Judy M.

Nursing – Research


“I like working in an academic medical center where clinical practice, teaching, and research are viewed as equally important and synergistic activities.”

Why did you accept a job here?
The type of work and the people. What has kept me here is that whenever I wanted to challenge myself by doing a different type of job or expanding my work role, I have always found the opportunity to do so here at Rush.

What do you do at Rush?
My job is primarily research and teaching. Half of my time is as a Research Scientist with the Rush Institute for Healthy Aging, a multidisciplinary research group whose broad mission is to study health problems of older adults. I have begun a study to look at the use of palliative and hospice care by people with Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias. The other half of my time is as a Professor in the College of Nursing in the Adult Health and Gerontological Nursing department – I teach in the PhD program.

Describe the people you work with.
In the Institute for Healthy Aging, I work with a diverse group – other nurses, neurologists, neuropsychologists, geriatricians, biostatisticians, data programmers, research project directors, etc. We work as a team toward a common goal. In research, each person contributes a different perspective that helps us understand the big picture. No one person has all of the answers. The same is true of teaching in the College of Nursing.

What do you think about the work environment?
I like working in an academic medical center where clinical practice, teaching, and research are viewed as equally important and synergistic activities. Without a clinical practice base, researchers may not study the most important issues. Without research, clinicians would not be able to provide evidence-based care to diverse populations in multiple settings. Our patients and our students benefit from this environment. It is fast paced – I always thought Rush was an appropriate name!

Tell us about a good day at work.
A great day is when a caregiver in one of our research studies says that their participation helped them in some way – that could be learning something new about the disease, finding a community resource, or gathering the courage to ask family members or friends to help with the care. It’s also a great day when students achieve a milestone – like passing their clinical defense or finishing dissertation research – and you can celebrate with them.

What does your future look like at Rush?
I see myself continuing with research and teaching. I want to find ways to take the things we are learning in our research studies and move them into clinical practice. For example, I see that increased use of palliative and hospice care for Alzheimer’s patients could result in more appropriate end of life care and more appropriate use of limited health care resources.