The power of nursing science: Strengthening care by supporting patients, families, and the systems they rely on
Family caregivers are often the overlooked partners in cancer care—managing treatments and appointments while providing emotional support and balancing their own lives. At UTHealth Houston, Meagan Whisenant, PhD, APRN, is easing that burden through research that empowers caregivers and advances nursing science. In this Q&A, she shares how her work supports families today and trains the nurse scientists of tomorrow.
Q: What motivated you to research family caregivers of patients with cancer?
A: In 2002, I was a clinic nurse in the Brain and Spine Center at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Much of my job involved helping caregivers of patients with brain tumors manage symptoms, medications, and the health
care system. I quickly realized how little research existed to guide nurses in supporting them, even though caregivers are such an integral part of the team. That experience led me to focus my master’s thesis on caregivers of patients with primary brain tumors. It became the first step in my life’s work: developing interventions that give patients and their caregivers the tools and support they need.
Q: What does your current research look like, and how are you supporting caregivers?
A: My work focuses on practical and holistic interventions, such as nurse-led training programs that teach caregivers to manage daily activities and medications, recognize symptoms, and know when a patient needs a higher level of care. We also provide psychoeducational support — teaching coping strategies, encouraging self-care, and helping families access social and spiritual resources. For caregivers with children, we’ve developed programs that guide parents in talking with their kids about cancer, managing family life during treatments, and preparing for end-of-life care and bereavement. We’re also exploring mind-body approaches to help families manage stress.
Q: What do you enjoy most about working with students at Cizik School of Nursing?
A: I love that my work allows me to support both patients and students. As Director of the PhD program, I guide students as they design and carry out their own research. Through our interdisciplinary collaborations—with expert faculty in areas like behavioral sciences and biomedical informatics—students learn from the best, connect with mentors who share their interests, and gain the training they need to become the next generation of nursing scientists.
Q: Why are nurse scientists so important to the future of health care?
A: Nurse scientists bring a nursing lens to research. We look at the whole patient, their family, and the environment where they live and where care takes place. That perspective makes our work holistic and focused on the real-world challenges patients and families face. We improve quality of life, address gaps in care, and create practical solutions that can be applied directly in clinical settings. In a fast-changing health care system, investing in nurse scientists means investing in innovative, evidence-based approaches that support both patients and their family caregivers.
Q: How has philanthropy helped advance your work and your students’ experiences?
A: Philanthropy provides flexibility that traditional grants don’t always allow. Funds from the John S. Dunn Distinguished Professorship in Oncology Nursing currently support two graduate research assistants and an undergraduate student in the BSN Honors Research Program. They are studying the supportive care needs of caregivers of older cancer patients, which will provide data that will strengthen a larger grant application to the National Cancer Institute.
Philanthropy has also strengthened our PhD program by connecting students with expert faculty, supporting behavioral medicine research, and allowing us to move quickly on new ideas. I want our philanthropic partners to know how deeply we appreciate their support. It makes a difference not only for caregivers and patients, but for the field of nursing as a whole.
Q: Looking ahead, what excites you most about the future of nursing science?
A: This is such a great time to be a nurse scientist. The tools and methodologies available—artificial intelligence, biomedical informatics, genetics, biomarkers—are opening new doors for research and patient care. What excites me most is how these innovations can be used to better support patients and families, especially caregivers who shoulder so much of the care burden.