Maria Björk

Senior Lecturer
Head of Discipline Health and Care Sciences
Department of Nursing , School of Health and Welfare
Associate Professor

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Ga635
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+46 73-910 16 26
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Research groups

Boards, committees etc.

Maria Björk is a registred nurse and a pediatric nurse. She has worked at a children’s hospital for 15 years, primarily at the pediatric oncology unit. She has worked at Jönköping University since 2015, mainly within the pediatric nursing education.

Maria defended her doctoral thesis in 2008 at Lund University. The title of her thesis is “Living with childhood cancer - Family members’ Experiences and Needs”. She became an associate professor at Jönköping University in 2016.

Maria’s research focuses families and children in need of special care. The primarily focus is pediatric oncology nursing. She has longitudinally studied the entire family where one child within the family is diagnosed with cancer, health in young children diagnosed with cancer, palliative care, personcentered care within the pediatric oncology nursing and also problems and support in everyday life for children with brain tumors using the ICF-CY. She has also focused children with Down syndrome, their general and oral health.

Another research focus is health in families where one parent has deafblindness. Research within this field is sparse. Studies have been conducted focusing the parent with deafblindness, the partner, the child and the entire family.

Due to many Swedish patients and relatives complain about not feeling seen or heard when meeting health care staff an intervention course within the undergraduate nursing program was developed. So was also a coding schema based on Swanson’s theory of caring. The coding schema will be used analyzing video recordings where the nursing students caring behaviors will be coded when meeting a standardized patient at the simulation lab.

Björk is a member of the CHILD research group, an interdisciplinary group at Jönköping University. She is also a member of the Swedish Institute for Disability Research (SIDR), a collaboration between Jönköping University, Örebro University and Linköping University. Since 2018 she is responsible for the academic exchange and cooperation between School of Nursing (SON) at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, USA. Björk collaborates nationally with researchers within Sweden but also internationally with researcher from Rigshospitalet in Denmark, University of Porto in Portugal and the University of North Carolina (UNC) at Chapel Hill, USA.

She has received research grants from the Swedish childhood cancer foundation, both as a post doc but also to research projects.

