Ann H. Johnson, MSN, RN, CPNP, a PhD candidate in the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) School of Nursing has received a $1000 Ireland Research Travel Award for her dissertation, "The Effects of Perceived Stress, Sleep, and Cortisol on Fatigue in 8 to 12 Year-Old Childhood Central Nervous System Cancer Survivors."Johnson is measuring the perceived stress level of school age central nervous system cancer survivors with brain and spinal cord tumors and also exploring stress response by measuring their salivary cortisol levels. She hypothesizes that cortisol stress response has mediating effects on the relationships between perceived stress, sleep and fatigue. Her results will shed light on the fatigue that cancer patients may be experiencing.
Johnson worked as an RN and Pediatric Nurse Practitioner (PNP) at Children's of Alabama from 1990 to 1995. She conducted a related pilot study there in 2013 and wanted to continue her dissertation research at Children's, as they are a major referral center for neurological, oncological and sleep disorders.
Johnson currently resides in Fairview, Tex., which makes conducting her research at Children's of Alabama complicated and expensive. The Ireland Research Travel Award will help her with travel costs to and from Birmingham.
"The providers [at Children's of Alabama] are leading experts in pediatric subspecialties and you cannot find a better study site in the southern United States," said Johnson.
She is also planning to recruit subjects from Cook Children's Hospital in Fort Worth, Tex.
Johnson applied for several grants this year to help offset the costs of her travel and research. She also received the Louder Dissertation Scholarship for $1,000 in August and the Corrine Barnes Nursing Research Grant from Society of Pediatric Nurses for $2,500 in March.
Johnson earned her bachelor's in nursing at Houston Baptist University, her master's in nursing from the UAB School of Nursing and is anticipated to complete her final dissertation defense at UAB in fall 2015.
