Argerie Tsimicalis

McGill University | McGill · Ingram School of Nursing

Aims: The aims of this study were to: (1) synthesize existing evidence regarding the integration of students with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) into the school setting, (2) tabulate existing school integration tools for OI, and (3) create an individualized school plan to facilitate school integration. Methods: Guided by the process of developing...

Going to the hospital can be scary for children, especially when they must go through a painful procedure. Doctors, nurses, and other health professionals may use special distraction techniques to help take children’s minds off the pain. There is a cool new way to help distract children from painful procedures. It is called virtual reality (VR). A...

Background Multiple barriers can impede the holistic care of children and their meaningful involvement in their healthcare in the context of surgery. These include lack of clinician knowledge of the ethical concerns impacting children and scarce educational resources. Our team created an open-access training module (https://childsxethics.net) to en...

Over 75% of pediatric surgery patients experience preoperative anxiety, which can lead to complicated recoveries. Current interventions are less effective for children over 12 years old. New interventions, like mindfulness-based ones (MBIs), are needed to address this issue. MBIs work well for reducing mental health symptoms in youth, but they can...

Background & Objectives: The perspectives of children have becoming increasingly emphasized in healthcare research and practice in order to facilitate children’s inclusion, participation, and decision-making in matters related to their health. In India, however, little is known about children’s views regarding their health despite the various healt...

BACKGROUND Caregiving dyads in palliative care are confronted with complex care needs. Respite care services can be highly beneficial in alleviating the caregiving burden, supporting survivorship and dying at home. Yet, respite care services are difficult to locate and access in the province of Quebec, Canada, particularly when navigating ubiquitou...

The health‐related quality of life of patients with extremity soft tissue sarcoma (STS) is not precisely captured by current patient‐reported outcome measures. Although functional impairment is central to their concerns, multiple sources of distress, emotional restoration, coping strategies, and somatic symptoms are crucial in approaching patients...

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic affected how nurses learn and prepare for their future careers. This study explored the experiences of college-prepared, novice nurses pursuing a baccalaureate degree during the first wave of the pandemic. Method: This qualitative descriptive study analyzed students' individual reflect...

Background: Innovative approaches are needed to address the self-management needs of youths with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) transitioning into adult-oriented health care systems. Using a sequentially phased research approach, the goal is to design, develop, and test the usability of an innovative eHealth program called “Teens Taking Charge: Manag...

This paper offers a collection of found poems offering insights into representative worlds of children living with dis/abilities, chronic hospitalizations, and the ethical dilemmas surrounding their perioperative care. The collection represents the sum tota poetic crystallization of a multiyear ethnography focused on the ethical experiences of the...

Background: Respite care is one of the most frequently requested support services by family caregivers. Yet, too often, respite care services are inaccessible, due in part to families' lack of knowledge regarding available services and a lack of service flexibility. Information and communication technologies (ICTs) may help to improve the flexibil...

BACKGROUND Innovative approaches are needed to address the self-management needs of youth with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) transitioning into adult-oriented health care systems. Using a sequentially phased research approach, the goal is to design, develop, and test the usability of an innovative e-health program called “Teens Taking Charge”: Manag...

The informal caregiver experience has surged as a research topic in health care, including in nursing. However, the "informal" language is controversial, lacking conceptual clarity. Without a common understanding of who an "informal caregiver" may be, nurses may fail to consistently identify informal caregivers requiring support. Therefore, a conce...

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic disorder associated with low bone density and increased bone fragility. OI can lead to a variety of supportive and medical care needs; yet financial impacts for families and individuals living with OI remain understudied and largely invisible. Efforts by families to recover costs through GoFundMe®, the...

Background Serious ethical problems have been anecdotally identified in the care of children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), which may negatively impact their moral experiences, defined as their sense of fulfillment towards personal values and beliefs. Research aims To explore children’s actual and desired participation in discussions, decision...

Background: A three-phase ethnography was conducted at a paediatric orthopaedic hospital exploring the actual and desired participation of children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta in discussions, decisions and actions in the hospital and community. Phase I and Phase II revealed how childhood ethics are understood and practiced in the hospital using a...

The gold standard for medical decision-making in pediatrics involves determining the “best interests” of the child and making the decisions accordingly. Accurately assessing the ethical concerns of children can assist care providers, such as parents, clinicians, and other healthcare professionals, in making care and discharge planning relevant to a...

Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease, is a rare genetic condition characterized by increased bone fragility. The financial costs of caring for a child with a rare condition can be a significantsource of stress for families. As such, the financial costs of care are a concern to the clinicians who care for these families....

