Picture of                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    Dr. Rusla Anne  Springer

Dr. Rusla Anne Springer PhD, MN (APN), BScN, RN (CNS)

Address
104 Clinic Place - Rm 4321 Health Sciences Building - E- Wing

Research Area(s)

  • The Ethics of Pharmaceutical Industry Omnipresence in Healthcare Research and Practice
  • Nursing's Relationship with the Pharmaceutical Industry
  • The influence of Pharmaceutical Industry promotion on professional practice
  • The Effects of Ethical Leadership on Organizational Culture

Biography

Dr. Springer joined the College of Nursing in January 2010 and received the award of Tenure in July of 2014. Her nursing career has spanned more than three decades and includes experience in general and advanced nursing practice. Over her lengthy nursing career Dr. Springer has served in a variety of leadership and advisory roles.  She is an advanced practice Clinical Nurse Specialist (CNS) who spent more than a decade leading and practicing with an Interprofessional team of healthcare providers in the care of Multiple Sclerosis (MS) patients and their families in the Northern Interior of British Columbia.

Dr. Springer’s Master’s and Doctoral research arose directly from her clinical practice experiences working with MS patients and their families. Her master’s thesis entitled "Exploring Decisional Conflict around Disease Modifying Therapy in Multiple Sclerosis" explored the relationships between decisional conflict and patients’ treatment expectations, their perceptions of self-determinism, control, and satisfaction in contexts of treatment decision making. Her doctoral dissertation entitled "Pharmaceutical Industry Discursives and the Subjectivities of Physicians, Nurses and Multiple Sclerosis Patients: A Foucauldian Dispositive Analysis" focused on the ethics of pharmaceutical industry incursion into the practice of medicine and nursing in the Neurology sub-specialty of Multiple Sclerosis. That work revealed the discursive effects of pharmaceutical industry discourse on the subjectivities of physicians, nurses and patients. 

Dr. Springer teaches in both the undergraduate and graduate programs in the College of Nursing in the areas of nursing philosophy, ethics, policy, politics, professionalism, communication, leadership, practice integration, and research for evidence informed practice.  She served as the Vice-Chair of the University of Saskatchewan’s Biomedical Research Ethics Board (2014 – 2017), and a member of the St. Paul’s Hospital Board of Directors Ethics Committee (2014 – 2017). She is a member of the Canadian Bioethics Society, the Canadian Association of Research Ethics Boards, the Bias and Research Integrity Node with the Charles Perkins Center, University of Sydney, Australia, and Health Action International.  She conducts peer reviews for the Journal of Medical Ethics, Nursing Philosophy, Qualitative Health Research, Critical Studies in Education, and Advances in Health Sciences Education and is a grant reviewer for the Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research. Dr. Springer is also an active member of the International Philosophy of Nursing Society (IPONS) and is a commissioned author for the IPONS Nursing Philosophy Journal.

Dr. Springer’s educational, experiential, and research background, positions her to conduct research using both quantitative and qualitative methodologies; however her preferred methodological approach is the application of Foucauldian concepts, principles, and theories to the conduct of discourse analysis. 

Dr. Springer’s professional practice, in concert with her research, teaching, and scholarship serves to interpret and articulate the ethical implications that arise as a result of pharmaceutical industry presence and influence in the intimate relational spaces healthcare providers occupy in the delivery of human care and the conduct of human research; to clarify organizational research norms; to identify barriers to research integrity and to identify priorities to improve organizational leadership approaches.

 

Education

  • Registered Nurse (RN) Diploma, College of New Caledonia, Prince George, BC (1988). 
  • BScN, Faculty of Nursing, University of Victoria (1996).
  • MN (Thesis Based/Advanced Practice Nursing), Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary (2004)
  • PhD, Faculty of Nursing, University of Calgary (2009).

Publications

Published Articles

2019-04

Springer, R. A. (2019, March 4). Pharmaceutical industry influence: The persistent illusion of doctors’ unique invulnerability. [Review of the book Doctors in Denial: Why Big Pharma and the Canadian Medical Profession are too close for comfort., by J. Lexchin.]. Indian J Med Ethics.. doi: 10.20529/IJME.2019.008. 

2017-04

Springer,   R. A., & Clinton, M. E. (2017, April). Philosophy Lost: Inquiring into   the Effects of the Corporatized University and its Implications for Graduate   Nursing Education. Nursing Inquiry. 2017;00:e12197.   https://doi.org/10.1111/nin.12197.

2017-02

Clinton,   M. E., & Springer, R. A. (2017, February). Representation, archaeology   and genealogy: Three “spatial metaphors” for inquiring into nursing phenomena   with Foucauldian discourse analysis. Nursing Philosophy.   2017;00:e12166. doi: 10.1111/nup.12166. 

