Academic Publications
- Curtis, K., Foley, M., & McWilliams, S. (2019). Safe and Sound Nursing Tools for Family Engagement. Patient-Centered Care, 3rd Edition. Safe & Sound Family Engagement transforms patient-centered theory into tangible tools for patient-centered care. Resting on an interactive platform of learning exercises, Safe & Sound Family Engagement is laser-focused on developing simple, practical partnership skills that lead to better patient outcomes, lower costs and lower readmissions. Safe & Sound Nursing Tools for Family Engagement in Patient-Centered Care is endorsed by QSEN, Quality and Safety Education for Nurses.
- Pepic V, McWilliams S, Shuler S, Williamson HJ, Secakuku A. Evaluating the Impact of a Culturally Sensitive Art Program on the Resilience, Perceived Stress, and Mood of Urban American Indian Youth. Am Indian Alsk Native Ment Health Res. 2022;29(1):37-58. doi: 10.5820/aian.2901.2022.37. PMID: 35255149.
- McWilliams, Suzanne. (2020). Addressing Compassion Fatigue of a Family Caregiver of Adolescents in a Mental Health Setting. International Journal of Nursing and Health Care Research. 10.29011/2688-9501.101206. Compassion fatigue is a phenomenon found in professional or family caregivers and can result in physical, emotional, and spiritual distress. Family members who care for adolescents with a mental health disorder have similar risk factors of developing compassion fatigue; they are an unrecognized at-risk population. Staff therapists, nurses, educators, and support staff attended a one-hour educational training program on compassion fatigue, included validated screening tools, interventions, and educational materials for family caregivers. A pre/post-Continuing Professional Development Reaction Questionnaire was used to measure the professionals’ intention to change practice. The program for family caregivers included group sessions led by a staff therapist, a Family Quality of Life survey, a modified Professional Quality of Life Survey, and interventions of knowledge, coping strategies, peer support programs, self-help, and guided self-help. The Continuing Professional Development Reaction Questionnaire indicates the staff’s intention to change their practice, as suggested by the change in intention and beliefs about capabilities response. The results of the Family Quality of Life survey suggest that family caregivers are at risk for compassion fatigue. The families who participated and received information on compassion fatigue gained a new understanding and considered or had implemented one or more of the interventions.