Network (CONNECT) by Julie Sanders
CONNECT Inaugural Webinar
On the 10th November 2021 CONNECT hosted its inaugural webinar. Cardiovascular surgery nursing and allied professional research colleagues joined from Australia, Canada, Norway, USA and UK joined to learn about the co-founders, the work of CONNECT so far, to discuss future plans and projects and to network with each other. Three new CONNECT initiatives were discussed which will start in 2022 – more details will follow in relation to these projects as they progress.
CONNECT Webinar 2: Annual Meeting October 2022
On the 27th October 2022 CONNECT hosted its second webinar in the form of an annual meeting. New CONNECT members were welcomed and an update on all programmes of work over the last 12 months was provided. Several new initiatives for 2023 were also highlighted. The 2023 annual meeting is proposed for 26th October.
Conference Sessions
Presentations CCCN-CONNECT joint session: CONNECT with Cardiovascular Nurses and Allied Health Professionals for International Collaboration in Research. Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses Spring Conference 2023 (workshop) Sanders J, Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R on behalf of CONNECT. CONNECTing globally: Driving evidence for better patient outcomes and experience. EACTS 2022 (oral presentation). Sanders J, Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R. The Cardiac surgery internatiONal Nursing and alliEd professional researCh network: CONNECT. SCTS 2022 (oral presentation) Sanders J, Fredericks S, Martorella G, Wynne R. Delivering the evidence for best practice: The launch of the Cardiac surgery internatiONal Nursing and alliEd professional researCh network (CONNECT). EuroHeartCare 2021 (oral presentation). Joint sessions The ACNAP-CONNECT joint session on cardiac surgery: Underreported outcomes after cardiac surgery. EuroHeartCare 2022 The ACNAP-CONNECT joint session on cardiac surgery: Hot topics in cardiac surgery. EuroHeartCare 2021
Member profiles
Ana Alves, Lead Advanced Clinical Practitioner, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, UK
- Research interests: patient outcomes, aortic dissections, understanding comorbidities and genetics' influence on patient outcomes, inclusive healthcare.
- Email: anapinhoalves@gmail.com
Hady Atef, Lecturer of Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy, Keele University UK
- Research interests: sleep and cardiac rehabilitation
- Email: h.a.balabel@keele.ac.uk
Dorte Baek Olsen, Clinical Nurse Specialist of Heart and Lung Surgery, Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark
- Research interests: Pre and postoperative care, open heart surgery, prehabilitation, patient experiences
- Email: dorte.baek.olsen@regionh.dk
Barbara Bailey, Nurse Practitioner, University Health Network, Canada
- Research interests: adult congenital heart disease, cardiovascular surgery
- Email: barbara.bailey@uhn.ca
Davina Banner, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Northern British Columbia, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular health, cardiac surgery, rural health, patient-oriented research
- Email: Davina.Banner-Lukaris@unbc.ca
Britt Borregaard, Associate Professor, Odense University Hospital, Denmark
- Research interests: cardiac surgery, heart valves
- Email: britt.borrgard@rsyd.dk
Tracey Bowden, Clinical Research Fellow / Senior Lecturer in Cardiac Care, City, University of London, UK
- Research interests: cognitive outcomes following adult cardiac surgery
- Email: Tracey.Gibson.1@city.ac.uk
Jill Bruneau, Assistant Professor, Memorial University of Newfoundland, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular health promotion, risk factor management, chronic disease management, knowledge transition.
- Email: jill.bruneau@mun.ca
Lisa Chen, Nurse Researcher/Lecturer, University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
- Research interests: cardiac nursing research, knowledge transition
- Email: ychen@usc.edu.au
Ijeoma Chukwurah, Clinical Research Practitioner, St Bartholomew's Hospital, UK
- Research interests: surgical cardiac research, trials in ethnic minority and female populations, biostatics analysis.
- Email: ijeoma.maryanne@nhs.net
Dr Tracey JF Colella, Clinician & Scientist, University Health Network/Toronto Rehab/KITE Research Institute, University of Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: women's cardiovascular health, cardiovascular surgery, sex and gender differences in transitions and access to cardiac care, artificial intelligence and deep learning models.
