Celebrating Research: Gillian Lemermeyer

Dr. Gillian Lemermeyer, assistant professor at the University of Alberta Faculty of Nursing. Photo: Supplied

Gillian Lemermeyer's research explores the embodied ethics of healthcare practices, employing a phenomenological method to investigate the nurse’s touch in the neonatal intensive care unit. Her nursing background is in neonatal intensive care, family bereavement and professional regulation. Her teaching practice is in healthcare ethics and nursing leadership.

Hear from Dr. Lemermeyer on why her research is so rewarding, the challenges that come with it and more through this Q & A.

How’d you get into your area of research?

Long before I started any graduate work, I stumbled on the work of Dr. Vangie Bergum in the library. Her dissertation was a phenomenology on the transformation from woman to mother. I sat down on the floor in the stacks and read the whole thing. I remember thinking ‘if this is nursing research, that is what I want to do’. My questions around ethics grew during my clinical practice, and phenomenology has helped me explore them.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of your work?

At heart, I am a writer, and I appreciate the freedom to explore my research and scholarship through words. There is nothing like the feeling of writing when the words are flowing.

What’s the most challenging aspect of your work?

At the moment, just getting it all done!

Where do you want your research to be in five years?

In five years, I want to have established a space where teams and partnerships of students and colleagues work together to explore questions of relational ethics. These questions may include the experience of people who have been marginalized in healthcare as well as the ethical use of artificial intelligence in clinical practice. 

What is something your coworkers do not know about you?

I love to create, paint and make things with my hands.

Where is your favourite place on campus? 

I love a lot of places on campus, but my favourite is the windowless space in the basement of SUB that houses the campus/community radio station, CJSR. My husband has been a DJ there for years and our children have grown up accompanying him to his weekly show. It is an animated, progressive space that attracts interesting and amazing people.