Martha Mackay

PhD, RN, CCN(C)

Bio

Dr. Mackay has many years of clinical experience, most recently having practised for more than 25 years as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Cardiology. This experience informs her research, which has been funded by national agencies. Her program focusses on the influence of, and interventions aimed at, the socio-demographic (e.g. sex/gender, ethnicity) and behavioural (e.g. depression) factors that affect patients with ischemic heart disease, particularly at times of transition.

May also be eligible for co-supervision of MSN Theses and Doctoral Dissertations.

Profile

Educational Background

• CCN(C), Certification in Cardiovascular Nursing (Canada)
• BSN (Hons) (Nursing), University of British Columbia
• MSN (Nursing), University of British Columbia
• PhD (Nursing), University of British Columbia

Affiliations

• Clinical Nurse Specialist, Heart Centre, St. Paul’s Hospital
• Scientist, Centre for Health Evaluation and Outcomes Sciences
• Scientist, Providence Health Care Research Institute

Honours and Awards (recent)

• 2017-2021  Canadian Institutes of Health Research Embedded Clinician Researcher Salary Award
• 2016          Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses’ Nursing Research Excellence Award
• 2014-2019  Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar
• 2013          International Mentoring Travel Grant, American Heart Association
• 2012-2014  Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada Research Scholarship
• 2011          College of Registered Nurses of British Columbia Award of Excellence in Nursing Research
• 2011          European Society of Cardiology Council on Cardiovascular Nursing and Allied Professions Post-Doctoral Grant
• 2010-2012  Cardiac Services BC (Provincial Health Services Authority) Cardiovascular Outcomes Research Fellowship
• 2006-2010  Canadian Institutes of Health Research Clinician-Scientist Salary Award

Service

• Member, Advisory Panel on Revascularization, Cardiac Services BC (Provincial Health Services Authority)
• Member, Advisory Board, BC Centre for Improved Cardiovascular Health
• Member, Scientific Review Committee (Budget Review Sub-Committee), Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada.
• Reviewer, CIHR Fellowship Award Competition
• Member, UBC/Providence Health Care Research Ethics Board
• Member, Canadian Council of Cardiovascular Nurses
• Member, American Association of Critical-Care Nurses
• Member, Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses
• Member, Nursing Council, American Heart Association
• Member, Council on Cardiovascular Nursing & Allied Professions of the European Society of Cardiology
• Member, Editorial Review Board, Official Journal of the Canadian Association of Critical Care Nurses
• Associate Editor, Canadian Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing
• Member, Executive Committee, BC Centre for Improved Cardiovascular Health
• Member, Grant-in-Aid Review Committee (Clinical Research Panel), Heart & Stroke Foundation of Canada
• External Reviewer: Research Interest Group Grant Competition, Institute for Healthy Living and Chronic Disease Prevention, University of British Columbia (Okanagan)

Area of Research

Current Projects

Factors associated with weight loss in patients with acute heart failure. J. Palmer (PI), Milligan, A.F. Kaan, M. Toma & M.H. Mackay. Granting Agency: Providence Health Care Research Challenge.

Delivery of self-management through a peer-support telehealth intervention in patients with cardiovascular disease: The Healing Circles. A. Davoodi, B. Sakakibara, A. Zbib, A. Krahn, T. Sedlak, M.H. Mackay, J. Singer, J. McGladrey & D. Whitehurst. Granting Agency: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Coronary Revascularization: a Tool for Evidence-based, Individualized, Shared Decision Making (CR-Decide) K.H. Humphries & C. Norris (PIs); J. Spertus, P. Aikman, B.J. O’Neill, C.J. Decker, M. Gao, M. Izadnegahd, M.H. Mackay. Granting Agency: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.
 
The use of text messaging to improve the hospital-community transition and prevent readmission in patients with cardiovascular disease (Txt2Prevent). S. Lear (PI), A. Hagan-Johson, M. H. Mackay, B. Sakakbara, M. Toma, H. Van Spall, D. Whitehurst. Granting Agency: Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Acute Coronary Syndrome Care in Emergency Departments (ASCEND)
Mackay, M. H. (Principal Investigator), Humphries, K. H., Ratner, P., Scheuermeyer, F., Veenstra, G., & Kornder, J.  Granting agency:  Canadian Institutes of Health Research.

Completed Projects

Smoke-free men: Translating research findings through a tobacco reduction website for cancer prevention action
Oliffe, J., & Bottorff, J. (Principal Investigators), Boomer, J., Caperchione, C., Currie, L., Frank, B., & Mackay, M.  Granting agency:  Canadian Cancer Society Research Institute.

Evaluation of an intervention to enhancing in-centre hemodialysis patients' self-care ability
Trask, M. (Principal Investigator), Marchuk, S., Huyhnh, F., Kiaii, M., Rozon, C., Carter, G., Morrison, D., Min, H., Evangelista, E., Sekic, A., & Mackay, M. Granting agency:  Providence Health Care Research Challenge. 

Acute Coronary Syndrome Care in Emergency Departments (ASCEND): Pilot Study
Mackay, M. H. (Principal Investigator), Humphries, K. H., Ratner, P. A.  Granting agency:  University of British Columbia School of Nursing. 

Exploration of Experiences of Caregivers of Patients with Ventricular Assist Devices
Kaan, A.F. (Principal Investigator), Mackay, M. H., Young, Q. R., & Cockell, S.  Granting agency:  International Society of Heart-Lung Transplantation.

Ethnicity and Cardiac Disease
Mackay, M. H., (Principal Investigator).  Granting agency:   Cardiac Services of BC.

Validation of the Screening Tool for Psychological Distress (STOP-D) in an inpatient cardiac population
Young, Q. R., (Principal Investigator), Roth, S., Nguyen, M., Broadberry, A., & Mackay, M. H.  Granting agency: Providence Health Care Research Challenge.