Background: Children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) live in fear of fracturing a bone. As fractures are unpredictable, there is a need for tools and knowledge to immobilize a fracture during emergencies. Inspired by a patient recognized in their local OI community for fracture management, the aim of this patient-initiated project was to establis...

Medical procedures cause pain and anxiety in children. Distraction techniques, including virtual reality (VR), may be used in healthcare settings to reduce rates of undertreated procedural pain and anxiety. A mixed‐methods, concurrent triangulation design was piloted at a pediatric orthopedic hospital to assess the feasibility, clinical utility, to...

Aims: This integrative review aimed to identify, analyse and synthesise studies investigating the clinical efficacy of virtual reality (VR) distraction for children undergoing varying painful and anxiety-inducing medical procedures across different hospital settings and to identify implications for research and clinical practice. Background: Vir...

BACKGROUND Patients living with palliative-stage cancer frequently require intensive care from their family caregivers. Without adequate community support services, patients are at risk for inadequate care, and family caregivers are at risk for depression and poor health. For such families, in-home respite care can be invaluable, particularly when...

Background Patients living with palliative-stage cancer frequently require intensive care from their family caregivers. Without adequate community support services, patients are at risk of receiving inadequate care, and family caregivers are at risk for depression and poor health. For such families, in-home respite care can be invaluable, particula...

Background Children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) experience a diversity of symptoms that expose them to difficult physical, mental, and social challenges. Sisom (DHealth) is an interactive assessment and communication tool designed to help children aged 6-12 years with chronic conditions express their symptoms. Recently, the co-design of the S...

Background and purpose — Involvement of patient organizations is steadily increasing in guidelines for treatment of various diseases and conditions for better care from the patient’s viewpoint and better comparability of outcomes. For this reason, the Osteogenesis Imperfecta Federation Europe and the Care4BrittleBones Foundation convened an interdi...

Background: In medicine, dissecting human cadavers is vital for learning anatomy, developing professional skills, and fostering a relationship with the body. This opportunity has received little pedagogical attention in nursing. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences of nursing students in the human anatomy laboratory to infor...

There is a paucity of research examining children’s experiences with cancer in India. Childhood ethics is an emerging field, focusing on the moral dimension of children’s experiences, to promote children’s participation in their health care. A focused ethnography, using a moral experience framework, was conducted to better understand children’s par...

Help wanted: Provide anonymous feedback to improve my PhD proposal here: http://freesuggestionbox.com/pub/kxpubix This poster for CANO 2020 shares my proposed nursing doctoral research. We aim to design an app for coordinating more flexible and trusted on-demand respite care services, by nurses to families coping with cancer. All feedback is ap...

Aims To examine the efficacy of an immersive virtual reality distraction compared with an active non‐immersive distraction, such as video games on a tablet, for pain and anxiety management and memory of pain and anxiety in children requiring percutaneous bone pins and/or suture removal procedures. Design Three‐centre randomized clinical trial usin...

The cover image © Shriners Hospitals for Children‐Canada is based on the Original Article The day‐to‐day experiences of caring for children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta: A qualitative descriptive study by Aimee Castro, Argerie Tsimicalis et al.,https://doi.org/10.1111/jocn.15310..

BACKGROUND Children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) experience a diversity of symptoms that expose them to difficult physical, mental, and social challenges. Sisom is an interactive assessment and communication tool designed to help children with chronic conditions aged 6-12 express their symptoms. Recently, the co-design of Sisom OI was launched...

Objective To estimate the prevalence and presentation of bladder, bowel, and combined bladder and bowel symptoms experienced by children with osteogenesis imperfecta and to describe the socio‐demographic and clinical profile of these children. Method A descriptive study was conducted with a convenience sample of parent‐child pairs of toilet‐traine...

Purpose: To explore the perceived self-management needs of young adults with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) with the goal of optimizing the self-management and transitional care services. Methods: A qualitative descriptive study was performed with young adults diagnosed with OI. Two semistructured interviews were conducted before and after their f...

Aims and objectives This study aimed to explore the day‐to‐day experiences of family caregivers who are caring for children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). Background OI is a rare genetic condition known to cause bone fragility. Family caregivers of children with OI play an important role in helping these children live well at home. Design A q...

Background and Objectives This study explored psychological functioning and coping styles in adult patients with soft‐tissue sarcoma who underwent surgical procedures in a single expert sarcoma medical center in Canada. Methods This is a qualitative study with three formats of data collection. The interview guide was based on theoretical health‐re...

Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic disorder of the bones caused by a mutation in Type I collagen genes. As adults with OI are aging, medical concerns secondary to OI may arise. This integrative review sought to review, appraise, and synthesize the clinical manifestations faced by adults with OI. Four electronic bibliographic databases w...

