Susan Beck, PhD, RN

Contact Information:

• Mailing Address:
• University of Utah
• College of Nursing
• 10 South 2000 East
• Salt Lake City, UT 84112-5880
• Phone: (801) 585-9609
• FAX: (801) 581-4642
• E-mail: susan.beck@nurs.utah.edu

Background:

Susan L. Beck PhD APRN FAAN is a professor at the University of Utah College of Nursing where she teaches in the doctoral program. Dr. Beck has over 25 years of experience as an advanced practice oncology nurse and holds national certification as an AOCN. Dr. Beck's research interests include the management of symptoms in cancer patients and organizational interventions to improve care.

Dr. Beck served as Project Director for the University Hospital’s Program to Improve Patient Care from 1989 through 1995. In 1996, she was a Visiting Professor and Fulbright Scholar at the University of Pretoria in South Africa where she conducted multiple studies related to cancer pain management. She currently is a co-investigator of a multi-site clinical trial of a nursing intervention to mitigate cancer treatment-related fatigue. And PI of a study to develop a tool to measure the quality of nursing care related to pain management.

Dr. Beck served as President of Cancer Pain Relief-Utah, and as a member of the Steering Committee of the Partnership to Improve End-of-Life-Care in Utah. She led the implementation of the first Leadership Development Institute of the Oncology Nursing Society and was appointed to the first national Advisory Council for the Center for Leadership, Research, and Information of the Oncology Nursing Society Foundation.

Research Program/ Scholarly Activity:

My program of research is focused in the area of symptom management in individuals with cancer. The goal of my scholarly pursuits is to improve the quality of life for individuals with cancer by improved management of their symptoms. Over time, pursuit of this goal has led me to consider the problem from multiple perspectives. Thus, the scope of the work has included the broad perspectives of health policy and societal influences on cancer symptoms, the influence of organizational characteristics and nursing practice on symptom outcomes, specific interventions to improve symptom management, and methodological studies of how to measure specific symptoms. The symptoms of interest have included pain, fatigue, oral mucositis, and insomnia.

Funded Research:

Recent Publications:

• Beck SL, Dudley WN, Barsevick A. (2005). Pain, sleep disturbance, and fatigue in patients with cancer: Using a mediation model to test a symptom cluster. Oncology Nursing Forum, 32(3), 542.
• Beck, S. L. (2004). Mucositis. In C. H. Yarbro, M. M. Frogge, & M. Goodman (Eds.), Cancer Symptom Management (3rd ed., pp. 276-292). Sudbury, MA: Jones & Bartlett.
• Barsevick, A., Dudley, W. N., Beck, S. L., Sweeney, C., Whitmer, K., & Nail, L. (2004). A randomized clinical trial of energy conservation for patients with cancer-related fatigue. Cancer, 100(6), 1302-1310.
• Friese, C. R., Beck, S. L. (2004). Advancing practice and research: Creating evidence-based summaries on measuring nursing-sensitive patient outcomes. Clinical Journal of Oncology Nursing 8(6), 675-677.
• Beck, S. L., Schwartz, A. L., Towsley, G. Dudley, W. N., & Barsevick, A. (2004). Psychometric evaluation of the Pittsburgh sleep quality index in cancer patients. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 27(2), 140-148.
• Peterson, D. E., Beck, S. L., & Keefe, D. M. K. (2004). Novel therapies. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 2(1), 53-58.
• Beck, S. L. (2004). Symptom clusters: Impediments and suggestions for solutions. Journal of the National Cancer Institute. Monographs.(32), 137-138.
• Barsevick, A., Dudley, W. M., Nail, L., & Beck, S. (2003). Who benefits from energy conservation for cancer-related fatigue? [Abstract]. Oncology Nursing Forum, 30(2), 143.
• Stevenson, K., Dahl, J., Berry, P., & Beck, S. (2003). Baseline data form the practice change programs: Room for improvement. Journal of Pain, 4(2), 71.
• Beck. S. L. (2002). Strategies to translate research into practice. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 18(1), 11-19.
• Mooney, K. M., Beck, S. L., Friedman, R. H., & Farzanfar, R. (2002). Telephone-linked care for cancer symptom monitoring: A pilot study. Cancer Practice, 10(3), 147-154.
• Beck, S. L., & Falkson, G. (2001). Prevalence and management of cancer pain in South Africa. Pain, 94(1), 75-84.
• Beck, S. L. (2000). An ethnographic study of factors influencing cancer pain management in South Africa. Cancer Nursing, 23(2), 91-100.
• Meek, P. M., Nail, L. M., Barsevick, A., Schwartz, A. L., Stephens, S., Whitmer, K., Beck, S. L., Jones, L. S., & Walker, B. L. (2000). Psychometric testing of fatigue instruments for use with cancer patients. Nursing Research, 49(4).
• Beck, S. L. (1999). Breast and prostate cancer: The pain. Reflections, 25(4), 20-21.
• Beck, S. L. (1999). Health policy, health services, and cancer pain management in the new South Africa. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 17(1), 16-26.
• Beck, S. L. (1998). A systematic evaluation of opioid availability and use in the Republic of South Africa. Journal of Pharmaceutical Care in Pain and Symptom Control, 6(4), 5-22.
• Nail, L. M., Barsevick, A. M., Meek, P. A., Beck, S. L., Jones, L. S., Walker, B. L., Whitmer, K. R., Schwartz, A. L., Stephen, S., & King, M. E. (1998). Planning and conducting a multi-institutional project on fatigue. Oncology Nursing Forum, 25(8), 1398-1403.
• Rothermich, A. E., Kinnear, C. L., & Beck, S. L. (1996). From unpleasant surprises to productive relationships: Becoming team builders. Hospital Topics, 74(4), 16-21.
• Thomas, D. S., Beck, S. L., Dayton, M. T., Kirchhoff, K. T. (1996). Evaluation of scheduled J-pouch irrigations on decreasing stool frequency after ileo-anal pull-through and ileostomy closure. Journal of Wound, Ostomy, and Continence Nursing, 22, 261-268.

Recent Presentations:

Editorial and Review Boards:

• Cancer Nursing
• European Journal of Oncology Nursing
• Journal of Pain

Study Sections:

• Oncology Nursing Society Foundation, 2000-2001

Panels/Expert Committees:

• National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research, Expert Panel to Develop Oral Complications and Cancer Campaign, 1998-2000
• American Cancer Society Psychosocial and Behavioral Research 2003-2007

Areas of Teaching Responsibilities:

Recent Awards: