A passion for research

Now working in Lebanon, Huda Abu-Saad Huijer has been influential in the field of pain assessment in children
My programme of research on pain management and palliative care had an effect on healthcare delivery and policy in Europe, and now in Lebanon. I co-authored the mandate on pain relief and palliative care in Lebanon, and this has led to palliative care being recognised as a regular field of healthcare in the country.
My mother has been my role model. She has shown me that it is possible to hold a challenging position while being an excellent and passionate mother. I was also fortunate to have worked with excellent researchers in the US and Europe who have been sources of inspiration to me.
Now working in Lebanon, Huda Abu-Saad Huijer has been influential in the field of pain assessment in children
My programme of research on pain management and palliative care had an effect on healthcare delivery and policy in Europe, and now in Lebanon. I co-authored the mandate on pain relief and palliative care in Lebanon, and this has led to palliative care being recognised as a regular field of healthcare in the country.
My mother has been my role model. She has shown me that it is possible to hold a challenging position while being an excellent and passionate mother. I was also fortunate to have worked with excellent researchers in the US and Europe who have been sources of inspiration to me.
I was one of the first nurse researchers to publish in the renowned journal Pain on pain assessment in children. This work is still considered seminal in the field.
Mentoring and supervising PhD dissertations, and working with junior researchers, have been the highlight of my academic career and given me utmost satisfaction.
As head of nursing science and director of the centre for nursing research at the University of Maastricht, Netherlands, I was involved in a large number of interdisciplinary funded research projects as principal or co-principal investigator, which resulted in the completion of numerous PhD dissertations based on articles.
All my PhD students published a minimum of 5-6 articles that were included in their dissertation book. As president of the Lebanese Society for the Study of Pain, and vice-president of the Lebanese National Committee for Pain Relief and Palliative Care, I have contributed to declarations recognising pain relief and palliative care as a human right.
Research funding is the number one challenge for nurse researchers worldwide, but particularly for nurse researchers in developing countries with limited research resources, such as Lebanon.
I have conducted a number of studies on pain relief and palliative care in adults and children with cancer in Lebanon, and I am working on a multicentre study on palliative care in older adults.
Nurse researchers should have a passion for research. They need the knowledge and skill to conduct research, should seek guidance through expert mentorship, and should be open to constructive criticism. They should be rigorous in their work and, most importantly, they should be honest and diligent in publishing their results.
The importance of educating the public, particularly young people, about the value of nursing and the career opportunities the profession provides remain high on the agenda everywhere.
Nursing research contributes to knowledge development and is essential to the profession. I believe that interdisciplinary collaborative research in healthcare is the way forward for nursing in the future.
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