Article

Mårtensson, S., Knutsson, S., Hodges, E., Sherwood, G., Broström, A., Björk, M. (2023). Undergraduate nursing students' experiences of practicing caring behaviours with standardised patients Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 37(1), 271-281. More information
Mårtensson, S., Knutsson, S., Hodges, E., Sherwood, G., Broström, A., Björk, M. (2023). Development of caring behaviour in undergraduate nursing students participating in a caring behaviour course Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences. More information
Nogéus, M., Nilsson, S., Björk, M. (2023). Pediatric Nurses’ Person-Centered Approach to Nausea Management in Children With Cancer Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing, 40(2), 91-99. More information
Ringnér, A., Björk, M., Olsson, C. (2023). What Was on the Parents’ Minds?: Changes Over Time in Topics of Person-Centred Information for Mothers and Fathers of Children with Cancer Comprehensive Child and Adolescent Nursing, 46(2), 114-125. More information
Odzakovic, E., Huus, K., Ahlberg, B., Bradby, H., Hamed, S., Thaper-Björkert, S., Björk, M. (2023). Discussing racism in healthcare: A qualitative study of reflections by graduate nursing students Nursing Open, 10(6), 3677-3686. More information
Silivri, M., Wirf, T., Hodges, E., Fredholm, Y., Björk, M. (2023). Conversations About Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights-From a School Nurse Perspective Journal of School Nursing, 39(5), 406-414. More information
Björklund, A., Darcy, L., Santacroce, S., Granlund, M., Björk, M. (2023). Individual patterns of problems with participation, activity, body function and environment in everyday life for children who completed brain tumor treatment Disability and Rehabilitation, 45(23), 3841-3851. More information
Stenmarker, M., Björk, M., Golsäter, M., Enskär, K. (2023). Everyday life during the childhood cancer trajectory—childhood cancer survivors’ descriptions of the role of caring support Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 4. More information
Björk, M. Knutsson, S. Odzakovic, E. Hellström, A. Sandlund, C. Ulander, M. , ... Broström A. (2023). Validation of two brief instruments (the SURE and CollaboRATE) to measure shared decision-making in patients with restless legs syndrome Journal of Sleep Research. More information
Hansson, H., Björk, M., Santacroce, S., Raunkiaer, M. (2023). End-of-life palliative home care for children with cancer: A qualitative study on parents' experiences Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 37(4), 917-926. More information
Castor, C. Björk, M. Bai, J. Berlin, H. Kristjansdottir, G. Kristjansdottir, O. , ... Nilsson S. (2023). Psychometric evaluation of the electronic faces thermometer scale for pain assessment in children 8–17 years old: A study protocol Paediatric and Neonatal Pain, 5(4), 99-109. More information
Ringnér, A., Björk, M., Olsson, C. (2023). Effects of Person-Centered Information for Parents of Children With Cancer (the PIFBO Study): A Randomized Controlled Trial Journal of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology Nursing, 40(6), 400-410. More information
Björk, M., Wahlqvist, M., Huus, K., Anderzén-Carlsson, A. (2022). The consequences of deafblindness rules the family: Parents’ lived experiences of family life when the other parent has deafblindness The British Journal of Visual Impairment, 40(1), 18-28. More information
Huus, K., Sundqvist, A., Anderzén-Carlsson, A., Wahlqvist, M., Björk, M. (2022). Living an ordinary life - yet not: the everyday life of children and adolescents living with a parent with deafblindness International Journal of Qualitative Studies on Health and Well-being, 17(1). More information
Stensson, M., Norderyd, J., Van Riper, M., Marks, L., Björk, M. (2022). Dental health care for children with Down syndrome: Parents' description of their children's needs in dental health care settings. European Journal of Oral Sciences, 130(3). More information
Mårtensson, S., Knutsson, S., Hodges, E., Sherwood, G., Broström, A., Björk, M. (2022). Undergraduate Nursing Students' Experiences of Learning Caring Using a Variety of Learning Didactics International journal for human caring, 26(3), 145-158. More information
Ringnér, A., Olsson, C., Eriksson, E., From, I., Björk, M. (2021). A moment just for me – parents’ experiences of an intervention for person-centred information in paediatric oncology European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 51. More information
Stensson, M., Norderyd, J., Van Riper, M., Marks, L., Björk, M. (2021). Parents' perceptions of oral health, general health and dental health care for children with Down syndrome in Sweden Acta Odontologica Scandinavica, 79(4), 248-255. More information
Mårtensson, S., Hodges, E., Knutsson, S., Hjelm, C., Broström, A., Swanson, K., Björk, M. (2021). Caring Behavior Coding Scheme based on Swanson’s Theory of Caring – development and testing among undergraduate nursing students Scandinavian Journal of Caring Sciences, 35(4), 1123-1133. More information
Björklund, A., Granlund, M., Santacroce, S., Enskär, K., Carlstein, S., Björk, M. (2021). Using ICF to Describe Problems With Functioning in Everyday Life for Children Who Completed Treatment for Brain Tumor: An Analysis Based on Professionals’ Documentation Frontiers in Rehabilitation Sciences, 2. More information
Enskär, K., Darcy, L., Björk, M., Knutsson, S., Huus, K. (2020). Experiences of young children with cancer and their parents with nurses' caring practices during the cancer trajectory Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 37(1), 21-34. More information
Darcy, L., Granlund, M., Enskär, K., Björk, M. (2020). The development of the Clinical Assessment Tool "Health and Everyday Functioning in Young Children with Cancer" Child Care Health and Development, 46(4), 445-456. More information
Lin, C., Imani, V., Broström, A., Huus, K., Björk, M., Hodges, E., Pakpour, A. (2020). Psychological distress and quality of life in Iranian adolescents with overweight/obesity: mediating roles of weight bias internalization and insomnia Eating and Weight Disorders, 25, 1583-1592. More information
Stenmarker, M., Enskär, K., Björk, M., Pinkava, M., Rolander, B., Golsäter, M. (2020). Childhood cancer survivors: Self-reported quality of life during and after the cancer trajectory Asia-Pacific Journal of Oncology Nursing, 7(4), 336-345. More information
