Melissa Desroches

faculty

Melissa Desroches '06, PhD she/her

Assistant Professor

College of Nursing & Health Sciences / Community

Curriculum Vitae

Contact

508-910-6519

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Dion 318C

Education

2019University of Massachusetts DartmouthPhD, Nursing
2018Suffolk UniversityCertificate, Disability and Health Policy
2017University of Massachusetts DartmouthMS, Nursing Education
2006University of Massachusetts DartmouthBS, Nursing

Teaching

  • Health promotion theory and research
  • Community Health Nursing
  • Concepts of the Professional Nursing Role
  • Concepts of Lifespan and Development

Teaching

Programs

Teaching

Courses

A course to prepare first-year nursing students for the demands of higher education and foster the development of a professional nursing identity. The course promotes academic success and social development by fostering personal and academic goal setting, evaluating personal learning styles, and developing successful study strategies. Students will gain or improve study techniques and strategies, research literacy, time management skills, organizational skills, speaking and writing skills, personal development, interpersonal skills, career goals, appreciation for cultural diversity, and orientation to university resources and services.

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

Research awards

  • $ 35,000 awarded by WITH Foundation for Establishing Best Practices in Telehealth Care for Adults with Intellectual and/or 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

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.