Biography
My program of research focuses on the areas of culture, religion, equity and health, with particular attention to how difference is negotiated in clinical settings, including in the context of end-of-life care to people with chronic life-limiting conditions. A second focus is that of nursing education, including the use of innovative clinical settings. I teach in the areas of nursing research, nursing ethics, and health policy. I am the Director of the Master of Science in Nursing program. My clinical background is in perinatal nursing, and adult medical/surgical nursing. I was awarded the 2010 CRNBC Award of Excellence in Nursing Research.
Education
- B.B.S. (Canadian Bible College)
- R.N. (Grace Hospital, Winnipeg)
- B.Sc.N. (Victoria)
- M.Sc.N. (British Columbia)
- Ph.D. (British Columbia)
Areas of Expertise
Culture, religion, equity & health; Health care ethics; Critical Research methods; Health care delivery & reform; Nursing research; Nursing methodology; Intercultural health care; Knowledge Translation
Scholarship Interests & Involvements
Integrated Knowledge Translation: Examining the Efficiency of a Collaborative Knowledge Translation Approach. $150,000. PI Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham with Elisabeth Antifeau, Gweneth Doane, Barb Pesut, Pat Porterfield, Della Roberts, Kelli Stajduhar.
This knowledge translation (KT) research project will test a model for effective, collaborative and integrated knowledge translation processes using the Initiative for a Palliative Approach in Nursing: Evidence and Leadership (iPANEL) as a site of study. The objectives stem from the overarching aim to create a fit between content, context, and facilitation for effective KT.
Objectives giving specific direction to this KT project include:
1. (MODEL) To refine and test an integrated, collaborative, knowledge translation model;
2. (CONTENT) To translate knowledge for the clinical recognition of clients who would benefit from a palliative approach, including identification of appropriate supports and services for patient and family;
3. (CONTEXT) To build on relationships between academic, administrative, and clinical stakeholders to create healthcare environments that facilitate the uptake of a palliative approach;
4. (FACILITATION) To explore how specific strategies/processes, such as a Knowledge Broker and researchers working with local research champions, facilitate knowledge exchange; and
5. (EVALUATION) To evaluate how a project such as iPANEL creates opportunities for an integrated, multi-leveled approach to knowledge translation for the integration of a palliative approach across care delivery sites.
Funding: Michael Smith Health Research Foundation Knowledge Translation. (2012 – 2014).
Nursing students partnering: A Zambian-Canadian case study. D.Pankratz, B.Astle, S.Reimer-Kirkham.
Although many nursing programs are offering international placements for undergraduate nursing students, little is known about how a partnering relationship might foster learning between students from different countries. The purpose of this study is to explore partnering between Zambian and Canadian nursing students in the context of an international learning experience. Through a case study approach, in real time, during a travel study to Zambia the researchers will seek to understand this type of partnering.
Funding: Western Northern Region Canadian Association Schools of Nursing (2012 – 2014).
A Mixed Methods Knowledge Synthesis to Support Nursing Care Delivery Models for a Palliative Approach. Principal Investigators: R.Sawatzky, P.Porterfield. Co-investigators: K.Stajduhar, S. Reimer-Kirkham, D.Roberts, B.Pesut.
Funding: Michael Smith Health Research Foundation BC Nurses Research Initiative (2012 – 2014).
Enhancing Educational Capacity for a Palliative Approach in Rural Nursing: A Research Demonstration Project. Researcher Co-leader – Barbara Pesut, University of British Columbia Practitioner Co-leader – Gail Potter, Selkirk College. McLean, T., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Doane, G., Hutchings, D., McLeod, B., Schmitz, R., Stajduhar, K.
Funding: Michael Smith Health Research Foundation BC Nurses Research Initiative (2012 – 2014).
