Biography

Debra has 43 years of Mental Health/Psychiatric Nursing Experience. She has worked front-line in the areas of acute psychiatry, forensic nursing, addictions nursing, caring for individuals with mental illness and developmental challenges, working in the areas of domestic violence and with women who have experienced sexual abuse as children and/or in adulthood. Debra has been a mental health educator for 24 years with most of these years teaching at the post-secondary level. She has a small private Expressive Arts Therapy Practice.

Education

Narrative Medicine Certificate, Columbia University
Master of Arts (Integrated Studies – Mental Health and Creativity), Athabasca University
RN Certificate in Palliative Care, California State University Institute for Palliative Care
Expressive Arts Therapy Certification, International School for Interdisciplinary Studies
Bachelor of Arts (Hons.) Double Major – Psychology/Health in Society (Mental Health), York University
Post-Graduate Specialty in Psychiatric Nursing, Durham College
Registered Nurse, Centennial College

Research Interests

Arts-based Research Methodologies, Grounded Theory, Phenomenology, Oral History Approaches
Arts-based Pedagogy
Identity Formation of Psychiatric Nurses
Family Experiences through Pediatric Stem Cell Transplant
Mental Health Advocacy/Activism
Lived Experience with Mental Health/Addictions/Trauma Wisdom
Transition to Practice for R.N.’s and R.P.N.’s
Recovery-Oriented Practice
The Impact of Trauma on Health Care Workers

Selected Publications

West, C.H., Dusome, D. L., Winsor, J., & Rallison, L. B. (under review, accepted with minor revisions).   ‘Falling down the rabbit hole’: Child and family perspectives of pediatric hematopoetic stem cell transplant. Qualitative Health Research.

 Dusome, D. (2019). Travelogue Dialogue: An arts exploration of psychiatric nursing identity formation. Research Connections. Brandon University.

Sherri Melrose, PhD., Debra Dusome, M.A., John Simpson, Med., Cheryl Croker, PhD., Elizabeth Athens, PhD. (2015). Supporting Individuals with Intellectual Disabilities and Mental Illness. BCCampus OpenEd. Available at http://opentextbc.ca/caregivers/

Diana E. Clarke, Debra Dusome and Linda Hughes, (2007). Feature article: Emergency department from the mental health client’s perspective. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing 16, 126-131.