Directory Profile

Claire Richards joined the faculty at Washington State University College of Nursing in 2020, where she is currently an Assistant Professor. She completed her PhD in Nursing Science at University of Washington in 2017, after which she completed a post-doctoral fellowship in health services at the Department of Veterans Affairs in Seattle.

Claire is a member of the Washington Physicians for Social Responsibility Climate Action Task Force and the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments climate change and policy work groups. Claire is an editorial board member of the American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine. Claire is most interested in palliative care and how health systems can better support vulnerable populations in the face of an accelerating climate crisis. Claire possesses expertise in both qualitative and quantitative methods and has utilized large clinical data sets and basic natural language processing in her research.

Education

• PhD, Nursing Science, University of Washington, Seattle, WA
• BSN, Duke University, Durham, NC
• BS, Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA

Research Interests

Primary focus is interdisciplinary research at the intersection of energy and health and adaptation to climate change. Has experience with conducting both quantitative and qualitative health research and constructing large data sets, including using GIS and natural language processing. Currently conducting research in Alaska focused on cross-sectoral collaboration and information sharing in response to the complex interplay of wildfire and the built environment (energy infrastructure).

Methodological Strengths

• Qualitative and quantitative methods

Honors and Awards

• 2008, Duke School of Nursing Scholarship Award
• 2009, Duke Global Health Institute Travel Scholarship Award
• 2009, Sigma Theta Tau International Nursing Honor Society
• 2013, Nursing Economics Foundation Scholarship Award
• 2013, University of Washington Top Scholar Award
• 2014, Crowley Fellowship
• 2014, Todak Endowed Nursing Scholarship
• 2014, Northwest Chapter of the National Geriatric Nursing Association Professional Development Scholarship
• 2014–2017, Allen Term Scholarship
• 2015-2017 University of Washington Interdisciplinary Translational Health Sciences Scholar

Funded Research

“Collaborative Research: Navigating the New Arctic: Foundations for Improving Resilience in the Energy Sector against Wildfires on Alaskan Lands (FIREWALL).” National Sciences Foundation. 30% Effort for 4 Years ($344,000). Principal Investigator. September 1, 2022 to August 31, 2026.

Selected Publications

Schenk, E., Richards, C.A., Eide, P. (2023). The planet is warming: What nurses need to know? American Nurse Journal, 18(6). http://doi.org/10.51256/ANJ062306

Richards, C.A. & Doorenbos, A.Z. (2016). Intercultural competency development of health professions students during study abroad in India. Journal of Nursing Education and Practice, 6(12): 89-98. doi: 10.5430/jnep.v6n12p89

Richards, C.A., Starks, H., O’Connor, M.R., Doorenbos, A.Z. (2017). Elements of family-centered care in the pediatric intensive care unit: An integrative review. Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing, 19(3): 238-246. doi: 10.1097/NJH.000000000000033

Richards, C. A., Starks, H., O’Connor, M. R., Bourget, E., Hays, R., & Doorenbos, A. Z. (2018). Physicians perceptions of shared decision-making in neonatal and pediatric critical care. American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 35(4): 669-676. doi: 10.1177/1049909117734843

Richards, C. A., Starks, H., O’Connor, M. R., Bourget, E., Lindhorst, T., Hays, R., & Doorenbos, A. Z. (2018). When and why do neonatal and pediatric critical care physicians consult palliative care? American Journal of Hospice and Palliative Medicine, 35(6): 840-846. doi:10.1177/1049909117739853.

O’Hare, A.M., Richards, C.A., Szarka, J., McFarland, L.V., Vig, E.K., Sudore, R.L., Crowley, S. Trivedi, R., Taylor, S.T. (2018). “I was emotionally distraught for quite some time:” Emotional impact of illness and care on patients with advanced kidney disease. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 13(7): 1022-1029. doi: 10.2215/CJN.14261217

Richards, C.A., Liu, C., Hebert, P., Ersek, M., Wachterman, M., Reinke, L., Taylor, L., O’Hare, A.M. (in press, 2019) Family perceptions of quality of end-of-life care for Veterans with advanced chronic kidney disease. Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, 14(8). doi: 10.2215/CJN.01560219

Richards, C.A., Hebert, P., Liu, C., Ersek, M., Wachterman, M., Taylor, L., Reinke, L., O’Hare, A.M. (2019). Association between stopping dialysis and receipt of hospice services before death with family perceptions of quality of end-of-life care. JAMA Network Open, 2(10): e1913115. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.13115

O’Hare, A.M., Butler, C.R., Taylor, J.S., Wong, S.P.Y., Laundry, R.S., Wachterman, M.W., Vig, E.K., Hebert, P.L., Liu, C., Rios-Burrows, N., & Richards, C.A. (in press). Qualitative analysis of documented discussions about hospice in the electronic medical records of a national cohort of veterans with advanced kidney disease. Journal of American Society of Nephrology, 31(11): 2667-2677; doi: 10.1681/ASN.2020040473

Butler, C.R., Wightman, A., Richards, C.A., Laundry, R.S., Taylor, J.S Hebert, P.L., Liu, C., & O’Hare, A.M. (in press, 2020). “Some person behind a desk is going to be looking at my file”: Thematic analysis of the health records of a national sample of patients with advanced kidney disease evaluated for kidney transplant. JAMA Internal Medicine. doi:10.1001/jamainternmed.2020.6388

Complete List of Published Works

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1XQGdo6ausY52/bibliography/public/

updated 01/30/24