Ramesh Venkatesa Perumal
Social support, mentorship, and career advancements of Internationally Educated Nurses as compared to Canadian Educated Nurses
Ramesh Venkatesa Perumal, RN, PhD (c), MSc N, CCNE, CNCC(c)® is an Assistant Professor and a doctoral nursing student at the School of Nursing. His program of research focuses on social support, mentorship, and career advancements of Internationally Educated Nurses (IEN) as compared to Canadian Educated Nurses (CEN). As part of the doctoral studies, under the guidance of Dr. Mina Singh, the researcher (Ramesh) aims to identify a relationship between career advancement, social support, and mentorship among IENs and compare the findings with CENs. The results of the study will help nurses, nurse educators, and nurse administrators to put support in place to help IENs and CENs to advance their careers. Nurses moving up in the career ladder will help the country to have sufficient nurses to care for their population, to teach in academia, and to be leaders of the profession. Currently, the data are being collected from RNs in Ontario, British Columbia, and Manitoba.
Nursing, and Interdisciplinary Students
Celina Da Silva, MN/Collaborative Bioethics, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing. Her program of research focuses on innovation in simulation and virtual gaming education geared for user groups, i.e., nursing, and interdisciplinary students. A key tenet of her program is that it is critical to empower user communities with the ability to influence and take ownership of the virtual experience that is presented and the way in which interactions take place in that virtual space. For virtual content development to occur, she works with the user groups and seeks to understand in a fundamental way the underlying nature of the condition/state that is driving the virtual applications. She is leading the SSHRC-funded “Person-Centered Serious Games for Mental Health Education”, and holds an ecampus grant to develop a VSG for Internationally Educated Nurses in Canada. More recently, through collaborative teamwork with Nipissing University and the University Institute of Ontario, her interests have evolved to studying the impact of e-mentorship interventions on students living with disability on outcomes such as, self-efficacy and empowerment in the post-secondary domain. As well, as working with mid-career workers with disabilities transitioning into the workplace.
Celina Da Silva
Dr. Peisachovich
Founder of SPM Lab and SimXSpace
Dr. Peisachovich’s research program is centred on the development and implementation of innovative simulation-based approaches—such as Simulated Persons (SPs), Virtual Reality (VR), Augmented Reality (AR), Extended Reality (XR), and serious games—to enhance the study of interpersonal communication skills and empathy in allied health students and healthcare providers. By employing these cutting-edge methods, my work seeks to advance our understanding of empathy, evaluate the effectiveness of interventions targeting empathy, and ultimately improve patient care experiences and outcomes.
I have designed core programs to explore these ideas such as the Simulated Person Methodology as approach leverages human interaction to refine interpersonal and communication skills, including empathy, offering participants a safe environment to practice, receive feedback, and engage in iterative learning; CVRriculum an exploratory initiative that integrates VR technology into existing educational frameworks, assessing its potential to enrich experiential learning opportunities and promote empathy development; AREduX a pioneering proof-of-concept that uses augmented reality to simulate the physical and cognitive symptoms experienced by individuals living with dementia. This immersive experience is designed to enhance empathy among healthcare providers and caregivers, fostering deeper understanding and more compassionate care for those living with dementia.
For graduate students seeking to engage in cutting-edge research at the intersection of healthcare education, empathy, and emerging technologies, my program offers a dynamic and collaborative environment. I am actively pursuing partnerships with professional and community organizations which provide rich opportunities for applied research, interdisciplinary collaboration, and meaningful impact in the healthcare field.
This research program is an ideal setting for graduate students interested in advancing theoretical knowledge and gaining practical experience in the application of innovative educational technologies within healthcare. Students will have the opportunity to engage in scholarly research that not only contributes to academic knowledge but also drives real-world improvements in healthcare practices and patient outcomes.
To learn more about the work associated with SimXSpace visit us at simxspace.com
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The Graduate Program in Nursing at York is an exciting environment to pursue innovative, socially engaging, career-ready education. Contact our Graduate Program Assistant to learn more.