Jessica Wallar Author

Kirstie graduated in 2015 from Queen Margaret University with a BSc(Hons) in Nursing. She then completed a 16-month conversion course in Child Health Nursing at Edinburgh Napier University where she graduated with a BN and class medal. Kirstie has worked as a paediatric nurse since 2017 and her current role is as a Paediatric & Adolescent Rheumatology Clinical Nurse Specialist. Kirstie particularly enjoys working with teenagers and young people, and is a volunteer nurse with the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust. Jessica Wallar is a PhD Candidate in nursing at Northeastern University in Boston, USA, graduating in 2021. Her dissertation topic is on college students’ motivation to use fitness related technology to influence levels of physical activity. Jessica works as a research assistant looking at the implications of telehealth arising from the COVID-19 pandemic for young adults with chronic conditions. She has also worked as a teaching assistant for research courses with undergraduate nursing students. Jessica also has experience working as a clinical research coordinator at the Phyllis F. Cantor Center, a nurse scientist led research centre of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. She graduated in 2015 from Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh, with her undergraduate degree in Nursing. She is a registered nurse in both the UK and Massachusetts, USA. Dr Kath MacDonald is Honorary Lecturer in the Nursing, Occupational and Arts Therapies Division of Queen Margaret University, Edinburgh. Her nursing background is in long term conditions (respiratory nursing) and particularly working with adolescents and young adults. Her research interests include patient and student experience and arts-informed research, including poetry and storytelling. In 2019 she founded ListenUpStorytelling, a social enterprise that supports professionals who care for others to care for themselves. Recent projects include Stories of Covid and SEEDS (Supporting and Enhancing Empowerment and Development through Storytelling) with Community nurses.