Barbara Pesut, PhD

Professor

School of Nursing

Other Titles: Principal Research Chair in Palliative and End-of-Life Care
Office: ASC 287
Office Hours: Upon Request
Phone: 250-807-9955
Email: barb.pesut@ubc.ca

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Research Summary

Palliative and end-of-life care; Medical Assistance in Dying; volunteer and peer navigation models; nursing philosophy

Courses & Teaching

Nursing 580: Philosophy of Nursing Science

Biography

I began my nursing career in 1982 and worked in pediatric oncology, rural nursing, and critical care. In 1992 I transitioned to hospital-based nursing education, and worked as a critical care educator for 5 years. After completing my MSN in 1997 I worked at Trinity Western University for 11 years and served as the Chair of the School of Nursing for six of those years. In 2007 I came to the University of British Columbia where I held a Canada Research Chair from 2010 to 2020. I now hold a Tier 1 Principal Research Chair in Palliative and End-of-Life Care.

Websites

Nav-CARE – Making Connections, Making a Difference

https://www.nav-care.ca/.

Welcome | Dr. Barb Pesut’s Palliative and End of Life Care Lab (ubc.ca)

Degrees

PhD University of British Columbia, 2005
MSN University of British Columbia, 1997
BSN University of Victoria, 1992
Diploma in Nursing BCIT, 1982

Research Interests & Projects

Evaluating a compassionate community volunteer navigation approach to supporting older persons living with life-limiting illness and frailty in rural communities. Funded by CIHR 2024-2028.

Toward effective policy and clinical care in the context of Track 2 MAID in Canada. Funded by CIHR 2024-2028.

Volunteer navigation using an inter-organizational compassionate community approach for persons living with dementia and their care partners. Health Canada Contribution 2024-2027.

Strategies to relieve suffering at end-of-lIfe; A longitudinal qualitative study. Funded by CIHR  2019-2024.

Nav-CARE: Scale out and adaptation of a volunteer navigation model. Contribution by Health Canada 2021-2025.

Selected Publications & Presentations

Thorne, S., Parker, H., & Pesut, B. (2024) The evolving context of MAID-related communications for Registered Nurses in Canada. Canadian Journal of Nursing Research. DOI:10.1177.08445621241281993.

Miranda, R., Smets, T., Pivodic, L., Chambaere, K., Pesut, B., Duggleby, W., Onwuteaka-Philipsen, B., Pasman, R., Szczerbińska, K., Gomes, B., Davies, A., May, P., Ferraris, D., and Van den Block, L., on behalf of EU NAVIGATE* (2024) Adapting, implementing and evaluating a navigation intervention for older people with cancer and their family caregivers in six countries in Europe: the Horizon Europe-funded EU NAVIGATE project. Palliative Care and Social Practice.

Sinclair, S., Raffin Bouchal, S., Roze des Ordon, A.L., Harris, D., MacInnis, C., Dhingra, S., Pesut, B. (2024) The initial validation of an evidence-informed, competency-based, accredited compassion training (EnACT) program: a multi-method study. BMC Medical Education, 24(686) https://doi.org/10.1186/s12909-024-05663-0 .

Shroeder,, Pesut, B., Olsen, L., Oelke, N.D., & Sharp, H. (2024) Developing a survey to measure nursing students’ knowledge, attitudes and beliefs, influences, and willingness to be involved in Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD): A mixed method modified e-Delphi study. BMC Nursing, 23(article 326) 1-13. Published online May 14, 2024. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12912-024-01984-z.

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Chambaere, K., Hall, M., Schiller, C.J. (2024). The evolving complexities of MAID care in Canada from a nursing perspective. Global Qualitative Nursing Research. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/23333936241228233.

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Puurveen, G., & Leimbigler, B. (2023) Supporting nursing role in Medical Assistance in Dying: Development and Evaluation of an Evidence-Based Reflective Guide. Palliative and End of life Care Innovation. Online November 24, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pecinn.2023.100234

Pesut, B., & Thorne, S. (2023) Reflections on the relational ontology of MAID. Nursing Philosophy. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/nup.12438

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Huisken, A., Wright, DK, Chambaere, K., Tishelman, C., & Ghosh, S. (2022). Is progress being made on Canada’s Palliative Care Framework and Action Plan? A survey of stakeholder perspectives. BMC Palliative Care. 21(1), 182. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-022-01074-4

