Background

Katherine Bernier Carney, Ph.D., RN, is an Assistant Professor in the UConn School of Nursing whose research focuses on improving the quality of life of children with serious illnesses. . Bernier Carney has a particular focus on palliative care delivery for such children and their families.

Bernier Carney began her education at the University of Massachusetts Amherst where she received her first undergraduate degree in public health sciences. Shortly afterward she received her bachelor’s of science in nursing from the University of Rochester. Bernier Carney later earned both her Master’s and Ph.D. in Nursing from UConn.

Bernier Carney was first introduced to the idea of pursuing a career in nursing at The Hole in the Wall Gang Camp in Ashford, CT, where she served as a camp counselor for many years. During her time as a counselor there, Bernier Carney worked with children and adolescents with chronic conditions and gained insight into what life is like for young people facing serious illnesses. She was inspired by the dedication of the camp nurses, who were committed to supporting the health and well-being of the children and their families.

Bernier Carney started her first nursing job in the pediatric intensive care unit at a hospital in Albany, New York, where she was exposed to critical care and began to think deeper about how families manage the needs of children with long-term illness. “Working as a nurse in acute care, I started to have a lot of questions regarding what care looks like at home for these children with complex illnesses and what resources they have to support them when they’re outside of the clinical setting,” she says. Later in her career, she began working on an inpatient unit at Connecticut Children’s Hospital in hematology and oncology, which is what led her to pursue a Ph.D.

At UConn, Bernier Carney now teaches both undergraduates and graduate students in the nursing program. She is currently working on a project that examines how palliative care clinicians support symptom management for children with serious and complex conditions. Her research has found that that there are no standardized ways to support care management at home. She is aiming to find a way to change this by enhancing symptom care at home through the help of family members.

Involvement with CSCH

Bernier Carney has been involved with the Collaboratory since she began her career at UConn in 2021. She feels a strong connection with the interdisciplinary nature of CSCH and appreciates the fact that there are so many researchers and advocates from all different professional backgrounds who come together to focus on both the physical and mental well-being of children. “Children with serious illnesses live everywhere, so it is important to find ways to promote health resources at home and at school as a community,” she says.

You can learn more about Bernier Carney through her UConn Faculty Page.

Fun Facts

Bernier Carney is mother to twin preschoolers and a rescue dog named Arlo. With her family, she loves to explore dairy farms across New England to see the animals and indulge in the fresh homemade ice cream. Some of her favorites are Collin’s Creamery in Enfield and Buttonwood Farm in Griswold.

Undergraduate Researcher Elena Roberts interviewed Katherine Bernier Carney and wrote this profile.