Two PhD fellowship or postdoc positions in nursing and self-management for patients wit...

We are looking for two highly motivated and dynamic nursing candidates to fill in two positions as 3-year PhD studentships or postdoc positions in a study encompassing patients with inflammatory arthritis at COPECARE, Rigshospitalet-Glostrup, Danish Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases, Sønderborg and Department of Rheumatology, Aarhus University Hospital, Aarhus, Denmark. The positions will be affiliated to the University of Copenhagen or University of Southern Denmark depending on preference of the selected candidates.

Project description

In Denmark, approximately 80,000 people have inflammatory arthritis (50,000 with Rheumatoid Arthritis and 30,000 with Psoriatic Arthritis or axial Spondyloarthropathy). These unpredictable rheumatological diseases are characterized by inflammation and symptoms like swollen joints, pain, fatigue, and impaired functional ability. Despite successful medical treatment, patients may still experience reduced quality of life, depression, anxiety, changes in family roles and work life which affect their everyday life. Health care organization have moved towards less frequent (on-site) face-to-face contact with patients. As a natural consequence, higher demands are now placed on the individual patient’s ability to self-manage their condition and pharmacological treatment.

Our group and research

The two studies are part of the TASEMA project (TArgeted SElf-Management in patients with inflammatory Arthritis) funded by the Novo Nordisk foundation 2020-2025. The steering group for TASEMA encompass Professor, RN, Bente Appel Esbensen; Professor, MD, Mikkel Østergaard; Associate professor, RN, Annette de Thurah, Aarhus; Associate professor, Psychologist, Julie Midtgaard; Associate professor, PT, Mette Aadahl and Professor, RN, Jette Primdahl.

We aim to develop, test, implement and evaluate nurse-coordinated interventions to increase self-management competences in patients with inflammatory arthritis (IA) and reduce the impact of the disease in two independent clinical studies:

1. Nurse-led early multi-disciplinary interventions with individual and group sessions for newly diagnosed patients.
2. Nurse-led multidisciplinary interventions across primary and secondary sector to address the challenges of living with IA for patients who have considerable loss of function or heavy symptom burden.

Both studies encompass development of an intervention, a randomized controlled trial (RCT) and a qualitative evaluation. A health economic evaluation is embedded in both studies, but are not part of the PhD-study/postdoc.

For both study 1 and 2, the candidates will be supervised by the research group and persons with relevant competencies for the studies. Principal supervisor for a PhD-student positionwill be Professor, RN, Jette Primdahl orProfessor, RN, Bente Appel Esbensen depending on the preferred university affiliation. For postdoc positions, Professor, RN, Jette Primdahl or Professor, RN, Bente Appel Esbensen will be the overall responsible tutor, depending on the preferred place for employment.

The successful applicants will be part of established research groups at the involved hospitals. These research groups encompass rheumatologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists and nurses.

Start: 1st August 2020or after agreement

Duration: 3 years full time as a PhD-student or Postdoc

Job description
The key tasks as a PhD student or postdoc are:

• Carry through an independent research project under supervision
• Participate in the development of rheumatology nursing including interdisciplinary and international collaboration
• Communication and dissemination of own research in scientific papers and presentations
• Apply for further funding

For PhD students only:

• Complete PhD courses or other equivalent education corresponding to approx. 30 ECTS points
• Participate in active research environments including a stay at another research team
• Write a PhD thesis on the grounds of your project

Qualification requirements
Applicants for the PhD-student position must have qualifications corresponding to a master’s degree (nursing, health science, MPH or another relevant area).

Other criteria of relevance for the positions are:

• The content and assessment of the MSc thesis
• Professional qualifications relevant to the study
• Scientific publications
• Relevant work experience, including teaching tasks and development of clinical practice
• Curious mind-set with a strong interest in research and clinical practice
• Excellent Danish and English language skills
• Good interpersonal and collaboration skills
• Previous experience with interdisciplinary collaboration
• A wish to develop rheumatological nursing
• Ability to work independently and as part of a multidisciplinary project team
• Interested in participation in networks – national and international
• PhD thesis – research area and methods used (postdoc only)

Place of employment

Employment will be at either COPECARE, Rigshospitalet-Glostrup or the Danish Hospital for Rheumatic Diseases in Sønderborg, depending on preference of the successful applicants. The employment will include worktime at the involved hospitals and the applicant must expect travel time to be included in the function, especially in study two.

Further information
For specific information about the PhD fellowship and postdoc positions, please contact professor, Jette Primdahl, [email protected], mobile 24206692 or professor, Bente Appel Esbensen, [email protected],mobile 24412490

General information about a PhD study at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences is available at the Graduate Schools’ websites: https://healthsciences.ku.dk/phd/guidelines and https://www.sdu.dk/en/Forskning/PhD/Phd_skoler/PhdSkolenSundhedsvidenskab/PhD_Students

Application procedure
Your application can be written in Danish or in English and must be submitted by mail to [email protected].

The application must include the following documents in PDF format:

1. Motivational letter of application. This should include information about whether it is a Phd or Postdoc position, the preferred study and place of employment (max. one page)

2. CV incl. education, professional experience, publications, funding, language skills and other skills relevant for the position (with applicant’s contact information (e-mail address & telephone number))

3. Documentation of qualifications including master diploma and transcript of records. If you have not yet completed a master or PhD, a certified/signed copy of a recent transcript of records or a written statement from the institution or supervisor will do.

4. Publication list

5. Teaching experience

All material will be shredded at the end of the appointment procedure.

Application deadline: 20 May 2020, 23.59pm CET

We reserve the right not to consider material received after the deadline, and not to consider applications that do not live up to the abovementioned requirements.

The further process
The same positions are announced both in The Capital Region of Denmark and Region of Southern Denmark. For both positions, salary, pension and terms of employment are in accordance with agreement.

It is conditioned upon the applicant’s success­ful enrolment as a PhD student at the Graduate School at the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen or Faculty of Health at the University of Southern Denmark. This requires submission and acceptance of an application for the specific project formulated by the applicant in close collaboration with the supervisor team.

The PhD study must be completed in accordance with The Ministerial Order on the PhD programme (2013) and the Faculty’s rules on achieving the degree.

All applicants are notified when their application has been assessed. Applications including all appendices will be shredded when the selected candidates are employed. Selected applicants will be invited for an online interview May 25, 26, 27 or 29.

Kilde: Jobnet.dk