Pesut, B. (2022). Philosophy and politics in contemporary nursing discourse: A dialogue. Nursing Philosophy, 23(4).https://doi.org/10.1111/nup.12407

Pesut, B., Duggleby, W., Warner, G., Ghosh, S., Bruce, P., Dunlop, R., & Puurveen, G. (2022). Scaling out a palliative compassionate community innovation: Nav-CARE. Palliative Care and Social Practice, 16. https://doi.org/10.1177/26323524221095102

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Wright, D. K., Schiller, C., Huggins, M., Puurveen, G., & Chambaere, K. (2021). Navigating medical assistance in dying from Bill C-14 to Bill C-7: A qualitative study. BMC Health Services Research, 21(1), 1195. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-021-07222-5

Pesut, B., Wright, D. K., Thorne, S., Hall, M. I., Puurveen, G., Storch, J., & Huggins, M. (2021). What’s suffering got to do with it? A qualitative study of suffering in the context of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). BMC Palliative Care, 20(1), 174. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-021-00869-1

Pesut, B., Duggleby, W., Warner, G., Bruce, P., Ghosh, S., Holroyd-Leduc, J., Nekolaichuk, C., & Parmar, J. (2020). Outcomes of volunteer navigation for older persons with advanced chronic illness (Nav-CARE): A mixed method evaluation. BMC Palliative Care. 19, Article 159. https://bmcpalliatcare.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12904-020-00666-2

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Schiller, C., Greig,, Roussel, J., Tishelman, C. (2020). Constructing Good Nursing Practice for Medical Assistance in Dying in Canada: An Interpretive Descriptive Study. Global Qualitative Nursing Research, 7, 1-11 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2333393620938686

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Storch, J., Chambaere, K., Greig,, Burgess, M. (2020) Riding an elephant. A qualitative study of nurses’ moral journeys in the context of Medical Assistance in Dying (MAiD). Journal of Clinical Nursing, 29(19-20) 3870-3881. http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15427

Pesut, B., Duggleby, W., Warner, G., Bruce, P., Ghosh, S., Holroyd-Leduc, J., Nekolaichuk, C., & Parmar, J. (2020). A mixed-method evaluation of a volunteer navigation intervention for older persons living with chronic illness (Nav-CARE): findings from a knowledge translation study. BMC Palliative Care, 19(1), 159. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12904-020-00666-2

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Schiller, C., Greig, M., Roussel, J. (2020). The rocks and hard places of MAiD: A qualitative study of nursing practice in the context of legislated assisted death. BMC Nursing. Published online February 17, 2020. https://bmcnurs.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12912-020-0404-5

Schiller, C., Pesut, B., Roussel, J., & Greig, M. But it’s legal isn’t it? Law and ethics in nursing practice related to medical assistance in dying. (2019). Nursing Philosophy. Published online August 20, 2019 https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/nup.12277.

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., & Greig, M. Shades of grey: Conscientious objection in medical assistance in dying. (2020) Nursing Inquiry (27) e12308. Published online July 4, 2019. https.//doi.org/10.1111/nin.12308.

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Greig, M., Fulton, A., Janke, R., & Vis-Dunbar, M. (2019) Ethical, policy, and practice implications of nurses’ experiences with assisted death: A synthesis. Advances in Nursing Science, 42(3) 216-230. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0000000000000276.

Pesut, B., Thorne, S., Stager, M.L., Schiller, C., Penney, C., Hoffman, C., Greig, M., & Roussel, J. (2019) Medical assistance in dying: A narrative review of Canadian nursing regulatory documents. Policy, Politics and Nursing Practice, Published online May 6, 2019. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1527154419845407.

Pesut, B., Greig, M., Thorne, S., Storch, J. Burgess, M., Tishelman, C., Chambaere, K., Janke, R. (2020) Nursing and euthanasia: A narrative review of the nursing ethics literature. Nursing Ethics. 27(1), 152-167 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/0969733019845127.

Selected Grants & Awards

Nursing Innovation Award	Innovation in Research	Nurse and nurse practitioner association of BC	December 2019
Health Researcher of the Year Award	Distinction in Research	UBC Okanagan	March 2018
Innovations in Palliative and End-of-Life Care. Awarded to Pesut and Duggleby for N-CARE program.	Innovation Award	Canadian Foundation for Healthcare Improvement	June 21, 2017
CRNBC Award of Excellence in Nursing Research	Research	College of Registered Nurses of BC	2011

Media

MAID Reflective Guide: https://www.maidreflectiveguide.ca/