Since 2000 I have worked as a public health nurse, post-partum care nurse, and health promotion facilitator in rural areas in Ontario and Alberta. One of the most memorable experiences I had in the role of a public health nurse was an opportunity to spear-head a smoking by-law campaign in Ontario. Our goal – which was to pass a by-law to prohibit smoking in public places – was achieved after an interesting year of relationship building in the community through public forums and other pursuits to engage and inform community members.
I completed my PhD in Nursing at the University of Alberta. In my dissertation, I explored how women (with no personal history for breast or ovarian cancer) with at least a 20% lifetime risk for hereditary breast cancer experienced living with risk when a breast cancer 1 or 2 genetic mutation was not identified in the family. For future research, I am interested in exploring how knowing that there is a genetic predisposition for certain diseases in the family impacts the perception of health and illness on an individual/familial and societal level.
Schroeder, D., Duggleby, W., & Cameron, B.L. Moving in and out of the what-ifs: The experiences of unaffected women living in families where a BRCA genetic mutation was not found. Cancer Nursing. (Invited to Resubmit).
Schroeder, D., & Conroy, S.A. (2015). Breast cancer genetics: More than a medical management tool. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing, 19(5), 603-607.
Duggleby, W., Schroeder, D., Nekolaichuk, C. (2013). Hope and connection: the caregivers’ hope experiences in caring for persons with dementia residing in a long term care facility. BMC Geriatrics Journal, 13, 112.