معرفی
Åsa Engström serves as Professor and subject representative in Nursing at Luleå University of Technology's Department of Nursing and Medical Technology within the Department of Health, Learning and Technology. Appointed to this position on October 1, 2016, she conducts research focused on nursing theories and practices aimed at understanding and meeting patients' needs while maintaining or improving health. Her work addresses critical issues in healthcare including alleviating suffering, protecting human dignity, and strengthening vulnerable populations.
Professor Engström's research spans multiple critical healthcare domains including emergency care, psychiatric nursing, and elderly care. She examines how increasing distances to inpatient care and decreasing hospital resources impact patient outcomes, particularly as mental illness rates and elderly populations grow. Her work integrates ethical considerations with practical healthcare delivery, emphasizing the importance of relationships in nursing practice and exploring how digitalization and information communication technology can be human-centered within healthcare settings. She advocates for strong connections between research and education, ensuring students understand theoretical foundations and their practical applications in patient care.
Her recent publications (2025) demonstrate a consistent focus on team dynamics in healthcare settings, patient-centered care, and specialized nursing contexts including intensive care units, child health centers, and trauma response teams. These works reveal her interest in both qualitative and quantitative approaches to understanding healthcare delivery systems, with particular attention to interprofessional collaboration, workplace environments for healthcare providers, and patient experiences across different care settings.
Professor Engström has established herself as a significant contributor to nursing science in Sweden, with particular expertise in how theoretical nursing frameworks translate to practical care environments. Her installation lecture titled 'The written words as an act of care' highlighted innovative approaches to documentation and communication in intensive care settings, suggesting staff-written diaries for critically ill patients as therapeutic interventions. She maintains an active research program addressing contemporary challenges in healthcare delivery across multiple specialized contexts.
