Meet: Mary Ann Meeker, DNS, RN, CHPN

"The UB SON offers excellent programs across several levels of nursing education -- one of my goals across various settings and contexts is to create a respectful, positive and engaging learning environment, and to help students develop into self-directed, critically thinking, life-long learners.

"Working at the UB School of Nursing has given me the incredible opportunity to work with students as they find and grow their unique passions and talents, to conduct research on topics about which I care deeply, and to continue learning day in and day out."

My clinical and research interests are centered on end of life care and decision-making, with a particular focus on the needs of family members, both as informal caregivers and surrogate decision-makers. Closely related to the experiences of patients with life-limiting illness and their family members, ethical issues arising in advanced illness are also a strong interest. Methodologically, I favor grounded theory as an approach effective in answering many of the most interesting questions in the field. I work closely with an interdisciplinary team and have conducted recent or current studies examining family meeting as an intervention during hospice in-patient care, the transition from cure-focused to comfort-focused care, and end of life care and decision-making in the long-term managed care environment.