Double Take -- by Mark Sproxton

As another phone call ends, the list of people left to contact quickly dwindles. Already the registered nurse has talked to physicians, pharmacists, health economists, anthropologists, and nursing students. Calls to practicing nurses and a few others will complete this round of updates. Tucked away in a typical office environment, this nurse's daily duties occur outside the halls and walls of a hospital or health care centre. But her work can have a direct impact on nursing and patient care.

Dr. Kathryn King

"I am a scientist of nursing," explains Dr. Kathryn King of her non-traditional role. "I ask the questions. I (arrange) the funding, (am) an independent investigator." King is a registered nurse like thousands of others in the province, however, she took her nursing education further by completing a PhD through the University of Alberta.

"The kind of work I do involves trying to organize the research project I'm involved in," King said. "It's a group of people I lead to generate ideas, what questions we want to answer, how we're going to answer them and analyze data." For instance, she currently is working on a project to study if and how a new undergarment will ease nausea in women after heart surgery. The work focusses on conducting research to answer questions related to nursing, which means patient care before, during and after treatment or diagnosis.

"I haven't been involved in direct patient care for years (but) by working with nurses in the hospital I'm able to keep my fingers on the pulse," King said, adding the main goal of her work is two-fold. "... to generate new knowledge and help to train more scientists." Completing her post-secondary schooling and additional training in 1999, when King first decided on nursing as a career, becoming a nurse scientist wasn't a conscious decision. "It happened," she said. "When I was an undergraduate this... was not something that was really offered to us as a possibility for nurses." So, she entered the workforce and later realized she needed a Masters degree to move into the kind of positions she wanted to hold. "I did a thesis and loved the research component and stuck with it."

And she's glad she did. "I can't think of a better career than nursing because there is no limit to what you can do in nursing. You can do an undergrad (degree) and practice in any kind of health field, whether hospital, community or industry. If interested you can do a Masters degree and put it in clinical (areas) or begin research, or (with) a PhD you can become well prepared for research and teaching." King, who is an associate professor in the University of Calgary's nursing program, does some teaching but spends the majority of her time on research and working with Masters and PhD students.

While King loves the opportunity for on-going learning from her work, she said that constant education can be somewhat overwhelming as well. She recommends anyone interested in this career gain experience in a clinical setting, be prepared to spend eight to 12 years in school and to be patient. Getting studies organized and funded can take years before the work with patients actually begins. "It's fun and it's interesting," she said. "You're never doing the same thing day in and day out. It's always new."