Considering Place: Religion, Spirituality, and Culture in Home Health Care (PI: Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham with Barb Pesut (UBC-O), Sonya Grypma (TWU), Rick Sawatzky (TWU), Sonya Sharma (Durham University, UK) Collaborators and Consultants: Jas Cheema (FH), Michael Wilkinson (TWU), Jens Zimmerman (TWU), Paddy Rodney (UBC), Sally Thorne (UBC), Joan Anderson (UBC), Lori Beaman (U of Ottawa), Pam Klassen (U of T), and Gloria Woodland.
Current immigration patterns that include the majority of newcomers to Canada arriving from Asian source countries have brought about a substantial increase in the number of Canadians who report affiliations with religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, creating a more diverse religious profile. Matters related to plurality and secularism play out in various public spheres, one of which is health care services. Health care services are increasingly being delivered in home settings as a result of new technologies, downsizing in acute care services, and shifting philosophies to provide care "closer to home", representing a new blurring of public and private spaces. Little research has addressed cultural, religious and spiritual plurality in home settings, and how health care providers negotiate differences when in the private setting of the home. Building on a recently completed study examining how diversity is accommodated in hospital settings, the purpose of the project is to examine the accommodation and negotiation of religious, spiritual, and cultural plurality in the provision of health care services in the home, and the social, gendered, economic, and political contexts that shape these dynamics. Ethnographic methods will be used, including in-depth interviewing and participant observation with patients/families, professional and non-professional caregivers, and administrators. Diversity will be sought among participants for a range of religious, spiritual, and cultural affiliations including various Christian denominations, Judaism, Sikhism, Islam, Buddhism, and those with no formal religious ties. After significant proportions of the data have been analyzed, theoretical sampling will be used to seek participants who can explore relevant concepts and insights arising from the data. A practice advisory group will serve to validate and extend research findings, and strategize ways of translating research findings. An annual "think tank" with project collaborators, other expert scholars, interested healthcare practitioners and spiritual leaders will enrich the exchange between “campus and community”. This work is particularly relevant in light of Canada's increasingly pluralistic population and will make important theoretical and practice contributions to social and health sciences. The study will advance our knowledge regarding how difference is negotiated in home health settings, and how religion and spirituality might contribute to both social cohesion and division. Recommendations will be developed regarding how to best create space for the expression of religious and spiritual plurality when health and social services are provided in home settings.
Funding: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (2009 - 2012)
The Negotiation of Religious Plurality in Health Care Services.
(PI: Dr. Sheryl Reimer Kirkham, with Drs. Barbara Pesut, Rick Sawatzky, Heather Meyerhoff, Sonya Sharma, Marie Cochrane)
Canada has been described as the world's first international nation - referred to as such because of the more than 200 ethnic groups reported in the 2001 census. The shift in immigration patterns that has seen the majority of newcomers to Canada arrive from Asian source countries has also brought about a substantial increase in the number of Canadians who report affiliations with religions such as Islam, Hinduism, Sikhism, and Buddhism, creating a more diverse religious profile. Ethnocultural diversity is the subject of growing empirical investigation in healthcare, as themes of difference, culture, inclusion, exclusion, and inequity are pursued. Yet, the intersections between ethnicity, culture, gender, class, and religion, and the negotiation of spiritual and religious plurality have received little attention in the healthcare context. This oversight is notable in light of the intensely political and "eminently social" nature of religion. Where religion and spirituality are included in health related research, the focus typically centers on links between religiosity/spirituality and health/illness, or on what are portrayed as circumscribed cultural-religious practices, apart from the contingent nature of spirituality and religion situated within particular sociopolitical contexts. Particular theoretical analyses are required, such as those made possible by postcolonial feminist and critical perspectives, to explicate the social dynamics resulting from the contingent and political nature of spirituality and religion. The purpose of this ethnographic study is to analyze the negotiation of spiritual and religious plurality in healthcare services, and the social, gendered, cultural, historical, economic, and political contexts that shape these social dynamics.