- Email: tracey.colella@uhn.ca
Samantha Cook, Highly Specialist Physiotherapist, Barts Health NHS, UK
- Research interests: critical care, cardiac surgery, aortovascular surgery
- Email: samantha.cook20@nhs.net
Cheryl Dickson, Clinical Nurse Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgery, Australia
- Research interests: ACHD, CTSx
- Email: cheryl.dickson@health.nsw.gov.au
Emily Ellis, Paediatric cardiology advanced nurse practitioner, Evelina London, Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust, UK
- Research interests: optimising pre- and post-operative care for patients with congenital heart disease especially arrythmia, public health, direct care management.
- Email: emily.ellis@gstt.nhs.uk
Pia Gammelgaard Elbrønd, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Odense University Hospital, Odense, Denmark
- Research interests: cardiac and thoracic surgery
- Email: Pia.elbroend@rsyd.dk
Anna Falk, ICU nurse, nurse anestehetist, Karolinska Institutet, Sweden
- Research interests: depression, delirium, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
- Email: Anna.falk.2@ki.se
Mohammed Goudarzi-Rad, PhD Candidate, Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing-University of Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: critical care, cardiac surgery, sedation
- Email: Mohammaed.goudarzirad@mail.utoronto.ca
Kari Hanne Gjeilo, Associate Professor, Dept of Public Health and Nursing, Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim, Norway; Nurse Researcher, Dept. of Cardiology and Dept. of Cardiothoracic Surgery, St. Olavs Hospital, Trondheim University Hospital, Norway
- Research interests: cardiothoracic surgery, postsurgical pain, cardiovascular nursing
- Email: h.gjeilo@ntnu.no
Richard van Halen, Advanced Nurse Practitioner/Postdoc
- Research interests: management of postoperative complications, postoperative wound infections, acute postoperative pain
- Email: r.nanvalen@qmul.ac.uyk
Maria Hayes, Cardiothoracic CNS, Blackrock Clinic, Ireland
- Research interests: cardiac surgery and prevention
- Email: hayesm2@tcd.ide / maria.hayes1@ucd.ie
Meredith Heily, PhD Candidate, The University of Melbourne, Australia
- Research interests: post-cardiac surgery patients in ICU
- Email: m.heily@student.unimelb.edu.au
Karin Hinterbuchner, Clinical Nurse, Research Nurse, Tirol Kliniken GmbH, Austria
- Research interests: cardiac surgery, cardiovascular nursing
- Email: hibu001@gmx.at
Ida Elisabeth Højskov, Clinical Nurse Specialist, IMPACT - Research and Care, Department of Heart and Lung Hospital, Rigshospitalet, University Hospital of Copenhagen, Denmark
- Research interests: early rehabilitation after CABG, everyday life in patients with advanced heart failure treated with transplantation or LVAD
- Email: Ida.elisabeth.hoejskov@regionh.dk
Emily Hyde, Clinical Nurse Specialist, Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, Canada
- Research interests: post-intensive care syndrome (PICS), congenital care
- Email: e.hyde@sbgh.mb.ca
Rebecca M Jedwab, EMR Research Nurse Consultant and PhD Student, Monash Health, Australia
- Research interests: impact of electronic medical record system implementations on nurses and their work
- Email: rebecca.jedwab@monashhealth.org
Lisa Keeping-Burke, Associate Dean of Health Research, University of New Brunswick, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular and chronic disease management
- Email: lkeeping@unb.ca
Tieghan Killackey, RBC Financial Group Chair in Cardiovascular Nursing Research and Assistant Professor, University Health Network / University of Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: transitions in cardiovascular care across the lifespan, qualitative health research, virtual care
- Email: tieghan.killackey@utoronto.ca
Irene Lie, Critical Care Nurse, Senior Researcher and Associate Professor II, FESC, Oslo University Hospital and NTNU, Norway
- Research interests: follow-up after discharge from hospital, symptom monitoring, heart surgery, heart failure and PCI patients.
