This Cochrane Blog post highlights the contributions of Professor Rhoda Redulla, a significant contributor to Cochrane Nursing Care.

Professor Rhoda Redulla has been an active member of the Cochrane Nursing Care Field (CNCF) for several years and has prepared numerous Cochrane Review Summaries that have been published in many highly regarded collaborating journals, including the International Journal of Nursing Studies, the International Journal of Older People Nursing, the Nursing Times, and the International Journal of Evidence Based Healthcare. Professor Rhoda Redulla is the Director of Education, Memorial Hospital of Salem County, New Jersey, USA and an Adjunct Nursing Professor at the Drexel University Pennsylvania.  With almost twenty years of combined professional nursing experience, Rhoda offers a valuable and practiced perspective to the Cochrane Review Summary. 

Rhoda started her career as a Nursing Professor at the University of Northern Philippines and pursued her master’s degree right after completion of her baccalaureate nursing program. This sparked the beginning of her love for research as she worked to learn more about the care of low birth weight babies.  She also continued to pursue her Doctor of Philosophy in Nursing.  Midway through the program, Rhoda’s family moved to the United States of America where she relaunch her nursing career.  Rhoda’s experience working as a clinical nurse at the Gastroenterology and Hepatology Division of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania nurtured her interest in chronic liver disease. When Rhoda pursued her Doctor of Nursing Practice degree, a clinical-focused doctorate at the Johns Hopkins University, her project focused on developing and testing a nurse-driven pathway in hepatitis C management. Her academic program was designed to foster both clinical and scientific inquiry and here she learned to conduct a systematic review. She is also actively involved in her professional nursing organization, Society of Gastroenterology Nurses and Associates (SGNA).  In 2012, the organization launched a scholars’ program and partnered with the Joanna Briggs Institute (JBI- Texas Christian University Collaborating Centre). This was part of SGNA’s strategic plan to train more gastroenterology and endoscopy nurses in evidence-based practice. Rhoda was one of the eight scholars in the inaugural class and obtained certification in JBI Comprehensive Systematic Review. During this time, Rhoda also assumed a new role in her organization as the Magnet Program Director and Director of Nursing Practice, tasked with advancing professional nursing practice through evidence-based practice. She was also the nursing liaison to the Centre of Evidence-Based Practice, University of Pennsylvania Health System. In this role, Rhoda deepened her knowledge in evaluating clinical issues from various areas in the organization, defining scope of key question and outcomes. She values professional advancement and feels grateful to have the opportunity to practice at the highest levels of nursing through leadership and scholarship. She has published in peer-reviewed journals and is an expert reviewer for several professional nursing journals.  

Rhoda’s commitment to advancing the knowledge and skills of nurses in evidence based practice prompted her to become involved with CNCF as an evidence summary writer.  Rhoda writes, “At the patient’s bedside, nurses are constantly confronted with clinical issues and expected to think and act quickly, yet effectively and most efficiently. For example, the use of CHG vs soap and water and the effect to surgical site infection, strategies in educating patients to improve medication adherence, nurse bedside shift report and hospital-acquired complications – these questions arise in daily practice. Empowering nurses to learn how to access the most current and best evidence can lead to measurable improvements in healthcare quality and patient safety.  After conducting that first systematic review several years ago, my mindset on how I view research and evidence was completely transformed. The CNCF plays a vital role in the dissemination of best practice evidence related directly to frontline care, and provides critical information that nursing staff can access and absorb quickly and easily.” 

Thank you for your valuable contributions, Rhoda!

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