This study builds on a program of research in the area of culture, spirituality, and health. Research objectives are to: (1) describe how spiritual and religious plurality is negotiated in healthcare provider/recipient encounters, (2) examine the ways in which healthcare contexts shape the negotiation of spiritual and religious plurality, (3) critically examine the ways in which societal contexts shape the negotiation of religious and spiritual plurality in healthcare, and (4) facilitate knowledge translation into practice, health policy, and professional education Data collection is currently underway with health care professionals, spiritual care practitioners, health care administrators, and patients.
Funding: Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council Canada (2006 - 2009).
Integration of a Palliative Approach for Nursing
K. I. Stadjuhar (Co-PI), Carolyn Tayler (Co-PI), Reimer-Kirkham, S and 13 other co-investigators
Funding: Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research (MSHRF) (2011 – 2015) $800,000.
Culture, pedagogy, practice, and research.
Principal Investigators: Harrowing, J., D.Gregory, Co-investigators: C.Baker, A.Browne, S. Ferzacca, B.Hall, V.Holmes, S.Mahara, D.Martin, J.Popp, L.Racine, S.Reimer-Kirkham, B.Shore, D.Smith, V.Smye, C.Varcoe,
Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research. Meetings, dissemination and planning grant. (2011). $19,023.
A Christian Theoretical Framing for Spirituality, Religion, and Culture in Nursing
(PI: Dr. Barb Pesut with Elizabeth Johnson-Taylor, Marsha Fowler, Sheryl Reimer-Kirkham and Rick Sawatzky)
Funding: Coalition of Christian Colleges and Universities (2006 - 2009)
Cultural Safety and Knowledge Uptake in Clinical Settings: A Model for Practice for Culturally Diverse Populations.
(PI: Dr. Joan Anderson)
Part of a larger program of research, the aim of this study is to develop innovative, sustainable approaches to knowledge transfer that will shift the ‘culture' of practice, enhance the practice environment, lessen distress of staff, reduce patient suffering around transitions from hospital to home, reduce hospital readmission rates, and lead, ultimately to more equitable, cost-effective and efficient care.
Funding: Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2005 - 2008)
For more details, see: http://www.cghru.nursing.ubc.ca/
Partnering with Aboriginal communities: Type II Diabetes Prevention in Children and Youth.
(PI: Heather Meyerhoff)
This study uses Participatory Action Research with the First Nation Community of Seabird Island to explore the issues of Type 2 Diabetes prevention for children and youth.
Funding: TWU Diabetes Research Fund (2005 - 2009).
The Use of Innovative Clinical Placements in Nursing Education: A National Survey.
(PI: Dr. Sheryl Reimer Kirkham)
Building on an earlier descriptive study (see below) the purpose of this study is to survey Canadian nurse educators regarding the use of innovative clinical placements. Specifically, the objectives of the study are to: a) describe the use of innovative clinical settings in Canada (prevalence, type); b) elicit the perspectives of nurse educators regarding the nature of student learning in these sites; c) describe variables related to administrative matters regarding the use of ICPs; d) describe strengths and weaknesses of clinical placements in these sites; e) identify ethical, legal, and academic issues associated with the utilization of these settings; and f) compare findings from Phase II to Phase I.
Funding: Western Region Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing (WRCAUSN) Nursing Education Research Grant.(2005 - 2008)
Keeping the Vision: Sustaining Social Consciousness with Nursing Students Following International Learning Experiences.
(PI: Dr. Sheryl Reimer Kirkham)
In an era of globalization and concern with international health, increasing numbers of nursing programs are initiating International Nursing Experiences for undergraduate students. In a current study examining the use of Innovative Clinical Placements (Van Hofwegen, Reimer Kirkham, & Hoe Harwood, 2004), students who recently returned from an international experience demonstrated heightened levels of social consciousness regarding international relationships, cross-cultural exchange, poverty, development, and globalization.
