Dr. Kimberley Widger

RN PhD CHPCN(C)

  • Associate Professor and Tier 2 Canada Research Chair – Pediatric Palliative Care
    Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto
  • Nursing Research Associate, Paediatric Advanced Care Team
  • Project Investigator, Research Institute
  • Hospital for Sick Children Adjunct Scientist, Lifespan Program, ICES

Kimberley Widger is an Associate Professor at the Lawrence S. Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing, University of Toronto, and a Nursing Research Associate at the Hospital for Sick Children. Her research focuses on identifying and measuring structures, processes, and outcomes that are indicative of high-quality pediatric palliative and end-of-life care and finding ways to ensure optimal care is provided regardless of setting or diagnosis. Her doctoral research, completed at the University of Toronto, was a multi-centre study to develop and test an instrument that measured the quality of care provided to dying children and their families from the perspective of bereaved parents. She also completed a post-doctoral fellowship at SickKids focused on knowledge translation and end-of-life pain management for children. Kimberley was supported by CIHR Fellowships and Canadian Child Health Clinician Scientist Program Career Enhancement Awards for both her doctoral and post-doctoral work.

Prior to her PhD work, Kimberley was a Clinical Nurse Specialist with the Pediatric Palliative Care Service at the IWK Health Centre and Adjunct Professor at the Dalhousie University School of Nursing in Halifax, Nova Scotia. She has spent her entire career working with children, mostly those diagnosed with cancer, and has worked in a number of hospitals across Canada and the United States.

TEAM MEMBERS 

Dr. Andrea Johnson

Dr. Andrea Johnson

Postdoctoral Research Fellow

Julia St Louis

Julia St Louis

PhD Student

Projects:

  • Scoping review on children’s grief services.
  • PhD project aimed at advancing infant organ donation.
Sarah Al Ayass

Sarah Al Ayass

PhD Student

Projects:

  • Scoping review on childhood grief services.
Ridwaanah Ali

Ridwaanah Ali

PhD Student

Projects:

  • PPC-IMPACT, Childhood Grief.
  • Thesis focused on specialized pediatric palliative care on impact on maternal and sibling mental health outcomes.
Shayna Tierney

Shayna Tierney

Rosenstadt Research Student

Projects:

  • Identifying triggers for referral to palliative care in pediatric oncology.
  • Helping PhD students complete scoping review. 
Erin Chown

Erin Chown

Research Coordinator

Gina So

Gina So

Research Assistant