Priscilla Taipale

I am a Registered Nurse with 12 years of experience in critical care. I have been interested in clinical research since my undergraduate degree and an experience working in London England was the catalyst for my decision to complete a MSN and then later work towards a PhD. I have conducted an observational study at VGH in 2009/2010 to determine the relationships between the prn administration of midazolam and narcotic analgesia and postoperative delirium following cardiac surgery. This study then led me to an interest in pain, ethical theorizing in pain and in pain management in acute care settings. I am currently an RN in the emergency department at VGH, as well as a PhD student at UBC who is planning to study the trajectories of neuropathic pain development in patients aged 17 - 50 who sustain a traumatic limb fracture. I also have a strong interest in measurement and statistics and I am working towards a concurrent subspecialty in measurement through the department of Educational Psychology. My research interests are in the areas of delirium, cardiac surgery, women and heart disease, neuropathic pain, ethical theorizing in pain management and also in qualitative grounded theory methods.