Yet, they also expressed concern about how they might "keep the vision" as they re-integrated into day-to-day North American life. Such concerns reflect the larger challenge of how critical consciousness is fostered through international experiences and sustained upon return to home environments. To address this challenge, the objectives of this participatory action study are to: 1) explore the nature of learning achieved by students regarding Christian perspectives of social justice in the context of international health experiences; and 2) facilitate strategies that support students in the integration of this learning into personal and professional domains upon return to Canada.
Funding: SSHRC Small Universities Grant. (2004 - 2006)
Innovative Clinical Settings: A Descriptive Study.
(PI: Dr. Sheryl Reimer Kirkham)
The purpose of the study is to examine student learning opportunities for population-focused nursing care in several innovative clinical sites: parish, rural, forensic, aboriginal, and international health settings. Based upon the descriptions of students, clinical instructors, and health care professionals (e.g., RNs), an evaluative framework will be developed to guide the use of innovative clinical settings.
Funding: Western Region Canadian Association of University Schools of Nursing (WRCAUSN) Nursing Education Research Grant.
Hospitalization and Help-seeking Experiences of Ethnocultural Communities: Phase II.
(PI: Dr. Joan Anderson, UBC)
Building on Phase I, Phase II focuses on two issues. The first relates to extending the concept of cultural safety to include intersecting factors of health care restructuring, resource allocation, gender, ethnicity and class, as these mediate illness management in the home. The second is the transition of patients from hospital to home. While Phase I focused on relationships of patients and practitioners in the context of the hospital, and began to explore the treatments and alternate therapies people use in the home, Phase II focuses more deliberately on barriers to managing care in the home.
We are specifically interested in examining the intersections of gender, ethnicity, and economic relations as these influence the resources people have to manage care in the home; and, the resources in the community that may be available, but are not drawn upon because people are unable to navigate the system. These are core issues in the cultural safety of patients and the provision of equitable health care.
Funding: Canadian Institutes Health Research.(2002 - 2005)
Publications
Sharma, S., Reimer-Kirkham, S., & Meyerhoff, H. (2012). Filmmaking with Aboriginal youth for Type 2 Diabetes prevention. Pimatisiwin: A Journal of Indigenous and Aboriginal Community Health. 9(2), 423-440.
Fowler, M., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Sawatzky, R., & Johnston-Taylor, E. (2012). Religion, religious ethics, and nursing. New York: Springer Publishers.
Reimer-Kirkham, S. (2012). A Critical Reading across Religion and spirituality: Contributions of postcolonial theory to nursing ethics. In M.Fowler et al. (ed.) Religion, Religious Ethics, and Nursing. New York: Springer Publishers.
Reimer-Kirkham, S. & Sharma, S. (2012). Intersectional Analyses of Culture, Religion, Ethics and Nursing. In M.Fowler et al. (ed.) Religion, Religious Ethics, and Nursing. New York: Springer Publishers.
Sharma, S., & Reimer-Kirkham, S. , & Fowler, M. (2012). Emergent spiritualities and nursing ethics. In M.Fowler et al. (ed.) Religion, Religious Ethics, and Nursing. New York: Springer Publishers.
Reimer-Kirkham, S., & Sharma, S. (2011). Adding religion to gender, race, and class: Seeking new insights on intersectionality in health care contexts. In Hankivsky, O. (Ed.). Health Inequities in Canada: Intersectional Frameworks and Practices. (pp. 112-127). Vancouver, B.C.: UBC Press.
Anderson, J., Khan, K., & Reimer-Kirkham, S. (2011). Community research from a postcolonial feminist perspective: Exemplars from health research in Canada and India. In G. Creese, & W. Frisby, (Eds.). Feminist methodologies in community research. Vancouver, BC: UBC Press.
Reimer-Kirkham, S. (2011). Spiritual formation and social justice in nursing education: Seeking an inspired integrated approach. In G.Chutter (ed.) Called to transform. Langley, B.C.: Trinity Western University.
