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faculty
Melissa Desroches '06, PhD she/her
Assistant Professor
College of Nursing & Health Sciences / Community
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
- Health promotion theory and research
- Community Health Nursing
- Concepts of the Professional Nursing Role
- Concepts of Lifespan and Development
Programs
Programs
Courses
Introduction to the concepts of evidence-based nursing practice, informatics, and technology. Connections between these concepts, related theory, the research process, and application to evidence-based practice and health care quality are explored. Building on the concepts of communication, culture and diversity, legal and ethical issues, and professional behaviors, this course fosters growth in student writing skills by integrating writing assignments with critical thinking skills. This course is based on the American Nurses Association (2015) Scope and Standards of Practice. The AACN Essentials of Baccalaureate Education for Professional Nursing Practice were used to build this course.
This course prepares nursing students to promote health and provide care for clients across the lifespan, across local, national, and global settings and at all levels of the health care delivery continuum, with an emphasis on population health.
Research
Research activities
- "Establishing Best Practices in Telehealth for People with Developmental Disabilities", funded by the WITH Foundation
- 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
Research awards
- $ 21,542 awarded by RUSH UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CENTER for Partnering with Persons with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities to Improve Health Care Outcomes
- $ 35,000 awarded by WITH Foundation for Establishing Best Practices in Telehealth Care for Adults with Intellectual and/or Developmental Disabilities
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
See curriculum vitae for more 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.