Kim Martz, associate professor for the School of Nursing, published an article in Qualitative Health Research in September.
The article, “The Changing Nature of Guilt in Family Caregivers: Living Through Care Transitions of Parents at the End of Life,” analyzes the transition process of moving an elderly family member to a hospice home and the guilt family members feel during the process.
Martz’s findings indicated that guilt surrounding the transfer of an elderly family member escalated during the initial stages but was lessened by achieving what family members deemed as a “good” death resulting from hospice care. The findings provided new insights into family-focused perspectives in care transfers of the dying.
Martz has a strong interest in research and has participated in research teams with a variety of research experiences in end of life issues and vulnerable populations. As a member of the Idaho End of Life Coalition, Martz assisted in the development of a field survey assessment on Idaho specific views on end of life issues. With her interest in vulnerable populations, she participated as a research team member in a study of Somali Bantu refugees and disseminated their research in several peer-reviewed abstracts and publications including Advances in Nursing Science in 2010. Martz also obtained a grant from the Office of External Funding at Boise State to study the collaboration of care between hospice and skilled nursing facilities which resulted in a publication in the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing in 2011.