Reimer-Kirkham, S., Sharma, S, Pesut, B., Sawatzky, R., Meyerhoff, H., & Cochrane, M. (2011). Sacred spaces in public places: Religious and Spiritual Plurality in Healthcare. Nursing Inquiry. Published online. DOI: 10.1111/j.1440-1800.2011.00571.x
Pesut, B., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Sawatzky, R., Woodland, G., & Peverall, P. (2010). Hospitable hospitals in a diverse society: From chaplains to spiritual care providers. Journal of Religion and Health. Published online. DOI: 10.1007/s10943-010-9392-1.
Anderson, J., Khan, K., McDonald, H., Peltonen, A., Browne, A., Reimer-Kirkham, S.,Lynam, J., Rodney, P., Tan, E., Varcoe, C., Wong, S., Baumbusch, J., Reimer, J., Semeniuk, P., Smye, V. (2010). The uptake of critical knowledge in nursing interventions: Insights from a knowledge translation study. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research. 42(3), 106-122.
Reimer-Kirkham, S. & Anderson, J. (2010). The advocate-analyst dialectic in critical and postcolonial feminist research: Reconciling tensions around scientific integrity. Advances in Nursing Science, 33(3), 196–205.
Pesut, B., & Reimer-Kirkham, S. (2010). Situated clinical encounters in the negotiation of religious and spiritual plurality: A critical ethnography. International Journal of Nursing Studies. 47(7), 815-825.
Anderson, J., Khan, K., Peltonen, A., Rodney, P., Varcoe, C., Browne, A., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Lynam, J., McDonald, H., Tan, E., Wong, S., Baumbusch, J., Semeniuk, P. (2009). Inequities in health and health care viewed through the ethical lens of critical social justice: Contextual knowledge for the global priorities ahead. Advances in Nursing Science. 32(4), 1–13.
McCall, J., Browne, A., Reimer Kirkham, S., & Spittal, P. (2009). Struggling to survive: The difficult reality of Aboriginal women living with HIV/AIDS in an urban context. Qualitative Health Research.19(12), 1769-1782.
Pesut, B., Fowler, M.,Reimer-Kirkham, S., Johnson Taylor, E., & Sawatzky, R. (2009). Particularizing spirituality in points of tension: Enriching the discourse. Nursing Inquiry.16: 337–346
Sharma, S., Reimer Kirkham, S., & Cochrane, M. (2009). Practising the awareness of embodiment in qualitative health research: Methodological reflections. Qualitative Health Research. 19(11) 1642–1650.
Hoe Harwood, C., Reimer-Kirkham, S., Sawatzky, R., Terblanche, L., & Van Hofwegen, L. (2009). Innovation in community clinical placements: A Canadian survey. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship. 6(1), Article 28.
Reimer-Kirkham, S. (2009). Lived religion: Implications for healthcare ethics Nursing Ethics 16(4), 406-17.
Reimer Kirkham, S., Varcoe, C., Browne, A., Khan, K., Lynam, J., & Anderson, J. (2009). Critical inquiry and knowledge translation: Exploring tensions. Nursing Philosophy. 10(3), 152-66.
Browne, A., Varcoe, C., Smye, V., Wong, S., Anderson, J., Lynam, J., Reimer-Kirkham, S., McDonald, H., Rodney, P., Tan, E. (2009). Cultural Safety and the Challenges of Translating Critically-Oriented Knowledge in Practice. Nursing Philosphy.
Reimer-Kirkham, S., Van Hofwegen, L., & Pankratz, D. (2009). "Keeping the vision": Sustaining social consciousness following international learning experiences. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship. 6(1), article 3.
Pesut, B., Fowler, M., Johnston Taylor, Reimer-Kirkham, S., & Sawatzky, R. (2008). Conceptualizing spirituality and religion for healthcare. Journal of Clinical Nursing. 17(21), 2803-2810.
