Convocation Spotlight: Chentel Cunningham

Chentel Cunningham

Coming from a family of nurses, Chentel Cunningham always knew she, too, wanted to join the profession. The first nurse practitioner in her family, she is now also the first nursing PhD. Having seen a gap in her clinical practice, she took the opportunity to pursue her PhD and work to make a bigger difference in the lives of people living with cardiac disease and their families. While juggling parenthood with a demanding program, she stayed motivated by her desire to help the many families she has met who are coping with childhood heart failure.

Cunningham shares her proudest moments, the challenges she faced and her advice for future nursing researchers. 

What are you most proud of from your time in the program?

My first accomplishment was creating a tool to better educate caregivers of children with heart failure. In my clinical practice, I have seen families who are at their most vulnerable moments in life struggling to understand their child's complex cardiac diagnosis, and this added to their stress and anxiety. Providing them with a research-based educational tool was one of my greatest accomplishments. 

The second was that I modelled for my children the benefit and hard work of pursuing graduate education. It is important to me that they experience me crossing the stage at graduation to receive my graduate degree so that someday they may want to do the same in whatever profession they choose to study.

How did you stay motivated?

The families and children I encountered in my clinical practice helped me stay motivated. I am very lucky to interact with and help many families during their most vulnerable time in their lives, which was a big motivator for me. Families need improved education to better care for their children in the home environment, and were so thankful for my work in this area. Helping these children and families was the goal I kept in mind while pushing through to complete this important project.

Did you receive any financial awards?

I received a number of prestigious awards thanks to the support of my supervisor, Shannon Scott, and committee members. These awards were a key part of my training; not only did they provide me the benefit of financial support, they also provided key learning and development of my grantsmanship skills and strengthened my dissertation research. I am so grateful to all my funders during this six-year journey! Among the awards I received were a Canadian Institutes for Health Research Fellowship, a Women and Children's Health Research Institute Graduate Studentship and the Honorary Izaak Walton Killam Memorial Scholarship.

Did you have any exceptional experiences? 

While a full-time student, I continued to work as a nurse practitioner at the Stollery Children's Hospital cardiomyopathy and heart function program. Melding these two experiences together provided me with research connections, support outside of the university environment and motivation. I also played a key role in helping with my children's sport, which forced me to take some of my time away from work and studies. Balancing all of these endeavours taught me that I am able to prioritize many demands at once and still do quality work.

What advice would you give to a student thinking of entering this program?

I have three pieces of advice for prospective students. First, try to enter with a focus, and complete your coursework accordingly. This helped me during the design phase of my dissertation as I used my coursework as key phases in my dissertation.

Second, ensure your research is an area that is your passion. There will be ebbs and flows in your program and being passionate about your research subject will keep you motivated to reach the finish line.

Finally, get to know your fellow students! Building a strong circle of peers who are having the same lived experience is invaluable. Sharing stories and building memories will help enrich your studies and research.