Margaret Ruth McCorkle FAAN, FAPOS (March 4, 1941, in Johnson City, Tennessee – August 17, 2019, in Hamden, Connecticut) was an American nurse, oncology researcher, and educator.
[3] McCorkle was a prolific writer and her published research appears in many professional nursing and medical journals in the United States and abroad.
[5] She realized that advanced practice nurses (APNs) could help cancer patients and their families better coordinate care.
[5][6] In 1973 McCorkle returned to the United States to continue to study the role of advanced practice nurses in cancer patients and their families care.
Her dissertation was a qualitative study designed to describe what happens to patients and their families’ attachments and intended goals during a diagnosis of lung cancer overtime.
[7][8][9] After graduation, she moved to Seattle to work with Jeanne Quint Benoliel, an international nurse leader in death and dying at the University of Washington.
[9] McCorkle's primary research interest was the role of advanced practice nurses in managing the care of the cancer patient and family.
[13][14] McCorkle's premiere study was the “Evaluation of Cancer Management.” From 1983-1986 she designed a Randomized Control Trial (RCT) to test the efficacy of home care interventions provided by APNs in the Seattle community.
The APNs helped to minimize symptom distress and maintain independence longer compared to patients in the OC group.
They tested how the OHC intervention for terminally ill cancer patients affected caregiver distress during the bereavement period.
The APNs in the experimental group were trained with specific guidelines to help cancer patients recover post-operatively to improve quality of life and extend survival.
She resided on the board of directors for the American Psychosocial Oncology Society (APOS) and was a past president of the organization.
In 2009 in Vienna, Austria she received the Bernard Fox Memorial Research Award from the International Psycho-Oncology Society.
In 2014 in Hong Kong she was elected to Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.