Wahlqvist, M., Björk, M., Anderzén-Carlsson, A., Huus, K. (2020). Health-Related Quality of Life, Family Climate and Sense of Coherence of Families in Which a Parent Has Deafblindness Frontiers in Education, 5. More information
Darcy, L., Enskär, K., Björk, M. (2019). Young children's experiences of living an everyday life with cancer – A three year interview study European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 39, 1-9. More information
Miri, S., Javadi, M., Lin, C., Griffiths, M., Björk, M., Pakpour, A. (2019). Effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral therapy on nutrition improvement and weight of overweight and obese adolescents: A randomized controlled trial Diabetes & Metabolic syndrome: clinical Research & Reviews, 13(3), 2190-2197. More information
Björklund, A., Granlund, M., Santacroce, S., Enskär, K., Björk, M. (2019). The Documentation of Everyday Functioning in Children with Brain Tumors in Medical Care, Habilitation Services and School - is There a Coherent Description? Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 66(4, SI), S437. More information
Møller Christensen, B., Björk, M., Almqvist, L., Huus, K. (2019). Patterns of support to adolescents related to disability, family situation, harassment, and economy Child Care Health and Development, 45(5), 644-653. More information
Olsson, C., Björk, M., Ringnér, A. (2018). The Pediatric Inventory for Parents - Swedish Translation and Psychometric Testing. Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and Families, 42, E97-E102. More information
Darcy, L., Björk, M., Knutsson, S., Granlund, M., Enskär, K. (2016). Following young children's health and functioning in everyday life through their cancer trajectory Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 33(3), 173-189. More information
Björk, M., Sundler, A., Hallström, I., Hammarlund, K. (2016). Like being covered in a wet and dark blanket – Parents' lived experiences of losing a child to cancer European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 25, 40-45. More information
Darcy, L., Enskär, K., Granlund, M., Simeonsson, R., Petersson, C., Björk, M. (2015). Health and functioning in the everyday lives of young children with cancer: documenting with the International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health - Children and Youth (ICF-CY). Child Care Health and Development, 41(3), 475-482. More information
Ringnér, A., Björk, M., Olsson, C., Graneheim, U. (2015). Person-centred information to parents in paediatric oncology (the PIFBO study): A study protocol of an ongoing RCT BMC Nursing, 14(1). More information
Enskär, K., Huus, K., Björk, M., Granlund, M., Darcy, L., Knutsson, S. (2015). An analytic review of clinical implications from nursing and psychosocial research within Swedish pediatric oncology. More information
Larsson, M., Sundler, A., Ekebergh, M., Björk, M. (2015). Altering the Parenting Role: Parents’ Experience of Supporting the Health and Well-Being of Their Adolescent Girls Child and Youth Care Forum, 44(3), 419-432. More information
Enskär, K., Björk, M., Knutsson, S., Granlund, M., Darcy, L., Huus, K. (2015). A Swedish perspective on nursing and psychosocial research in paediatric oncology: A literature review. More information
Sundler, A., Björk, M., Bisholt, B., Ohlsson, U., Engström, A., Gustafsson, M. (2014). Student nurses' experiences of the clinical learning environment in relation to the organization of supervision: a questionnaire survey Nurse Education Today, 34(4), 661-666. More information
Darcy, L., Björk, M., Enskär, K., Knutsson, S. (2014). The process of striving for an ordinary, everyday life, in young children living with cancer, at six months and one year post diagnosis European Journal of Oncology Nursing, 18(6), 605-612. More information
Larsson, M., Björk, M., Ekebergh, M., Sundler, A. (2014). Striving to make a positive difference: school nurses’ experiences of promoting the health and well-being of adolescent girls Journal of School Nursing, 13(5), 358-365. More information
Enskär, K., Knutsson, S., Huus, K., Granlund, M., Darcy, L., Björk, M. (2014). A literature review of the results from nursing and psychosocial research within Swedish pediatric oncology. More information
Henoch, I. Browall, M. Melin-Johansson, C. Danielson, E. Udo, C. Johansson Sundler, A. , ... Strang S. (2014). The Swedish version of the Frommelt attitude toward care of the dying scale: Aspects of validity and factors influencing nurses' and nursing students' attitudes Cancer Nursing, 37(1), E1-E11. More information
Sundler, A., Hallström, I., Hammarlund, K., Björk, M. (2013). Living an everyday life through a child’s cancer trajectory: Families' lived experiences 7 years after diagnosis Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 30(6), 293-300. More information
Ringnér, A., Öster, I., Björk, M., Graneheim, U. (2013). Talking via the child: Discursively Created Interaction Between Parents and Health Care Professionals at a Pediatric Oncology Ward Journal of Family Nursing, 19(1), 29-52. More information
Bergh, I., Björk, M. (2012). Sense of coherence over time for parents with a child diagnosed with cancer BMC Pediatrics, 12. More information
Björk, M., Thelin, A., Peterson, I., Hammarlund, K. (2012). A journey filled with emotions - mothers' experiences of breastfeeding their preterm infant in a Swedish neonatal ward Breastfeeding Review, 20(1), 25-31. More information
Björk, M., Nordström, B., Wiebe, T., Hallström, I. (2011). Returning to a changed ordinary life - families' lived experience after completing a child's cancer treatment European Journal of Cancer Care, 20(2), 163-169. More information
Björk, M., Wiebe, T., Hallström, I. (2009). An Everyday Struggle - Swedish Families' Lived Experiences During a Child's Cancer Treatment Journal of Pediatric Nursing: Nursing Care of Children and Families, 24(5), 423-432. More information
Björk, M., Nordström, B., Hallström, I. (2006). Needs of young children with cancer during their initial hospitalization: An observational study Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 23(4), 210-219. More information
Björk, M., Wiebe, T., Hallström, I. (2005). Striving to survive: Families' lived experiences when a child is diagnosed with cancer Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, 22(5), 265-275. More information

