Associate professor
College of Nursing
Helen Glass Centre for Nursing
Room 367 - 89 Curry Place
University of Manitoba
Winnipeg, Manitoba R3T 2N2
Phone: 204-474-8001
Fax: 204-474-7682
Christina.West@umanitoba.ca
Christina West, RN, PhD
Research affiliations
- Member, Children's Hospital Research Institute of Manitoba
Research summary
My program of research aims to understand family experiences of serious pediatric illness through the integration of family systems theory and the expressive arts. We use artistic inquiry to support family members in engaging with a studio-oriented approach to artmaking, which facilitates a distinct form of understanding and knowledge. Central to artistic inquiry is the belief that the arts hold a unique, untapped potential to heal the emotional, psychological, and spiritual suffering of illness. We aim to influence clinical care through the development of arts-based approaches that support families in expressing, understanding, and sharing their illness experiences with one another, as well as the clinicians involved in their care.
Biography
Dr. Christina West is an associate professor in the College of Nursing at the University of Manitoba. She has extensive practice experience in child health and family systems nursing. Christina has experience in arts-based research methodology and has led the development of an expressive arts approach called ‘dialoguing with images,’ into a method for health research. Christina has also conducted mindfulness-based arts intervention studies in oncology and is conducting a systematic review on digital storytelling as a method for health research. Christina has teaching expertise in family health, qualitative research, evidence-informed practice, and advanced philosophy for nursing science.
Education
- Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary (2011)
- Master of Nursing, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary (2003)
- Bachelor of Science, Physiology (Hons), University of Western Ontario (1996)
- Registered Nurse Diploma, Fanshawe College (1987)
ORCID profile
Visit Christina West's ORCID profile for a complete listing.