What is the Incidence of Tobacco Use after Heart Transplantation? Self-Report versus Cotinine
Kaan, A. F., (Principal Investigator), Young, Q. R., & Mackay, M. H.  Granting agency:  International Society of Heart and Lung Transplantation Social Sciences Grant.

Gender Differences in Reported Symptoms of Cardiac Ischemia
Ratner, P. A., & Mackay, M. H. (Principal Investigators), Buller, C., Johnson, J. L., Zumbo, B, & Fox, R.  Granting agency:  BC Medical Services Foundation.

The Efficacy of a Smoking Cessation Intervention for Elective-Surgical Patients
Ratner, P. A., (Principal Investigator), Johnson, J., Bottorff, J., Fofonoff, D., Mackay, M., Kingsbury, K., Miller, C., et al.  Granting agency:  National Cancer Institute of Canada.

Using the World Wide Web to Deliver a Cardiac Rehabilitation Program to Patients at Home
Bates. J. (Principal Investigator), Mackay, M., Johnson, J. L.  Granting agency:  Health Canada (Health Infrastructure Support Program). 

Developing Support to Prevent Smoking Relapse Among Cardiac Patients: A Pilot Study
Bottorff, J. L. (Principal Investigator), Johnson, J. L., Ratner, P. A., Miller, C., Kingsbury, K., Mackay, M., et al.  Granting agency:  BC Medical Services Foundation. 

Evaluation of a Nurse-Delivered Smoking Cessation Intervention for Hospitalized Patients.
Johnson, J. L. (Principal Investigator), Budz, B., Mackay, M. & Bouthillette, F.  Granting agency:  British Columbia Health Research Foundation and British Columbia Medical Services Foundation.

Evaluation of a Cardiac Risk Factor Counselling Intervention Immediately Before Hospital Discharge
Mackay, M. (Principal Investigator), Schwartz, L., Fofonoff, D., Heppell, L., Barr, S., Gin, K., & Ignaszewski, A.  Granting agency:  Merck Frosst Canada.

Blood sampling practices in critical care? How critical are they?
Venis, J. (Principal Investigator), Marles, M.,. O'Reagan, M., & Mackay, M.H..  Granting agency:  Providence Health Care Research Challenge. 

Gender Differences in Treatment Seeking for Acute Coronary Syndromes
Ratner, P. (Principal Investigator), Johnson, J., Mackay, M., Zumbo, B., Kingsbury, K., Buller, C. E. Granting agency:  CIHR

Gender Differences in Reported Symptoms of Cardiac Ischemia
Ratner, P.A., Mackay, M. (Co-Principal Investigators), Buller, C., Johnson, J. L., Zumbo, B., and Fox, R. Granting agency:  BC Medical Services Foundation 

Publications

View on Google Scholar

Selected Publications not Indexed in PubMed

Johnson, J. L., Budz, B., Mackay, M., & Miller, C. E. (1999). Evaluation of a nurse-delivered smoking cessation intervention: Results of six-month follow-up. Heart & Lung, 28, 55-64.

Ratner, P. A., Johnson, J. L., Richardson, C. G., Bottorff, J. L., Moffat, B., Mackay, M., Fofonoff, D., Kingsbury, K., Miller, C., Budz, B. (2004). Efficacy of a smoking cessation intervention for elective surgical patients. Research in Nursing & Health, 27, 148-61.

Ratner, P. A., Tzianetas, R., Tu, A. W., Johnson, J. L., Mackay, M., Buller, C. E., Rowlands, M., & Reime, B. (2006). Acute myocardial infarction symptom recognition by the lay public: The role of gender and ethnicity. Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, 60 (7), 606-615

Chandavimol, M., McClure, S. J., Carere, R. G., Thompson, C. R., Ricci, D. R., Mackay, M. H. & Webb, J. G. (2006). Percutaneous aortic valve implantation: A case report. Canadian Journal of Cardiology, 22 (13):1159-61.

Ratner, P. A., Johnson, J. L., Mackay, M., Tu, A. W., & Hossain, S. (2008). Knowledge of “heart attack” symptoms in a Canadian urban community. Clinical Medicine: Cardiology, 2, 201-213.

Lauck, S., Mackay, M., Galte, C., & Wilson, M. (2008). Percutaneous aortic valve replacement: A new option for the treatment of aortic stenosis. Critical Care Nurse, 28 (3), 40-51.

Mackay, M. (2009). Why nursing has not embraced the clinician-scientist role. Nursing Philosophy, 10, 287–296.

Teaching

Teaching

Dr. Mackay is currently Clinical Nurse Specialist, Cardiology in the Heart Centre at St. Paul’s Hospital. Her focus is on development and implementation of new programs for patients, which entails leading both nursing and interdisciplinary initiatives. Consultation regarding complex individual patients and families is also a part of her work. Her research is in the area of the influence of, and interventions aimed at sociodemographic (e.g. sex/gender, ethnicity) and behavioural (e.g. depression) factors that affect patients with ischemic heart disease.

Dr. Mackay supervises master’s students whose research focuses on cardiovascular and critical care nursing. As well, she supervises master’s students in the clinical component of the advanced practice nursing courses. In 2014 Dr. Mackay was a Visiting Professor at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing (University of Toronto), during which time she taught a 4th year course in Chronic and Persistent Illness (Cardiovascular). She has also periodically enjoyed guest lecturing in the master’s nursing research course and the doctoral seminar at the School of Nursing.

Supervisor Eligibility

MN, MSN - thesis, MSN - non-thesis, PhD

Graduate Supervision

Iacoe, Emma - MSN, 2016
Ethnicity-based differences in treatment seeking for symptoms of acute coronary syndrome