2016-03

Clinton,   M. E., & Springer, R. A. (2016, March). "Foucault’s Legacy for   Nursing: Are we Beneficiaries or Intestate Heirs?. Nursing Philosophy,   17(2), 117 - 131. doi:10.1111/nup.121113.

2015

Springer,   R. A., & Clinton, M. (2015). Doing Foucault: Inquiring into Nursing   Knowledge with Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Nursing Philosophy, 16(2),   87-97. doi: 10.1111/nup.12079.

2014

Springer,   R. A. (2014). Rebirth of the Clinic: Places and Agents in Contemporary Health   Care. Nursing Philosophy, 15(2), 152-153.

2013

Springer,   R. A., Kent-Wilkonson, A., Ewashen, C., & Ali, R. (2013). Making Time for   Reflexive Dialogue in Philosophical Group Discussion: Extending the Debate on   the Militarization of Nursing. Advances in Nursing Science, 36(1),   18 - 25. doi: 10.1097/ANS.0b013e3182807780..

2013-03-10

Springer,   R. A., Kent-Wilkinson, A., Ewashen, C., & Ali, R. (2013, March 10).   Making time for dialogue. [Featured Articles: Posted on March 10, 2013 by   peggychinn]. ANS: Advances in Nursing Science Blog.. Advances in Nursing   Science Blog.   http://ansjournalblog.com/2013/03/10/making-time-for-dialogue/.

2013

Racine,   L., Springer, R. A., & Udod, S. (2013). Distributed Learning and Rapid   Technological Change: An Exploration of Faculty Development Needs. International   Journal of University Teaching and Professional Development, 3(3),   1 - 15.

2013

Springer,   R. A., & Clinton, M. E. (2013). 'Technologies of the Self' as   instrumentality: Becoming instruments of the pharmaceutical industry through   normative practices. APORIA, 5(1), 23 - 32.

2012

Springer,   R. A. (2012). Michel Foucault (1926-1984): A man of a thousand paths, a   thousand faces, and a thousand emerging relevancies - continuing his analyses   in pursuit of our present for the sake of our future. APORIA, 4(1),   51-56.

2011

Springer,   R. A. (2011). Pharmaceutical industry discursives and the marketization of   nursing practice: A case example. Nursing Philosophy, 12(3),   214–228.

Chapter in Book

2015

Racine, L., Springer, R. A., & Udod, S. (2015). Distributed Learning and Rapid Technological Change: An Exploration of Faculty Development Needs Louise Racine, Rusla Anne Springer, and Sonia Udod pp.47-62. In O. M. Alegre-de la Rosa, & L. M. Villar-Angulo. (Eds.), Research on University Teaching and Faculty Development (pp. 47 - 62). Nova Science Publishers.

2001

Springer,   R. A., Price, E., Clark, C., & Weldon, P. (2001). Psychosocial   implications of multiple sclerosis. In Advanced Concpets in Multiple   Sclerosis Nursing Care New York, New York: Demos Medical Publishing.

Expository Articles

2018-04

Springer,  R. A. (2018, April). Proposed Transformation Long Overdue. Canadian Nurse114(2). 

2012

Springer,   R. A. (2012). Suppressing the ideals of 'The University': A troubling   realization for a new academic. VOX (January), 4-5. 

2011

Springer,   R. A. (2011). A Troubling Association. Canadian Nurse, 107(8), 6.

Conference Presentations

Springer, R. A. (In Press). Maintaining Nursing's Essential Humanness in the Face of a Tsunami of Technology. Abstract accepted for Oral Presentation. 7th In Sickness and In Health Conference, Sydney, Australia. June 7 – 9, 2018.

Clinton, M., & Springer, R. A. (2016, November 1). Representation, Archeology and Genealogy: Three 'Quadrilateral' Tools for Inquiring into Nursing Phenomena with Foucauldian Discourse Analysis. Paper presented at 2nd International Critical Perspectives in Nursing and Healthcare, Sydney, Australia. R. Anne Springer, Presenter

Clinton, M., & Springer, R. A. (2016, August 24). Conceptions of genealogy in Foucault and Agamben: Governing of life or exceptional forms of bio-power? Paper presented at 20th Annual International Philosophy of Nursing Conference (IPONS) & the 12th Biennial Philosophy in the Nurse's World Conference (uPNR).,, Quebec City, Quebec.  M.E. Clinton & R.A. Springer, Presenters

Springer, R. A., & Clinton, M. E. (2016, October 31). Applying Foucault’s Metaphorical ‘Quadrilateral of Language’ to a Critical Analysis of Advanced Practice Discourse. Paper presented at 2nd Critical Perspectives in Nursing and Health Care International Conference, Sydney, Austrlia. Paper Presented by R. Anne Springer

Springer, R. A., & Clinton, M. E. (2016, August 24). ‘Philosophy Lost’: A Probing Inquiry into the Implications for Graduate Nursing Education in the Corporatized University. Paper presented at 20th Annual International Philosophy of Nursing Conference (IPONS) & the 12th Biennial Philosophy in the Nurse’s World Conference (uPNR)!, Quebec City, Quebec. Paper Presented by R. Anne Springer

Springer, R. A. (2015).  Enriching Student Educational Experiences through the Voice of the Patient. Interprofessional Continuing Education. Experiences of Involving PatientsPaper Presented on November 14, 2015 at the 2nd International Conference: Where's the Patient's Voice held in Vancouver BC.

