Denice K. Sheehan, Ph.D., RN, FPCN

Image

Professor

Dr. Sheehan’s research focuses on the end of life, hospice, and coping skills of adolescents experiencing the life-limiting illness of a parent. In NIH-funded work, her team identified processes adolescents use to manage their lives while a parent is in hospice and after the parent's death and found a lack of support from health care professionals for adolescents’ involvement in care provision. Within her research team, Dr. Sheehan has incorporated a layered mentoring program with nursing students across academic programs and clinicians to advance the science and practice of end-of-life care. Dr. Sheehan currently serves as Principal Investigator for the study, “Interactions Among Adolescents with a Parent in Hospice and the Hospice Care Team,” funded by the National Institute of Nursing Research (NINR). In collaboration with the hospice team, Dr. Sheehan and her Co-Investigators will test models to encourage open communication in a supportive environment so adolescents are better informed and less stressed with improved coping skills.

• Areas of Expertise: Nursing Education & Transition to Practice, Serious Illness & End of Life
• Affiliated with: Healthy Communities Research Institute
• Education: Ph.D., Nursing, University of Akron, Akron, OH
• Collaborate with Dr. Sheehan: dsheeha1@kent.edu