Nurturing Resilience: The journey of a McMaster graduate nursing student
Carmen Fang, a current master’s nursing student at McMaster University, is poised to make a profound impact on nursing education, clinical practice, and patient care.
Carmen Fang’s decision to enroll in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BScN) program at McMaster’s School of Nursing (SON) began after completing her undergraduate degree in neuroscience and physiology at the University of Toronto in 2015. The warm and supportive environment at McMaster, coupled with inspirational mentors she met along the way, helped Fang thrive while completing her BScN degree.
After graduating in 2018, Fang worked as a registered nurse (RN) in the emergency department at Etobicoke General Hospital. She notes that the three years working in the hospital were transformative and eye-opening, exposing her to the harsh realities of nursing burnout and the unprecedented challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic. Her personal experience of burnout during this period inspired her to dive deeper into the concept of resilience and its critical role in nursing.
Reflecting on her undergraduate nursing education, Fang acknowledges the support and encouragement she received from her professors, particularly Dr. Maria Pratt, her now master’s thesis supervisor. Pratt recalls, “Carmen has always kept me in the loop about her nursing career experiences and aspiration to complete her graduate degree in nursing one day. Working during the pandemic deeply impacted her personally and professionally, which inspired her to gain a deeper understanding of resilience in nursing.”
Recognizing the pivotal role of resilience in nursing education, Fang believes that teaching nursing students resilience skills can reduce burnout and equip future nurses to handle the pressures of direct client care more effectively. As such, Fang’s research focuses on understanding the experiences of clinical nurse instructors who support baccalaureate nursing students’ development of resilience in professional practice. “This knowledge gap in nursing research requires exploration to inform effective teaching and learning strategies that would help to build students’ resilience when they experience high-stress events during their education,” says Fang.
Aside from her thesis research, Fang runs a nurse-led hepatology clinic at Toronto General Hospital to help expedite the care for patients with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD). She collaborates with hepatologists Dr. Gideon Hirschfield and Dr. Hemant Shah to redefine the traditional scope of an RN’s practice and challenge norms in healthcare delivery. Fang is excited to present her unique role and responsibilities at the MASLD clinic for an upcoming nursing conference organized by the Canadian Association of Hepatology Nurses.
Additionally, Fang and her nursing colleagues’ involvement in performing paracentesis procedures for patients with ascites has gained international recognition. They will present their research on the RN-led paracentesis model at the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) meeting in Boston this November. The abstract for this research has been accepted in the Clinical Liver Disease Journal (CLD) and the full study is expected to be published once completed.
Fang is grateful for the guidance and support of her other mentors including her thesis committee members at the SON, as well as nurse practitioners and her manager at the Toronto General Hospital liver clinic. All who have fuelled her ambition to excel in nursing education and research.
In her quest to redefine the boundaries of nursing practice and education, Fang is a beacon of inspiration. Her story is a testament to the power of resilience, mentorship, and a relentless pursuit of knowledge.
Graduate Program, Students