Baumbusch, J., Reimer Kirkham, S., Khan, K., McDonald, H., Semeniuk, P., Tan, E., & Anderson, J. (2008). Pursuing common agendas: A collaborative model for knowledge translation in clinical settings. Research in Nursing and Health. 31, 130-140. [One of top 20 most cited articles in Research in Nursing and Health in 2008].
Anderson, J., Reimer Kirkham, S; Lynam, J., & Browne, A. (2007). Continuing the dialogue: postcolonial feminist scholarship and Bourdieu - discourses of culture and points of connection. Nursing Inquiry.14(3), 178-188.
Baumbusch, J., Semeniuk, P., MacDonald, H; Khan, K., Reimer Kirkham, S., Tan, E., & Anderson, J. (2007). Easing the transition between hospital and home: Translating knowledge into action. The Canadian Nurse. 103(8), 24 - 29.
Khan, K., McDonald, H., Baumbusch, J., Reimer Kirkham, S., Tan, E., & Anderson, J. (2007). Taking up postcolonial feminist methodology in the field: Working through a method. Women's Studies International Forum. 30(3), 228-242.
Lynam, J., Anderson, J., Reimer Kirkham, S., & Browne, A. (2007). Re-thinking 'culture': What might we learn from Bourdieu? Nursing Inquiry, 14(1), 23-34.
Reimer Kirkham, S, Baumbusch, J.,., Schultz, A., Anderson, J. (2007). Enhancing professional nursing practice through evidence-based practice: Insights and opportunities from a post-colonial feminist perspective. Advances in Nursing Science, 30(1), 25-40.
Reimer Kirkham, S. & Browne, A. (2006). Toward a Critical Theoretical Interpretation of Social Justice Discourses in Nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 29(4), 324-339.
Reimer Kirkham, S. (2006). Book review: Cultural safety in Aotearoa New Zealand by Dianne Wepa. Contemporary Nurse, 22(2), 333-334.
Reimer Kirkham, S., Van Hofwegen, L., & Hoe Harwood, C. (2005). Narratives of Social Justice: Student Learning in Innovative Clinical Placements. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 2(1), article 28. Available: http://www.bepress.com/ijnes/vol2/iss1/art28
Van Hofwegen, L., Reimer Kirkham, S., & Hoe Harwood, C. (2005). Accessing the strength of rural health settings: Implications for undergraduate nursing education. International Journal of Nursing Education Scholarship, 2(1), article 27. Available: http://www.bepress.com/ijnes/vol2/iss1/art27
Reimer Kirkham, S., Hoe Harwood, C., & Van Hofwegen, L. (2005). Capturing the vision: Undergraduate nursing students in innovative clinical settings. Nurse Educator, 30(6):263-270.
Reimer Kirkham, S., Pesut, B., Meyerhoff, H., & Sawatzky, R. (2004). Spiritual care-giving at the juncture of religion, culture, and state. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research, 36(4), 248-269.
Memberships & Affiliations
- Professor, Trinity Western University, School of Nursing
- Investigator, Critical Inquiry in Health and Health Inequities Research Unit, University of British Columbia
- Founding member, Religion in Canada Institute, Trinity Western University
- Founding member: Gender Studies Institute, Trinity Western University
Courses Taught at TWU
NURS 633 Health Care Ethics and Decision-Making
NURS 550 Health Care Policy
NURS 530 Nursing Inquiry 1 (Qualitative Research)
NURS 437 Nursing Issues and Theories
Awards & Honours
2010 College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia, Award of Excellence in Nursing Research
2001 Elizabeth Kenny McCann Outstanding Dissertation Award, UBC School of Nursing
2000 Governor General’s Gold Medal, University of British Columbia
1997 – 1999 National Health Research and Development Program Doctoral Fellowship ($36,000)
1999 St. Paul’s Hospital Doctoral Student Research Award ($5,000)