Our Researchers
Finding Inspiration in Every Turn
NUNERU Researchers are those currently engaged in some form of nursing education research in the school of Nursing.
In the future, this section will also include those who are engaging in different forms of scholarship in the school of Nursing.
Louela Manankil-Rankin, RN, PhD
Associate Professor, BPSO Co-Lead, Associate Graduate Faculty
Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
Louela Manankil-Rankin is an Associate Professor with Nipissing University School of Nursing. She is the Co-Lead of the Best Practice Spotlight Organization Initiative and is Co-Director of the Nipissing University Nursing Education Research Unit. She is an advocate of Narrative Inquiry as a foundational learning frame for becoming a nurse as well as a research methodology for understanding the situated lives of people. Her educational interests are reflective practice, curriculum design, program evaluation, practice readiness, and evidence-informed practice.
Her website is www.theartofexperience.ca
Karey D. McCollough RN, PhD
Associate Professor
Faculty of Education and Professional Studies
Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
Dr. McCullough, Director and a founding member of the School of Nursing at Nipissing University, has vast knowledge and experience with teaching and learning in the Nursing discipline. She has research expertise in qualitative methodologies and has conducted research in several Provinces across Canada. Dr. McCullough has a passion for curricular design based on relevant health inquiry and has a vision to implement Indigenous ways of knowing into nursing curricula in Ontario. Dr. McCullough currently oversees 1400+ undergraduate nursing students in the School of Nursing at Nipissing University from a variety of areas across the Province. Her role as Director makes her an ideal member of this research team.
Dr. Rick Vanderlee, RN, EdD
Full Professor, School of Nursing
Faculty of Applied & Professional Studies
Nipissing University, North Bay, ON
Dr. Vanderlee has held several faculty, leadership and administrative appointments in both academia and health care for close to 30 years including administration, teaching. and researching at Nipissing University for the past 20 years in various roles. He is currently a Full Professor in the School of Nursing. Previous academic appointments include Dean of Arts of Science (Interim) and Director for the School of Nursing at Nipissing University; Associate Dean and faculty member in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Calgary; Director for Learning and Development in the Calgary Health Region; faculty member at Laurentian University and the University of Western Ontario. Previous practice roles were in acute care and intensive are settings. His research and work is specific to the development of innovative programming in professional education; narrative inquiry and the study of curriculum, teaching and learning in Higher Education.
Steven Cairns, RN, PhD
Dr. Steve Cairns is an Assistant Professor at Nipissing University who has completed two fellowships through the Associated Medical Services/Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (AMS/RNAO). The focus of each fellowship explored relational engagement among online RPN to BScN undergraduate nursing students.
His research interests focus on exploring nursing practice in relation to planetary health. He has 30 years of experience combining a dual career in nursing and education.
Steve enjoys an active lifestyle in all seasons with his family.
Dr. Tammie McParland, RN, PhD
Dr Tammie McParland’s first post-secondary certificate was a diploma in nursing from the Halifax Infirmary School of Nursing in 1980. She then went on to receive a Post-RN BScN from Laurentian University, Sudbury, in 1994, a MN from Athabasca University, Athabasca, Alberta, in 2006, and PhD in Education (specialization in Nursing Education) from Capella University, Minneapolis, Minnesota, in 2015. She is also a Canadian Certified Nurse Educator (CCNE), as well as a Canadian Certified Simulation Nurse Educator (CCSNE). She teaches in the undergraduate nursing program, and supervises Masters students in the Faculty of Graduate Education.
Her clinical experience encompasses several specialties, such as acute & investigative medicine, rural and remote nursing (labor and delivery, and outpatient), surgery, critical care and emergency nursing and delivery of nursing education in private and public institutions. She was one of the first tele-triage nurses hired in Ontario in 1999, and later helped bring the Telehealth Ontario Nurse Triage Telephone Line to existence from 2001-2006 as the education manager, creating the education requirements for new programs. Prior to this she taught in several college diploma RN programs in Ontario, primarily in mental health and surgery. She has consulted with the Victoria Order of Nurses on education programs for community workers in far northern & remote reserves. Since 2012, she has been a consultant with a non-profit agency, Touchstone Institute, in the assessment of internationally educated nurses; done in collaboration with the College of Nurses of Ontario. Dr. McParland is an advocate of innovative learning technologies for education - her MN, PhD and both Nurse Educator certifications were completed in an online environment. She has been involved in simulation since 2008, when she first came on board at Nipissing University in a contract position, She then accepted a tenure-track appointment in 2009, was granted tenure in 2017 and promoted to Associate Professor in 2022.
Dr. McParland is a founding member of the Ontario Simulation Alliance and CANSim (Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators Using Simulation), which was created to support integration of Experiential Learning via simulation pedagogy into nursing curricula, and promote best practices in simulation scenario design and education in Canada. She has co-created curricular for the university’s RPN-BScN Blended online program, and the new on-campus BScN program. She is a member of, and active, in several nursing organizations and healthcare associations: The Registered Nurses Association of Ontario (past board member), current member of BPSO team, Sigma Theta Tau International (Lambda Pi chapter), International Nursing Association for Clinical Simulation & Learning (INACSL) and currently sits on the membership committee, Simulation Canada, the Society for Simulation in Healthcare (SSIH), and several Interest Groups through the Canadian Association of Schools of Nursing.
Dr. McParland has completed several regional, provincial, national, and international conference presentations on nursing education, particularly in simulation. She has been a part of several successful grants researching simulation, and the resulting publications. In 2020, she co-edited the book: Ross-Kerr and Woods “Canadian Nursing: Issues and Perspectives” (6th ed.) and contributed to 3 chapters as an author. She has helped design and deliver International webinars with other BPSOs such as the University of West Indies, School of Nursing/MONA in Kingston, Jamaica).
In 2021, she was recognized for her work in nursing education with the RNAO “Leadership in Nursing Education (Academic)”.
Laurie Peachey, RN, PhD
Dr. Laurie Peachey, RN, PhD, Associate Professor in the School of Nursing is a Canadian Certified Simulation Nurse Educator and Canadian Certified Perinatal Nurse. Laurie has utilized Phenomenology of Practice in her research to uncover the lived experience of new graduate nurses using maternal-child simulation in nursing practice. Laurie’s research interests are rooted in practical education; her projects have incorporated the use of maternal-child simulation, the development of practical wisdom and imaginative thinking in nursing, and the ways the transition of new graduates entering perinatal nursing can be more effectively considered. Laurie is a founding member of the Ontario Simulation Alliance and the Canadian Alliance of Nurse Educators using Simulation. Laurie has contributed to development of peer-reviewed maternal-child simulation scenarios and has presented her work in simulation at the provincial, national, and international level. Laurie enjoys living in Northern Ontario for the beautiful outdoors activities the north has to offer.
Christopher Stevens is a Registered Nurse, program manager of the Nipissing University School of Nurising, and PhD student.
His background is in emergency nursing, nationally and internationally, and continues to work locally in Ontario.
His research interests are in education strategies in nursing professional development with a focus on utilizing technology to enhance quality, access, and efficiency of learning to support patient care. This is guided by tenets of heutagogy and current and emerging literature.
He has publications on nursing e-learning and his current PhD thesis work is exploring YouTube in nursing education.
View Christopher's presentation on "A Brief Introduction to Heutagogy: An Evolution of Self-Direct Learning".