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Laura Istanboulian
Assistant Professor
EducationPhD, NP
OfficeDCC-582B, Daphne Cockwell Health Sciences Complex
Phone416-979-5000, ext. 556306
Areas of ExpertisePatient communication and safety; Persistent and chronic critical illness; Patient and family centered care; Complex and chronic conditions.
Dr. Laura Istanboulian completed her PhD at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing at the University of Toronto in 2023. Her research focused on implementation science and the problem of communication vulnerability in adult critical care. The focus of her program of research is communication and safety in acute care. This encompasses communication assessment, treatment, and contextual factors impacting communication support during and post critical care. She is particularly interested in mixed methods and participatory action research including co-design
A Nurse Practitioner since 2012 and Registered Nurse since 2005, Dr. Istanboulian has worked in many care areas including multi-organ transplant, critical care and respirology. She currently is the nurse practitioner director of the Provincial Centre for Excellence in Prolonged and Long-Term Ventilation at Michael Garron Hospital.
Research interests
- Patient communication vulnerability and safety
- Processes of care for patients with persistent and chronic critical illness
- Patient and family centered care post critical illness
- Co-design and mixed methods research
- Simulation-based learning
Journal articles
- Istanboulian, L. (2023). Theoretically Informed Design and Acceptability Evaluation of a Communication Bundle for Adult Intensive Care Unit Patients with an Advanced Airway During Pandemic Conditions (Publication No. 29998166). Doctoral dissertation. University of Toronto (Canada).
- Istanboulian, L., Rose, L., Yunusova, Y., & Dale, C. (2022). Mixed-method acceptability evaluation of a co-designed bundled intervention to support communication for patients with an advanced airway in the intensive care unit during a pandemic (external link) . Nursing in Critical Care. Advance online publication.
- Rose, L., Istanboulian, L., Amaral, A. C. K., Burry, L., Cox, C. E., Cuthbertson, B. H., Iwashyna, T. J., Dale, C. M., & Fraser, I. (2022). Co-designed and consensus-based development of a quality improvement checklist of patient and family-centered actionable processes of care for adults with persistent critical illness (external link) . Journal of Critical Care, 72, 154153.
- Istanboulian, L., Rose, L., Yunusova, Y., & Dale, C. (2022). Barriers to and facilitators for supporting patient communication in the adult ICU during the COVID-19 pandemic: A qualitative study. Journal of Advanced Nursing. 78(8) 2548-2560
- Rose, L., Allum, L. J., Istanboulian, L., & Dale, C. (2022). Actionable processes of care important to patients and family who experienced a prolonged intensive care unit stay: Qualitative interview study (external link) . Journal of Advanced Nursing, 78(4), 1089–1099.
- Rose, L., Dvorani, E. Homenauth. E., Istanboulian, L., Fraser, I. (2022). Mortality, healthcare use, and costs of weaning centre survivors and matched prolonged ICU stay controls: A database study. Respiratory Care. Mar;67(3):291-300.
- Istanboulian, L., Rose, L., Yunusova, Y., & Dale, C. (2021). Protocol for a mixed method acceptability evaluation of a co-designed bundled Communication intervention for use in the adult ICU during the COVID-19 PandEmic: the COPE Study (external link) . BMJ Open. 11(9); e050347.
- Istanboulian, L., Rose, L., Yunusova, Y., Gorospe, F., & Dale, C. (2020). Barriers to and facilitators for use of augmentative and alternative communication and voice restorative devices in the adult intensive care unit: A scoping review. Journal of Critical Care. 57; 168-176
- Istanboulian, L. & Siple, L. (2020). Re: "Recovery after prolonged treatment in the intensive care unit (external link) " [Letter to the editor]. CMAJ. 193 (7) E251;
- Gorospe, F., Istanboulian, L., Puts, M., Wong, D., Lee, E., Dale, C.M. (2020). A scoping review to identify and map the multidimensional domains of pain in adults with advanced liver disease. Canadian Journal of Pain. 4(1): 210-224. epub.
- Dale, C.M., Carbone, S., Istanboulian, L., Fraser, I., Cameron, J.I., Herridge, M.S., Rose, L. (2020). Support needs and health-related quality of life of family caregivers of patients requiring prolonged mechanical ventilation and admission to a specialized weaning centre: A qualitative longitudinal interview study. Intensive and Critical Care Nursing. 58; 102808
- Istanboulian, L. (2020). A patient's final freedom. AJN. 120(1):72.
- Istanboulian, L., Rose, L., Yunusova, Y. et al. (2019). Barriers to and facilitators for use of augmentative and alternative communication and voice restorative devices in the adult intensive care unit: a scoping review protocol. Syst Rev. 8, 311.
- Gorospe, F., Istanboulian, L., Puts, M., Wong, D., Lee, E., & Dale, C. (2019). Identifying and mapping biopsychosocial factors associated with pain in adults with advanced liver disease: protocol for a scoping review. BMJ Open. 9:e033064
- Rose, L. Istanboulian, L., Allum, L., Burry, L., Dale, C., Hart, N., Kydonaki, C., Ramsay, P., Pattison, N., Connolly, B.; PERFORM study investigators. (2018). Patient and family centered actionable processes of care and performance measures for persistent and chronic critical illness: a systematic review. Critical Care Explorations. 1(4): e0005
- Rose, L., Istanboulian, L., Smith, O., Silencieux, S, Cuthbertson, B.H., Amaral, A., Fraser, I., Grey, J., & Dale, C. (2018). Feasibility of the electrolarynx for enabling communication in the chronically critically ill. The EECCHO study. Journal of Critical Care. 47:109
- Rose, L., Istanboulian, L., Carriere, L., Thomas, A. Lee, H-B., Rezaie, S., Shafai, R., Fraser, I. (2018). Program of Integrated Care for Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and Multiple Comorbidities (PIC COPD+): A Randomized Controlled Trial. European Respiratory Journal. 51(1):1701567
- Rose, L., Istanboulian, L., Allum, L., Burry, L., Dale, C., Hart, N., Kydonaki, C., Ramsay, P., Pattison, N., Connolly, B.; PERFORM study investigators. (2017). Patient- and family-centered performance measures focused on actionable processes of care for persistent and chronic critical illness: Protocol for a systematic review