- Email: Irene.lie@ous-hf.no
Rosalie Magboo, Clinical Doctoral Research Fellow / Senior Sister, Queen Mary University of London / St Bartholomew’s Hospital, UK
- Research interests: cardiac surgery, aortovascular surgery, surgical site infection (SSI), atrial fibrillation (AF)
- Email: r.magboo@qmul.ac.uk
Ruth Masterson Creber, Professor of Nursing, Columbia University School of Nursing, USA
- Research interests: digital health, CABG surgery, health informatics, nursing informatics, patient reported outcomes
- Email: rm3284@cumc.columbia.edu
Stacey Matthews, Coordinator Clinical Evidence, National Heart Foundation of Australia
- Research interests: gender and women-specific cardiovascular disease
- Email: stacey.matthews@heartfoundation.org.au
Joanna Murfin, Advanced Nurse Practitioner - cardiac surgery, University Hospital Southampton NHS Foundation Trust, UK
- Research interests: prehabilitation
- Email: jo.murfin@uhs.nhs.uk
Maria Natsiou, Registered Nurse, AHEPA University Hospital of Thessaloniki, Greece
- Research interests: optimising post-operative care for cardiac surgery patients, improving nursing interventions, enhancing recovery pathways.
- Email: marianatsiou@hotmail.com
Sheila O'Keefe-McCarthey, Associate Professor, Brock University, National Research Director for the Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular pain, symptom recognition and management
- Email: sokeefemccarthy@brocku.ca
Susanne Nielsen, Operating Theatre Nurse, Sahlgrenska Academy, Inst. of Medicine, Dept. of Molecular and Clinical Medicine, Sweden
- Research interests: cardiovascular epidemiology
- Email: susanne.nielsen@gu.se
Rachael Parke, Nurse Senior Research Fellow, Cardiothoracic and Vascular ICU, Auckland City Hospital, New Zealand; Associate Professor and Associate Head of Postgraduate Study, School of Nursing, The University of Auckland, New Zealand
- Research interests: cardiothoracic surgery and intensive care
- Email: rparke@adhb.govt.nz
Dina Paolini, Cardiothoracic ICU Nurse, Barts Health NHS Trust, UK
- Research interests: cardiothoracic ICU
- Email: dinapaoloni.79@gmail.com
Coleen Power, Nurse Practitioner, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada
- Research interests: cardiovascular surgery, cardiac tumours
- Email: coleenmpower@gmail.com
Daisy Sandeman, Lead Advanced Nurse Practitioner, Edinburgh Royal Infirmary, UK
- Research interests: post-operative delirium in cardiac surgery
- Email: d.v.sandeman@sms.ed.ac.uk
Francisco Ariel Santos da Costa, Registered Nurse, UNIMED Hospital (HRU), Ceará State University (UECE), Brazil
- Research interests: renal protection protocol, cardiovascular nursing care, Acute Coronary Syndrome, vascular complications
- Email: arielload@hotmail.com
Rafaela Batista dos Santos Pedrosa, Assistant Professor (Tenured), School of Nursing, University of Campinas, Brazil
- Research interests: cardiology, complications in cardiac surgery, heart transplants
- Email: rpedrosa@unicamp.br
Evangelina Sigala, Deputy Head Nurse - Nursing Education, Nursing Education Office, Greece
- Research interests: cardiac surgery surgical aortic valve replacement, clinical outcomes, patient safety, clinical instructing, holistic care.
- Email: evitasig@hotmail.com
Emma Skipsey, NIHR Pre-Doctoral Clinical Academic Fellow & CICU Staff Nurse, Hull University Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust/Hull York Medical School, UK
- Research interests: cardiothoracic intensive care, palliative care
- Email: e.skipsey@nhs.net
Malin Stenman, Theatre Nurse, Korlinska Institutet, Sweden
- Research interests: depression, cardiovascular and thoracic surgery
- Email: malin.senman@ki.se
Karen Then, Professor and Acute Care Nurse Practitioner, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary
- Research interests: open heart surgery, cardiology
- Email: kthen@ucalgary.ca
Ashley Thomas, Intensive Care Charge Nurse, Barts Health NHS Trust, UK
- Research interests: muscle wasting in critical illness
- Email: ashleythomas@nhs.net
Our Partners
Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing
Deakin University and Western Health
Florida State University
Group leads
Professor of Cardiovascular Care
Nurse Scientist & Professor in the Daphne Cockwell School of Nursing at Toronto Metropolitan University
Chair of Nursing in the Western Health and Deakin University Partnership
Contact us
For general enquires, or suggestions for website content, please contact: Professor Julie Sanders: