PhD Position in an SNSF Project to Research the Phenomenon of "Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking" in Nursing Homes 100%

About the job

PhD position in an SNSF project to research the phenomenon of «Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking» in nursing homes 100%

Take the opportunity to pursue a PhD within the framework of an SNSF project! In our project, you will work with experts from research and practice and investigate the situation of "Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking" in nursing centers in Switzerland. Based on the results, you will develop, together with the experts, a recommendation for action for dealing with voluntary food and fluid refusal in nursing homes.

Department: Health

Start date: Immediately or by arrangement.
Fixed term: 4 years

You will work as a doctoral candidate in the SNSF project «Voluntary Stopping of Eating and Drinking (VSED) at the End-of-Life in Swiss Nursing Homes and Inpatient Palliative Care Institutions: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed-Methods Study to Develop a Patient-Centered Ethical Best Practice Recommendation». The project aims to research the situation and experiences in nursing centers in Switzerland in order to develop a patient-centered ethical best practice guideline that supports nursing homes in responding to the phenomenon in a differentiated manner.

In the three empirical sub-studies of the research project, you will take on varied and responsible tasks that will enable you to specifically further develop your substantive and methodological research skills:

• Responsible collaboration in the planning and implementation of the sub-studies: scoping review, development, testing and implementation of a national survey, conducting qualitative interviews and their coordination as well as management and control of a consensus process using the Delphi technique.
• Analysis of research data and synthesis of results in the study designed as a Sequential Explanatory Mixed Methods Study including data integration.
• Cooperative collaboration within the project team, with external partners and the sounding board.
• Dissemination of project results in scientific and professional journals as well as at (inter)national conferences.
• Support of project management, e.g. in coordinating collaboration with project partners, project documentation and reporting.
• Independent planning and implementation of your PhD, e.g. within the joint doctoral program "Care and Rehabilitation Sciences" of ZHAW & UZH.

The remuneration for the PhD position is according to the guidelines of the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

• Successfully completed master's degree (MSc) in nursing science, another health profession or the social and humanities sciences.
• High research interest as well as initial practical experience in the application of quantitative and/or qualitative research methods.
• Excellent skills in scientific work and writing as well as conceptual thinking.
• Very good language skills in German and English, both spoken and written (French or Italian recommended).
• Strong ability to work both independently and in a team as well as high initiative and motivation.
• Ideally experience in person-centered care of people in long-term care.

The ZHAW Zurich University of Applied Sciences, with over 14,000 students and over 11,000 continuing education participants as well as around 3,700 employees, is one of the largest multi-disciplinary universities of applied sciences in Switzerland.

ZHAW is committed to mixed-gender and diverse teams to promote equality, diversity, and innovation.

The ZHAW Department of Health is one of the largest and most renowned centers in the German-speaking region for education and training in health professions. Over 2,000 students and 300 employees benefit from unique education and training opportunities, teaching, and research tasks in the heart of Winterthur.

The position is located in the Research & Development area at the Institute of Nursing. You can expect an innovative working environment, a committed & interprofessional team, and good development prospects.

We offer university-appropriate working and employment conditions and actively promote the personnel development of our employees and managers. A detailed description of the benefits can be found on the "Working at ZHAW" website. Here are the main points:

Prof. Dr. André Fringer

Project Management

Jocelyn Schaad

Recruiting Manager