Book chapter

Darcy, L., Björk, M., Granlund, M., Enskär, K. (2017). ICF applications in health care for children with cancer in Sweden. In: S. Castro & O. Palikara (Ed.), An emerging approach for education and care: Implementing a worldwide classification of functioning and disability (pp. 178 -186). London: Routledge More information
Björk, M., Jenholt Nolbris, M., Hedman Ahlström, B. (2012). Att vara barn och möta sjukdom. In: Benzein Eva, Hagberg Margaretha, Saveman, Britt-Inger (Ed.), Att möta familjer inom vård och omsorg (pp. 191 -206). Lund: Studentlitteratur AB More information
Björk, M. (2009). Barn med tumörsjukdom. In: Inger Hallström & Tor Lindberg (Ed.), Pediatrisk omvårdnad (pp. 233 -238). Stockholm: Liber More information

Conference paper

Stensson, M., Norderyd, J., Van Riper, M., Marks, L., Björk, M. (2023). Dental health care for children with Down syndrome – parents’ description of their children’s needs in dental health care settings. The 26th conference of the International Association for Disability and Oral Health (iADH 2022), Paris, France, 23-26 August 2022. More information
Björklund, A., Granlund, M., Santacroce, S., Enskär, K., Björk, M. (2019). The documentation of everyday functioning in children with brain tumors in medical care, habilitation services and school – is there a coherent description?. The 51th Congress of the “Société Internationale d’Oncologie Pédiatrique” (SIOP), October 23-26, 2019, Lyon, France. More information
Anderzén Carlsson, A., Wahlqvist, M., Huus, K., Björk, M. (2019). The lived experience of family life when one parent has deafblindness - from the perspective of the partner. Nordic Network on Disability Research (NNDR), 15th interdisciplinary conference in disability research, "Inclusion and Exclusion in the Welfare Society", May 8-10, 2019, Copenhagen, Denmark. More information
Anderzén Carlsson, A., Wahlqvist, M., Huus, K., Björk, M. (2019). The experience of family life when one parent has deafblindness - From the perspective of the partner. 17th Deafblind International World Conference, "Sharing the Knowledge to ACT: Accessibility. Communication. Technology", August 12-16, 2019, Gold Coast Australia. More information
Anderzén Carlsson, A., Wahlqvist, M., Björk, M., Huus, K. (2019). Health and family climate in families where one parent has deafblindness. 17th Deafblind International World Conference, "Sharing the Knowledge to ACT: Accessibility. Communication. Technology", August 12-16, 2019, Gold Coast Australia. More information

Other publications

Mårtensson, S., Knutsson, S., Hodges, E., Sherwood, G., Broström, A., Björk, M. . Assessing the impact of a caring behavior course on undergraduate nursing students’ caring behavior. More information