Ruth Remington, Nursing
Ruth Remington, Nursing
Associate Professor
Research Interest
Among her research interests are several areas of geriatric care including the physiological basis for dementia, problem behaviors common to late-life dementia, the effects of calming music on agitation in nursing home residents and dehydration in older adults.Educational Background
Ruth Remington, Ph.D., APRN BC, received a B.S. in Nursing from Rutgers University, an M.S. in Nursing from UMass Worcester, and a Ph.D. in Nursing from UMass Amherst and Worcester.
Biosketch
Dr. Remington is Associate Professor in the Department of Nursing, teaching in both the graduate and undergraduate programs. She participated in the development of a Palliative and End of Life Nursing Care certificate program, and partners with community organizations in the presentation of its content. Her teaching on palliative care draws on her clinical experience and education through the End of Life Nursing Education Consortium and Saint Christopher’s Hospice in London. She has recently been appointed as the coordinator of the Graduate Certificate programs and she serves as Chair of the taskforce for the development of a Clinical Nurse Leader program. In 2006, she received the Department of Nursing Teaching Excellence Award, and in 2009, was named University Outstanding Faculty Member of the year, nominated by the Gerontological Nurse Practitioner students.
Dr. Remington’s scholarship addresses clinical issues in gerontological nursing with three areas of focus: cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s disease; nutrition and hydration issues experienced by older adults and; palliative care. Recent research has addressed topics such as the effect of nutritional supplementation on cognitive performance in collaboration with Thomas Shea in the Department of Biology, palliative care and serious mental illness and non-pharmacological interventions to manage agitation. She has contributed to the literature in each of these areas. Her work has appeared in prestigious journals including Nursing Research, Journal of the American Geriatrics Society and American Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease & Other Dementias and she is a manuscript reviewer for five peer reviewed journals. Additionally, she has authored book chapters on several topics, including dementia and agitation in Geropsychiatric and Mental Health Nursing and Dementia. Other research related activities include serving as graduate research project advisor for masters students, membership on the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association Research Committee and the Lowell General Hospital Research Council.
In addition to her teaching and research, Dr. Remington has extensive clinical practice as a gerontological nurse practitioner in the long-term care and rehabilitation setting, which enriches her professionally and informs her classroom teaching.