My research program examines leadership, system design, and workforce sustainability in health services and nursing education, with a particular focus on professions operating under chronic pressure.
Across projects, I am concerned with a central question: how do leadership decisions, organizational structures, and working conditions shape wellbeing, effectiveness, and retention in complex systems—and what happens when individuals are asked to compensate for systemic strain?
Using rigorous, real-world research approaches, my work explores how evidence can inform leadership practice, education, and policy in ways that support sustainable performance rather than individual endurance.
Core Research Areas
Leadership, Systems, and Work Environments
- Leadership and team dynamics in high-pressure healthcare settings
- Organizational structures, social capital, and workforce sustainability
- Empowering work environments and structural conditions for practice
- Psychological safety, trust, and coordination under constraint
Workforce Experiences, Careers, and Retention
- New graduate and early-career nurses’ transition experiences
- Career aspirations, decision-making, and retention intentions
- Burnout, moral strain, job satisfaction, and turnover intentions
- Leadership influences on professional identity and career trajectories
Technology, Change, and Complexity in Health Services
- Impact of remote monitoring and digital health technologies on care work
- Technology-enabled platforms for proactive health assessment
- Intersections of technological change with workforce outcomes and workload
- Leadership challenges introduced by innovation and system complexity
Nursing Education and Professional Development
- Innovation in nursing curricula and clinical education
- Design and evaluation of professional development programs
- Educational strategies that prepare practitioners for complexity and change
- Measurement and validation of educational and professional outcomes
Methodological Expertise
My research uses quantitative and mixed-methods approaches suited to studying complex, real-world systems. Areas of methodological strength include:
- Questionnaire design and psychometric validation
- Survey research and advanced data analysis
- Pragmatic and intervention-focused evaluation studies
- Concept analysis and interpretive description
Methodological choices in my work are guided by a commitment to producing findings that are both theoretically sound and practically meaningful for leaders and policymakers.
Research Impact and Engagement
I have published extensively in peer-reviewed journals on topics including leadership behaviors, workplace social capital, burnout, moral strain, and career intentions in nursing and healthcare.
My research has been supported by national and provincial funding agencies, with grants totaling over $8 million across programs focused on workforce sustainability, technology, aging, and health system innovation.
I regularly present at national and international conferences, including Work, Stress & Health and Creating Healthy Work Environments, and I engage actively in knowledge mobilization to ensure research findings inform practice and policy.
Graduate Supervision and Mentorship
I supervise graduate students and serve on thesis committees across nursing, interdisciplinary studies, and related fields. My mentorship emphasizes intellectual clarity, methodological rigor, and the ability to study complex systems without oversimplifying human experience.
Publications and Profiles
For an up-to-date list of publications and scholarly profiles, please see my Google Scholar profile: Emily Read
Emily Read, PhD, RN 