Springer, R. A. (2013). Realizing the Effects of Instrumental Reason on the Preparation of Nurses and the (Re)-shaping of the Profession. Genes, Neurons, and Nurses: Implications of 21 Century Science for Nursing Care. Paper presented at the 17th annual International Philosophy of Nursing Conference, September 8, 2013.

Springer, R. A., & Clinton, M, E. (2013). Problematizing Wealth Creation in the Intimate Relational Spaces of Healthcare Practice and Research. From the Margins: Radical Thoughts for Health Practices and Research. Paper Presented at the ISIH Conference in Montreal Quebec, July 20, 2013. Presenter: R. Anne Springer

Springer, R. A., & Clinton, M. E. (2013). 'Technologies of the Self' as Instrumentality: Becoming Instruments of the Pharmaceutical Industry through Normative Practice. Critical Knowledge Translation. Paper Presented at the 1st Critical Perspectives in Nursing and Health Care International Conference, Vancouver, BC. Presenter: R. Anne Springer

Springer, R. A. (2012, June 20). Foucauldian Discourse Analysis: A Methodology that Makes Visible the Ordering of Subjects and Spaces. Paper presented at Qualitatives 2012: 29th Annual Qualitative Analysis Conference: Cultures of Narrative/Narratives of Culture. Memorial University, St. John's, Newfoundland/Labrador.

Springer, R. A. (2011, November 17). Pharmaceutical Industry Omnipresence: Implications for the Delivery of Ethical Chronic Ilness Care. Paper presented at The 6th Annual William F. Mitchell Bioethics Conference - The Ethical Demands of Chronic Illness, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan.

Racine, L., Springer, R. A., Udod, S., & Wall, P. (2011, February 5). Distributed learning: Exploring the needs for faculty development in multi sites program delivery. Paper presented at 16th Annual Ethel Johns Nursing Research Forum. Sigma Theta International Honor Society of Nursing, & Xi Eta Chapter University of British Columbia School of Nursing,, Vancouver, BC. Presenters: L. Racine & R.A. Springer

Springer, R. A. (2010, May 16). Pharmaceutical industry discursives and the organization of nursing work: A case example of the marketization of nursing practice. Paper presented at Philosophy in a Nurse’s World: Politics of Nursing Practice Conference, Banff, AB.

Springer, R. A., & Clinton, M. (2009). Pharmaceutical industry discursives and their effect on patient and nurse subjectivities in the practice setting. Paper presented at 22nd Annual Research Conference: Nursing Research: The Path to Excellence: Showcasing Links to Practice Settings. Arthur Labatt Family School of Nursing, University of Western Ontario, London, Ontario. Presenter: R. Anne Springer

Awards

  • Studentship Award MS Society of Canada (2002)
  • Dean’s Entrance Scholarship, University of Calgary (2004)
  • Alberta Graduate Student Scholarship (2004)
  • Studentship Award MS Society of Canada (2004) (Declined)
  • Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship (2006)
  • Province of Alberta Doctoral Fellowship (2006)
  • International Organization of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses (IOMSN) Fellowship (2006)
  • Calgary Chapter Nomination for the International P.E.O. Scholar Award (2006)
  • Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship (2007)
  • Queen Elizabeth II Gruaduate Scholarship (2008)
  • Nomination for the International Institute for Qualitative Methodology (IIQM) Doctoral Dissertation Award (2009)
  • Provincial Health Ethics Network Bursary, Alberta (2011)
  • Merit Award/ Practice of Professional Skills, University of Saskatchewan (2012)
  • Merit Award/ Practice of Professional Skills, Univeristy of Saskatchewan (2013)
  • Merit Award/ Practice of Professional Skills, University of Saskatchewan (2014)
  • Honor Society of Nursing Inductee Sigma Theta Tau International (STTI) - Mu Sigma Chapter, University of Alberta (2015)
  • Merit Award/Practice of Professional Skills, University of Saskatchewan (2015)
  • Saskatoon Health Region BRAVO Award as member of St. Paul's Hospital Board of Directors Ethics Committee (2016)
  • Merit Award/Practice of Professional Skills/Leadership, University of Saskatchewan (2016)
  • Merit Award/Practice of Professional Skills, University of Saskatchewan (2017)