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Melissa Desroches, PhD
Assistant Professor
College of Nursing & Health Sciences / Community
Contact
508-910-6519
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Dion 318C
Education
| 2019 | University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | PhD, Nursing |
| 2018 | Suffolk University | Certificate, Disability and Health Policy |
| 2017 | University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | MS, Nursing Education |
| 2006 | University of Massachusetts Dartmouth | BS, Nursing |
Teaching
- Community Health Nursing
- Concepts of the Professional Nursing Role
- Concepts of Lifespan and Development
Teaching
Programs
Programs
Teaching
Courses
Introducation to human development across a lifespan ¿ from birth until death. The purpose of this course is to build a foundation of understanding through various developmental theorists and age related physical, cognitive, and social-emotional expectations during significant milestones. This course introduces learners to theory and concepts that promote health in persons and families across the lifespan. This course contributes to nursing student development in care of the patient across the lifespan. The AACN Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice were used to build this course.
Prepares nursing students to promote health and provide care for individuals, families, groups, and populations in the community with a special emphasis upon vulnerable populations. Strategies designed to promote the health of populations, guide populations to reduce identified health risks, and to shape health policy will be explored. The health promotion and disease prevention focus will be guided by Healthy People 2020 objectives. Principles of epidemiology, demography, environmental sciences, community organization, and health care political, economic, and legal influences are integrated with nursing concepts and principles to provide the basis for community nursing practice. Community and aggregate strengths and risks are identified through community health nursing process.
Research
Research Activities
- Medical Surgical Nursing Care of Adults with Intellectual Disabilities (MSNCAID study), in partnership with Tufts Clinical and Translational Science Institute and the Academy of Medical Surgical Nurses
- Impact of COVID-19 on the health and well-being of people with developmental disabilities through the lens of the developmental disability nurse
- International collaboration to articulate the contribution of the developmental disability nurse
- Intervention development to promote the resilience of the direct support professional workforce for people with developmental disabilities
- Best practices in acute and post-acute care of adults with developmental disabilities
Research
Research Interests
- Articulating and strengthening the voice of intellectual/developmental disability nursing
- Improving health equity of people with developmental disabilities, with special attention to the impact of healthcare provider bias and quality of care
- Supporting the resilience of people with developmental disabilities and their formal and informal caregivers
Select publications
- Desroches, M. L., Fisher, K., Ailey, S., & Stych, J. (in press).
"We were absolutely in the dark": Manifest content analysis of developmental disability nurses' experiences during the early COVID-19 pandemic."
Global Qualitative Nursing Research - Desroches, M.L., Howie, V.A., Wilson, N. J., Lewis, P. (in press).
Nurses’ attitudes and emotions toward caring for adults with intellectual disability: an international replication study.
Journal of Nursing Scholarship - Desroches, M. L., Ailey, S.H., Fisher, K., & Stych, J. (2021).
Impact of COVID-19: Nursing challenges to meeting the care needs of people with developmental disabilities
Disability and Health Journal, 14, 10105. - Desroches, M. L. (2020).
Facebook recruitment of nurses as research participants: Methodological considerations
Applied Nursing Research, 54, 151282. - Desroches, M. L. (2019).
Nurses' attitudes, beliefs, and emotions toward caring for adults with intellectual disabilities: An integrative review
Nursing Forum, 55, 211-222.