How a SickKids nurse researcher is easing NICU transitions

This story is part of PROPEL, a series exploring the life and research of postdoctoral fellows at SickKids.  

While in line for coffee, Dr. Angie Lim ran into one of the first patients she ever cared for at The Hospital for Sick Children (SickKids). Lim had met them when they were first admitted to the transplant unit as an infant and continued to support the family through various admissions over the years. Now, almost 18 years later, the patient was beginning their transition into adult care. 

Unbeknownst to them, Lim, a Clinical Nurse Specialist and postdoctoral fellow in the Child Health Evaluative Sciences (CHES) program, was working to address another kind of transition experience. Their story was a powerful reminder that care transitions aren’t just clinical handoffs; they are deeply relational and emotional journeys.  

As part of her work in CHES, one of the seven research programs at SickKids Research Institute, Lim bridges clinical care and research to improve one of the most pivotal and stressful moments for patient and families: care transitions. Lim is particularly focused on identifying the structures and supports that can best support families as they transition out of the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). 

“Just being at a hospital is stressful for families, but when care changes it can be a complex and challenging experience,” Lim says. “I want to help make those transitions easier, and it’s the full-circle moments like that coffee shop run-in that keep me feeling so connected to the community at SickKids.” 

Using research to support families leaving the NICU  

Lim began working at SickKids 20 years ago as a nurse in the transplant unit. While working there, she decided to pursue a PhD in nursing from the University of Victoria, focusing her research on transitional care. 

“As a nurse, I can support individual families. But with research, I’m able to take a step back and think at a system-wide level,” says Lim. “This broader scope helps me work on policies that could have wide-ranging impacts for many families.”  

At its core, she says, clinical research is a cycle of learning from patients and families in hopes of applying those insights to improve care for others. 

Today, Lim is collaborating with Dr. Julia Orkin, Staff Physician, Associate Chief Medical Officer, Medical Director of the Complex Care program and Associate-Scientist Track Investigator in the CHES program, on a project called ‘Assessing and developing an adapted navigator role to support parents during neonatal transition’ (ADAPT).  

The ADAPT project team designed a randomized clinical trial which followed two groups of families: one receiving the current standard of care with regular follow-ups, and another group paired with a nurse navigator for more frequent, extended check-ins. 

The trial, known as the Coached coordinated enhanced neonatal transition study (CCENT), was led out of SickKids and part of the CHILD-BRIGHT Network, a pan-Canadian patient-oriented research network focused on bringing novel, evidence-based interventions to health care, policy and community settings. 

Now, Lim is helping to analyze data from the trial and leading its second phase, with the goal of using the findings to inform a blueprint for future care. Drawing on her postdoctoral fellowship experience, she hopes to help shape how hospitals invest in resources for families leaving the NICU, using nursing-led research to make the case for more meaningful and evidence-based improvements during this pivotal time. 

“I can’t imagine not being at SickKids — it’s such a huge part of my identity. I will always be a SickKids nurse.”