Research positions show ‘bigger world’ of nursing

Every year, the College of Nursing offers summer research opportunities to students through the University of Manitoba Undergraduate Research Awards Program, the Manitoba Centre for Nursing and Health Research (MCNHR) and individual researchers.  

As research assistants, students work with leading researchers performing a wide variety of duties, including maintaining records, collecting data and recruiting and interviewing research study participants.

UM Today recently spoke with four nursing students who took part in summer research. 

Tolani Olanrewaju  

Tolani Olanrewaju worked this summer with Dr. Jennifer Dunsford, assistant professor in the College of Nursing, on a project focused on gentle persuasive approaches in dementia education for acute care staff.

“We were seeing if that helped in terms of responsive behavior, and what impact it has on the patients,” she said. 

Olanrewaju – who also has a science degree in microbiology from UM – previously worked from February to May on the project as a research assistant and continued the work after receiving an Undergraduate Research Award from UM. This included both data collection at a Winnipeg community hospital and data analysis. 

“Health research is really interesting because when you work in the hospital, you see the evidence-based part of it in certain ways that we do things,” she said. “I’m interested in how we came up with the policies that we’re using.” 

Rereloluwa Oluwadare

In a position that continues through November, Rereloluwa Oluwadare is working with Dr. Roberta Woodgate, distinguished professor of nursing and Canada Research Chair in child, youth and family engagement in health research and health care.  

Oluwadare has worked on three projects with Woodgate, including one that uses arts-based methods to interpret the mental health experiences of male participants during the COVID-19 pandemic.  

“I’m really enjoying this. It is giving me the opportunity to look beyond traditional methods of qualitative research and qualitative review and see what art-based methods can do and how they can help with their research,” Oluwadare said.

She also worked on a project involving youth living with chronic pain, reviewing interview transcripts and field notes.

“I had the opportunity to sit in on an interview with someone living with chronic pain,” Oluwadare said. “I found that really helpful because it allowed me to see the data collection process, and also better understand the experiences that are shared by participants.” 

Mika Pineda  

Mika Pineda began her role with the MCNHR in the summer of 2025, but continued on part-time throughout the school year and into the summer of 2026. She recently completed the position, as she started her senior practicum.

Pineda worked under research coordinator Chloe Lepage and assisted several faculty members and other MCNHR members with research and administrative tasks. 

Pineda, who also has bachelor’s degree in psychology from UM, said her role was unique compared to others at the MCNHR.  

“I didn’t work directly with one faculty member or researcher. It was a mixture of different researchers and different topics, like if one needed help with research on bullying in the workplace, or medication administration.”

When Pineda went into nursing, she didn’t realize that research was an option. “The MCNHR helped me see the bigger world out there on the clinical side of nursing.” 

Nico Thompson  

Nico Thompson worked in a research team led by Dr. Genevieve Thompson, College of Nursing professor and Research Chair in Person-Directed Living at Riverview Health Centre. She was funded through a UM Undergraduate Research Award.

The projects were based on dignity and risk-taking for older adults living in long-term care.  

“When someone gets dementia, giving them choices can be a risk and it can lead to harm, so it tends to lead to people restricting basic choices, like when to eat or when to get up,” Nico said. “You’ve lived this whole 60, 70 or 80 years where you're an independent person making your own choices, and then sometimes you go into long-term care and that’s all taken away from you.”

She became interested in the topic after working at her first clinical placement in long-term care. “My facilitator was so good at preserving dignity … and that’s something that stuck with me.”