Susan S. Tavernier, PhD, RN
Associate Professor, Nursing
Research Interests
Cancer-related quality of life, personalized care, and distress management; decision making, integrative therapies, presence, evidence-based practice; and research design and methods.
Sample Publications
Tavernier, S.S., Beck, S.L., Guo, J.W., Eaton, J., Brant, J & Berry, P. (2018) Context Matters for Nurses Leading Pain Improvement in U.S. Hospitals. Pain Management Nursing.
Tavernier, S.S, Beck, S. L. and Dudley, W.N. (2013). Diffusion of the Distress Management Guideline Into Practice. Psycho-Oncology. 22; 2332-2338. DOI 10.1002/pon.3295
Tavernier, S. S., Beck, S.L., Clayton, M.C. & Pett, M.A. (2011). Validity of the Patient Generated Index as a Quality of Life Measure in Radiation Oncology. Oncology Nursing Forum, 38; 319-328 DOI 10.1188/11.ONF.319-329.
Bio
Dr. Tavernier is a nurse scientist with a program of research in translational research, addressing distress management and the individual context and priorities of the cancer patient. During her post-doctoral fellowship, she led the qualitative component of a study on pain management, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Dr. Tavernier completed a translational research study funded by the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation on the diffusion of the NCCN distress management guideline into practice. She received funding through the Clinical Translational Research Infrastructure Network, the Institute of Translational Health Sciences and more recently is the co-investigator on a $1.5 million Idaho Senior Interprofessional Holistic Health Project funded by HRSA. She also completed studies related to her conceptual theory of Presence and Healing Touch and 5-Rhythms Movement® therapy.
She has presented her research at numerous national conferences and also published in peer-reviewed journals. Dr. Tavernier authored textbook chapters on Distress in Cancer Symptom Management 4th Ed. and A Guide to Oncology Symptom Management, 2nd Ed. She serves as a peer reviewer for five journals in the fields of general nursing, oncology nursing, quality of life and qualitative research. She is on the Board of the Oncology Nurses of Southern Idaho and serves as a mentor in the St. Luke’s Nursing EBP & Research Fellowship program.
Dr. Tavernier earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing from the University of Utah; she also holds a Master’s in Nursing from Loyola University Chicago.
