معرفی
Chantal Cara is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Nursing (Faculté des sciences infirmières) at Université de Montréal, where she has established herself as a leading scholar in humanistic nursing and caring science. With a Ph.D. in Nursing from the University of Colorado and postdoctoral training from the Watson Caring Science Institute, she has dedicated her career to advancing humanistic approaches in nursing education and practice. Her work bridges theoretical frameworks with practical applications, particularly in the areas of caring science, phenomenology, and the humanization of healthcare.
Dr. Cara's educational background includes:
- Ph.D. in Nursing (1997), School of Nursing, University of Colorado
- Postdoctorate in Nursing (2017), Watson Caring Science Institute
- M.Sc. in Nursing (1988), Université de Montréal
- B.Sc. in Nursing (1983), Université de Montréal
Her primary research interests focus on humanistic caring in nursing, with particular emphasis on the philosophy of caring, phenomenological approaches to understanding nursing experiences, and the humanization of clinical care, education, and management. She has developed the "Modèle humaniste des soins infirmiers - UdeM" (Humanistic Nursing Care Model), which provides a framework for operationalizing caring science in practice. Her work explores how humanistic approaches can address dehumanization in healthcare settings, improve quality of life for both patients and healthcare providers, and transform nursing education through caring-based pedagogies.
Dr. Cara's extensive publication record demonstrates a clear trajectory toward strengthening the theoretical and practical foundations of caring science in nursing. Her recent work has focused on developing and validating educational interventions to reinforce humanistic practices among nursing professionals, particularly in challenging clinical environments like hemodialysis units. She has pioneered research on the development of humanistic caring competencies among nursing students and the transformation of clinical practice through caring-based educational approaches. Her scholarship consistently bridges theory and practice, with a strong emphasis on phenomenological methodology to understand the lived experience of caring in healthcare contexts.
Her significant contributions to the field have been recognized through numerous prestigious awards:
- 2021: 2nd place in the "Nursing Education" category of the American Journal of Nursing "Book of the Year Awards 2020"
- 2020: Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Nursing (founding member)
- 2018: Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing (first in Quebec)
- 2016: Distinguished Caring Science Scholar from the Watson Caring Science Institute
- 1997: Florence Nightingale Award nomination, Denver, Colorado
Dr. Cara has been an exceptional mentor, supervising numerous doctoral and master's students whose research explores various dimensions of humanistic caring in nursing. Her students have investigated topics ranging from the meaning of humanistic caring practices for nursing faculty to the significance of caring relationships in clinical simulation. She has secured significant research funding, including a project examining "Effects on nurses' quality of working life and on patients' quality of life of an educational intervention to strengthen humanist practice among hemodialysis nurses in the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland." This international collaboration demonstrates her ability to translate caring science principles into practical interventions with measurable outcomes.
As a member of the Centre de recherche interdisciplinaire en réadaptation du Montréal métropolitain (CRIR), Dr. Cara contributes to interdisciplinary rehabilitation research. Her work has been instrumental in developing the Canadian Caring Consortium Initiative, which brings together caring science scholars across Canada. She has presented her research internationally, including at the Global Human Caring Conference and the International Association for Human Caring Conference, demonstrating the global impact of her work on humanizing nursing practice and education.