BACKGROUND Children with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) experience acute and chronic symptoms that expose them to physical, mental, and social challenges. Empowering these children by involving them in their care can help them to cope. Sisom is an interactive assessment and communication tool designed to help children with chronic illnesses aged 6-12...

Background: Children with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) experience acute and chronic symptoms that expose them to physical, mental, and social challenges. Empowering these children by involving them in their care can help them to cope with OI. Sisom is an interactive assessment and communication tool designed to help children aged 6-12 years with c...

As the population ages and medical therapies advance, more individuals are living in the community with complex health conditions. These individuals, as well as their cli nicians, often assume their family members and friends will be capable of, and willing to, provide the caregiving work necessary to continue living at home. There is an ethical pr...

Objectives: Family caregivers of children with chronic and complex conditions like OI play a critical role in helping these children thrive at home in the community. A few quantitative studies suggest that caregivers of children with OI may score lower in certain domains of quality of life, but there is limited qualitative research addressing the d...

Pdf of preprint available on MedRxiv: https://www.medrxiv.org/content/medrxiv/early/2019/10/05/19007187.full.pdf Purpose: Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic condition known to cause bone fragility. Family caregivers, such as parents, of children with OI play an important role in helping these children live well at home. This study aime...

Preprint pdf available at: https://nursing.jmir.org/preprint/15924/submitted BACKGROUND Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic condition that can lead to frequent debilitating bone fractures. Family caregivers of children with OI face many challenges in providing care, which may include lacking access to information about the condition, fe...

Background: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a rare genetic condition that can lead to frequent debilitating bone fractures. Family caregivers of children with OI face unique challenges in providing care, which may include limited access to information about the condition, feelings of distress, and experiences of social isolation. Internet-based te...

Background: The Adolescent Pediatric Pain Tool (APPT) is a self-reported, multidimensional assessment of pain location, intensity, and quality in children and adolescents. Yet, it has not been validated for use in children and adolescents with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI). Aims: This study aimed to validate and evaluate the feasibility of the APPT...

Background Sisom is an interactive computerized tool shown to improve communication between children with cancer and their clinicians in Norway. Concerns that Sisom may prompt disclosure of potentially distressful symptoms during a busy clinical day may deter implementation in practice in other settings. Aim The purpose of this study was to descri...

Background: Parents are confronted with a range of direct costs and intense caregiving demands following their child's cancer diagnosis, which may potentially threaten the financial stability of the family. Objective: The aims of this study were to explore the financial impact of a new childhood cancer diagnosis on families and understand the st...

Objective To estimate the prevalence and presentation of bladder, bowel, and combined bladder and bowel symptoms experienced by children with osteogenesis imperfecta and to describe the socio-demographic and clinical profile of these children. Method A descriptive study was conducted with a convenience sample of parent-child pairs of toilet-traine...

Objective: Over the past 20 years, there has been a growing interest in the psychosocial outcomes of children and adolescents born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). This systematic review and meta-analysis aims to appraise and synthesize current literature on the psychosocial outcomes of children and adolescents with severe CHD. Methods: A s...

Background The allocation of time and other resources is essential to enable the treatment of children with cancer. Evidence derived from high‐income countries showcases the significant costs families may incur impacting their finances and lifestyle. However, there is a paucity of research examining the costs of childhood cancer in India, which may...

Purpose: The aims of this study were (1) to review the current body of knowledge on the transition experiences of adolescents with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) and appraise the evidence available on transfer summary tools, (2) to develop guidelines for the successful transition of adolescents with OI from child to adult healthcare services, and (3...

Background: Diagnosis of cancer in a child places considerable economic burden on families. The health expenditures are more catastrophic in resource limited countries like India where GDP spend on health is just over 1% and financing of treatment is usually out-of-pocket (OOP). Consequently parents may abandon their child's cancer treatment to ens...

BACKGROUND Moderate to severe postoperative pain in children is common. Increased pediatric day surgeries have shifted postoperative pain management predominantly to the home setting. Smartphone technology has the potential to overcome barriers to pain care by increasing access to self-management. However, “pain apps” generally lack scientific evid...

Background: Moderate to severe postoperative pain in children is common. Increased pediatric day surgeries have shifted postoperative pain management predominantly to the home setting. Mobile health technology has the potential to overcome barriers to pain care by improving access to self-management resources. However, pain apps generally lack sci...

Background: The mentor's role is often underreported in the literature. Given the pivotal role peer mentors play in mentorship efforts, the current study sought to explore the experiences and perceptions of peer mentors enrolled in a university-affiliated, nursing student, peer mentorship program. Method: A qualitative descriptive design was con...

