Amanda Vandyk is an associate professor and the assistant director for undergraduate programs at the School of Nursing, University of Ottawa. Prior to joining the faculty, she worked in psychiatric emergency services at The Ottawa Hospital. Her research program is rooted in my clinical experiences, reflective of a pragmatic approach, and aimed at answering questions that are meaningful for health-care providers, patients, and families. Professor Vandyk believes that thoughtful consideration of existing evidence, through knowledge synthesis and triangulation of findings garnered from qualitative and quantitative studies, is critical when addressing practice problems. According to her, although translating evidence into practice is a complex process, it can be facilitated by actively involving practice, patient, and family partners in research, and she works with knowledge users and stakeholders to design, execute, and disseminate my studies. The overarching purpose of her research is to advance knowledge of health-care access, delivery, and utilization. Although these topics cut across all health-care sectors, she focused primarily on mental health care. Her three interconnected objectives are:
- To understand experiences of seeking, receiving, or providing health care;
- To develop and test strategies for improving access, delivery, and utilization of health care;
- To promote evidence-informed nursing education to support optimal delivery of care.