Susanne Kean

About Susanne Kean

I qualified as a nurse in 1983 in Marburg (Germany) and worked after qualifying in surgical wards at the University Hospital Zürich (Switzerland) and the University Hospital Kiel (Germany) before moving into intensive care nursing. In 1991 I qualified with a Diploma in Nursing Management & Education and held senior positions in both areas. In 1998 I graduated with an MSc in Nursing and Health Studies from the University of Edinburgh and worked as a research assistant before commencing my PhD. My PhD research examined the experiences of families in intensive care and nurses’ perceptions of families in this environment.

Between February 2008 and January 2009 I held an ESRC Postdoctoral Fellowship. 

I am an associate researcher at the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships (CRFR), a European Academy of Nursing Science (EANS) Scholar, a member of the Reflection Netwrok and a co-founder and member of the Scottish Critical Care Interdisciplinary Research and Liaison group (SCCIRL). 

Background

My research interests revolve around families' experiences of critical illness and the recovery from a critical illness. I am particularly interested in families with children and young people and the way they process a critical illness event but also in ICU nurses and their experiences in working with families.

My current research interest is focusing on different aspects of critical illness and recovery of ICU survivors and their families from critical illness. This included interventions with families in ICU, for example, non-pharmacological delirium interventions or partnering with family members in ICU care.  A further dimension in this broad remit is the care interface between the acute and primary health care sector.  I am also interest in critical leader -followership research.