Conclusion: Children and adolescents with OI experience mild, yet complex pain localized across several body areas. There is little fluctuation in the pain intensity and functioning of children with OI undergoing bisphosphonate treatment. What is Known: • Acute and chronic musculoskeletal pain remains a major issue in OI. • Pain has a negative imp...

Objective: Sisom is an interactive computer software program that allows children to rate the severity of their cancer symptoms. The study objectives were to describe the usability of Sisom in terms of ease of use, usefulness, and aesthetics and to offer suggestions for improvement. Method: A multisite, descriptive study was conducted to describ...

Background: Pain is a common symptom of osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) among children and adolescents. However, little is currently known of the pain experiences of adults with OI. Aims: To critically appraise the studies assessing OI pain, to synthesize the pain experiences of adults with OI, and to compare the adult OI pain experiences to childhood...

Families of children with cancer are confronted with unexpected out-of-pocket expenses and productivity costs associated with the diagnosis. One productivity cost that falls on children is the impact of cancer on children’s school attendance, performance, and activities (eg, play, friendships, and socialization). Nested within the Childhood Cancer...

To assess the feasibility, usefulness, and acceptability of using distraction kits, tailored to age, for procedural pain management of young children visiting the emergency department and requiring a needle-related procedure. A pre-experimental design was piloted. A kit, tailored to age (infants-toddlers: 3 months-2 years; preschoolers: 3-5 years),...

Background A nurse peer mentorship program was implemented to address the needs of undergraduate nursing students at an academic institution. The purpose of this study was to explore the perceptions of mentees who participated in the nurse peer mentorship program. Method A qualitative descriptive study was conducted. Data were collected using semi...

Background Spinal fusion is a common orthopedic surgery in children and adolescents and is associated with high pain levels postoperatively. If the pain is not well managed, negative outcomes may ensue. To our knowledge, there is no measure in English that assesses patient’s satisfaction with postoperative pain management following idiopathic scoli...

Purpose: Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a genetic disorder (prevalence: 1:10,000), leading to bone fragility, frequent fractures, and varying degrees of physical limitations. Despite a substantial amount of research on the genetics, pathophysiology, and treatments related to OI, there remains a paucity of knowledge concerning the lived psychosoci...

P1 Serologic evidence of gut-driven systemic inflammation in juvenile idiopathic arthritis Lampros Fotis, Nur Shaikh, Kevin Baszis, Anthony French, Phillip Tarr P2 Oral health and anti-citrullinated peptide antibodies (ACPA) in juvenile idiopathic arthritis Sriharsha Grevich, Peggy Lee, Sarah Ringold, Brian Leroux, Hannah Leahey, Megan Yuasa, Jessi...

Objective: Pain is a commonly experienced symptom for children and adolescents diagnosed with Osteogenesis Imperfecta (OI). The purpose of this integrative review was to describe the pain experience of children and adolescents with OI as well as critically appraise the content and methods of studies assessing OI pain. Methods: Five electronic bi...

Sisom is an interactive tool designed to help children communicate their cancer symptoms. Important design issues relevant to other cancer populations remain unexplored. This single-site, descriptive, qualitative study was conducted to linguistically validate Sisom with a group of French-speaking children with cancer, their parents, and health care...

Background: The purpose of this integrative review was to appraise and synthesize the evidence for the design, implementation, and evaluation of peer mentorship programs for undergraduate nursing students and to provide recommendations for future undergraduate nursing peer mentorship programs. Method: Using an integrative review methodology, qua...

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES: To explore the extent to which contents contained in a backpack called the Venturing Out Pack (Vo-Pak) assist in meeting the practical, psychosocial, and informational needs of young adults (YAs), as well as how the Vo-Pak could better meet the needs of YAs. .

Clinical interventions and research have mostly focused on the orthopedic, genetic, and pharmacological outcomes of individuals with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), and although quality of life (QoL) has gained recognition as an important patient-outcome, it has received little attention in individuals with OI. This mixed-methods systematic review of...

To explore the cancer experience of parents and their perceptions of supportive strategies to assist them with illness- and family-related challenges. . Qualitative, descriptive design. . A large McGill University-affiliated hospital cancer care center in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. . Five mothers and seven fathers aged 33-67 years with a first ca...

Developed in Norway, Sisom is an interactive, rigorously tested, computerized, communication tool designed to help children with cancer express their perceived symptoms/problems. Children travel virtually from island to island rating their symptoms/problems. While Sisom has been found to significantly improve communication in patient consultations...