Elizabeth Kusi Appiah

I am a PhD candidate in the Faculty of Nursing at the University of Alberta, with a research focus on Black women's experiences of psychological distress in critical care from an intersectional lens. My goal is to co-create recommendations for assessing and managing psychological distress in women, with a particular focus on Black women. I am also involved in research on trauma-informed care for ICU patients and survivors. On a broader scale, my research interest includes women's health, racial reconciliation and mental health.

I hold a thesis-based Master of Nursing degree from the University of Alberta, which I completed in 2019. My academic excellence has been recognized through multiple prestigious awards and scholarships in the doctoral program, including the Women and Children Health Research Institute (WCHRI) Graduate Studentship, the Alberta Innovates SPOR Graduate Studentship, the Alberta Graduate Excellence Scholarship, Growing Research On Women and girl's Wellbeing (GROWW) scholarship, the TD Bank interdisciplinary health research Scholarship and the Dr. Shirley Stinson Scholarship in Nursing, among others.

Professionally, I have extensive experience in nursing, having worked in medical-surgical, hemodialysis, and clinical research roles. Currently, I work as a hemodialysis nurse in both acute and community care.