URI_Research_Magazine_Momentum_Spring_2019_Melissa-McCarthy

diane martins Professor Nursing

The collaboration she refers to includes the Academic Health Collaborative, a network of health care professionals from URI’s College of Nursing, College of Pharmacy and College of Health Sciences, woven together to create a team that contributes thoughts and ideas from the unique perspective of their individual fields. Martins’ nursing students work with students from other University departments such as nutrition, physical therapy and psychology, a concept Martins fully supports, adding, “I love having students from other disciplines because it enriches the conversation. It’s so essential for us to understand that we need all of us in order to improve the health of the population.” Furthermore, Martins credits URI for her continued success along with the numerous grants and support she has received from the University, whose mission, according to Martins, aligns with her own — to care about the people of Rhode Island. Martins says she sees real people, vulnerable populations, in need of her help. For her, the people come first and the research second. “I’ve always been a person who did service and teaching first, and then, based on what I saw, looked for grants to fund research to try to understand more of what was going on in that population,” she says. This ideology shows in the way Martins approaches her research. Rather than surveying healthcare providers about their attitudes about caring for vulnerable

People who have a roof over their head, clothes on

their back, and food on their plate don’t have to worry about where they will sleep at night or where their next meal will come from, often taking these basic human needs for granted.

Spring 2019 | 45 |