Investigator, Lady Davis Institute
Nurse Scientist at the Centre for Nursing Research, Jewish General Hospital
Assistant Professor, School of Nursing, McGill University
Dr. Céline Gélinas is Project Director at the Lady Davis Institute for Medical Research, Nurse Scientist at the Centre for Nursing Research at the Jewish General Hospital, and Assistant Professor at the School of Nursing at McGill University in Montreal. She holds a Research Scholar Career Award from the Fonds de la recherche en santé Québec (FRSQ). Dr. Gélinas is co-leader of a research team on the evaluation of nursing interventions at the Groupe de recherche interuniversitaire en interventions en sciences infirmières du Québec (GRIISIQ) and an Associate Researcher at the McGill University Health Centre.
Her past experience as a nurse in Intensive Care Units (ICUs) has inspired her to purusue research in critical care and pain. She has developed and validated pain assessment tools (e.g. Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool [CPOT], Faces Pain Thermometer) which are being used for clinical or research purposes in North America or being translated into foreign languages. Her research program aims to evaluate the impact of the implementation of the CPOT in nursing practice and clinical outcomes, to test innovative physiological measures (e.g. Near-Infrared Spectroscopy, Bispectral Index) for the detection of pain, and to develop nursing intervention protocols for pain management in the ICU. Dr. Gélinas has published research articles and book chapters on pain and critical care, and has made many presentations locally, nationally (e.g. Canadian Pain Society, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses) and internationally (e.g. World Pain Congress of the International Association for the Study of Pain). She was awarded the Prix Florence – Relève of the Ordre des infirmières et infirmiers du Québec (OIIQ) in 2004.
Major Research Activities
Dr. Gélinas' research focuses on various aspects of pain assessment, measurement, and management. Her current research projects at the JGH include the development of a nursing intervention protocol for pain management in the ICU, and pain measurement using Near-Infrared Spectroscopy during common procedures in cardiac surgery ICU patients. She is also co-researcher in a multi-centre research project aimed at better understanding job satisfaction and well-being among nurses, and to improve the context within which end-of-life care is provided. In this research project she is responsible for describing stressors experienced by ICU nurses when providing end-of-life care in the ICU. These results will contribute to the development of intervention strategies to facilitate end-of-life care in this specific environment.
Recent Publications
Arbour, C., Gélinas, C., & Michaud, C. (2011). Impact of the implementation of the CPOT on pain management and clinical outcomes in ventilated trauma ICU patients: A pilot study. Journal of Trauma Nursing, 18(1), 52-60.
Gélinas, C., Tousignant-Laflamme, Y., Robitaille, A., & Bourgault, P. (2011). Exploring the validity of the Bispectral Index, the Critical-Care Pain Observation Tool and vital signs for the detection of pain in sedated and mechanically ventilated critically ill adults: A pilot study. Intensive & Critical Care Nursing, 27(1), 46-52.
Gélinas, C., Choinière, M., Ranger, M., Deschamps, A., Denault, A., & Johnston, C. (2010). Towards a New Approach for the Detection of Pain in Adults undergoing Cardiac Surgery: The Near-Infrared Spectroscopy (NIRS) - A pilot study. Heart & Lung: The Journal of Acute and Critical Care, 39(6), 485-493.