Betty Davies, RN, PhD, FAAN, is Professor Emerita in the Department of Family Health Care School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco, as well as Professor and Senior Scholar at the University of Victoria, Canada. She is an international expert in the areas of dying, death, and bereavement; her areas of expertise include the care of patients and families with life-threatening illness and child and family bereavement. She was a co-founder of North America's first freestanding hospice for children that opened in 1995, located in Vancouver, BC, Canada.
The overall focus of her research is the care of families with life-threatening illness, including cancer, and bereavement in families, particularly siblings, following a child's death. Her research projects include Latino and Chinese families in pediatric palliative care, Fathers in pediatric palliative care, Determining and documenting trajectories for families where a child has a life-threatening condition, and Stress and Growth over time: Caregiving and bereaved parents of children with life-limiting illness. Her interest in sibling bereavement continues as a consultant on the project about Sibling and Parent Bereavement from childhood cancer.
Dr. Davies' research has been supported by an impressive record of extramural funding and is reported in numerous scientific and popular publications. In addition to the scientific articles, Dr. Davies has published two award winning texts providing guidance to clinicians and families on the experiences of families caring for an adult terminally ill member (Fading Away: The experience of transition in families facing terminal illness, Amityville, NY: Baywood, 1995) and the experiences of children who face the death of a brother or sister (Shadows in the Sun: Experiences of sibling bereavement in childhood. Philadelphia, PA: Brunner/Mazel, 1999). She also has published a booklet that focuses on bereavement support for parents entitled, Finding Your Way: Grieving the Death of Your Child.
She is past-president of the International Work Group on Death, Dying and Bereavement and serves on the editorial board of several significant journals. She is a recipient of the Canadian Nurses Association Centennial Award and the Hospice and Palliative Nurses Association 2008 Distinguished Career Achievement Award. Dr. Davies is a distinguished scholar, clinician, author, and leader with a distinguished record of sustained contributions.