Research in focus: Farinaz Havaei

Name:

Farinaz Havaei

Title:

Assistant Professor

Department/Unit:

Applied Science/Nursing

Are you Faculty or Staff?

Faculty

Location:

Vancouver

What year did you start working at UBC?

2019

Provide an overview of your research in 75 words or less:

My research program is focused on enabling the health workforce, particularly nursing professionals, to provide a high standard of patient care.

What first motivated you (or motivates you) to conduct your research?

In December 2019, we conducted a province-wide survey of nurses that showed a concerning state of psychological health and safety. After COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, we were extremely concerned about the psychological wellbeing of BC nurses and their ability to provide effective patient care. Therefore, we conducted a follow up survey in June 2020 to see if psychological health and safety had changed for BC nurses due to the pandemic.

What do you hope will change as a result of this research?

I hope this research will contribute to evidence-based practices and policies that better support the psychological health and safety of BC nurses.

Are there any research collaborators you’d like to acknowledge and why?

I would like to acknowledge my research team, Dr. Maura MacPhee (Professor, UBC School of Nursing) and Andy Ma (Trainee, UBC EPSE), both of whom have made significant contributions to this research. Additionally, I am grateful for the funding support and the partnership of BC Nurses' Union.

What have you learned during your research that has surprised you the most?

I have been most significantly surprised by the concerning state of BC nurses psychological wellbeing and their deteriorating mental health as a result of the pandemic. We found a 10% increase in rates of anxiety, depression and emotional exhaustion since our baseline survey in December 2019. I have also been surprised by the suboptimal working conditions of BC nurses during the pandemic — for example, insufficient access to personal protective equipment, staffing inadequacies and daily changes in COVID policies.