Cathy Eunkyung Son, PhD candidate, MSN, RN, GNC(C)

Assistant Professor of Nursing
I believe that my role as a teacher is not only to deliver intellectual knowledge, but to help shape students into becoming full of compassion and able to embrace the ongoing challenges facing our community, by being the “salt and light” of the world.

After graduating with her BSN from the University of Calgary, Cathy began her career as an RN in the medical/surgical unit and pursued specialty certification in intensive care nursing. While working in the intensive care unit, Cathy has broadened her clinical experience by working across diverse clinical settings, including the Post-Anesthetic Care Unit and a neurostimulation clinic. She has collaborated with the research team at Vancouver General Hospital to implement technology use in dementia care. Cathy is also an experienced instructor who has a great passion for teaching and mentoring nursing students. Her long-term vision is to apply her research skills to empower patients and families and help to improve their experience of illness and care.

  • Master of Science in Nursing (TWU)
  • Intensive Care Nursing Certification (Alberta Health Services)
  • Bachelor of Nursing (University of Calgary)
  • Bachelor of Art in Psychology (University of Regina)

Expertise

Person-Centred Care, Culturally Sensitive Care, Emotional Wellbeing, Item Response Theory, Equitable People-Centred Health Measurement

Recent Publications

  • Son, C., Forsgren, E., Öhlén, J., & Sawatzky, R. (2025). Person-centred care for migrants: A narrative review of health care literature. Frontiers in Health Services, 5, 1573813.
  • Shadarevian, J., Chan, C., Berndt, A., Son, C., Gregorio, M., Horne, N., & Hung, L. (2020). Creating a toolkit with stakeholders for leveraging tablet computers to support person-centred dementia care in hospitals. Journal of Rehabilitation and Assistive Technologies Engineering, 7, 2055668320960385.
  • Hung, L., Son, C., & Hung, R. (2019). The experience of hospital staff in applying the gentle persuasive approaches to dementia care. Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing, 26(1-2), 19-28.
  • Hung, L., Berndt, A., Wallsworth, C., Horne, N., Gregorio, M., Mann, J., Son, C., Camps, A., Chow, B., O'Neil, R., & Chaudhury, H. (2019). Use of touch screen tablets to support social connections and reduce responsive behaviours among people with dementia in care settings: A scoping review protocol. BMJ Open, 9(11), e031653.

Affiliations & Memberships

  • British Columbia College of Nurses and Midwives (BCCNM)
  • Canadian Nurses Association
  • Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses (CACCN)
  • Gerontological Nurses’ Association of British Columbia (GNABC)
  • Simulation Canada

  • NURS 123 Clinical Skill II
  • NURS 127 Health Promotion and Primary Health Care
  • NURS 212 Nursing Care of the Older Adult
  • NURS 213 Clinical Practice: Older Adult
  • NURS 232 Nursing Care of Adult (Co-teaching)
  • NURS 233 Clinical Practice: Adult Health II
  • NURS 413 Clinical Practice: Adult Health III
  • NURS 443 Clinical Practice Consolidation