Cristina Alfaro Díaz (ENF'15 and MPAGE'16) is doing the doctorate in Nursing Science in the School of Nursing of the University of Navarra, under the direction of Dr. Ana Canga-Armayor and Dr. Nuria Esandi. Her research is part of the research line of Promotion of a Sustainable Family Caregiver. With the goal to further deepen her work, the doctoral student has had the opportunity to make a pre-doctoral stay at the University of Iceland, for which she has had the financial aid of mobility of the University of Navarra, with the partnership of the Obra Social "la Caixa" and Fundación Bancaria Caja Navarra to obtain accredited specialization "Doctor Internacional".

- Could you briefly explain the topic of your thesis ?
My thesis is framed within the line of research Promotion of a Sustainable Family Caregiving, and more specifically in the project "Implementation of family nursing in the clinical internship at hospital level" carried out by the School of Nursing of the University of Navarra, together with the Cínica Universidad de Navarra.

My thesis consists of making a diagnosis of the attitudes and beliefs of nursing professionals to include the family in their clinical internship , as well as the barriers and facilitators present in the context of the institution to work with families. Subsequently, the results will be used for the design and implementation of a program of training for train to nursing professionals for the work with the family. 

- Why did you decide to do your doctoral stay at the University of Iceland?
Currently, the training and internship in family nursing is spreading in Great Britain and Nordic countries such as Finland, Norway, Iceland or Sweden. In the case of Iceland, a project implementation of Family Nursing was carried out at Landspitali University Hospital. Very promising results were obtained that place them as a reference in this field.

In this sense, the possibility of working together with a team with extensive experience in this field placed Iceland as a reference when contributing to the development and quality of my doctoral thesis .

- What has the realization of this doctoral stay brought you?
The realization of this doctoral thesis has had a positive impact in two ways. On the one hand, I have been able to get to know closely a project of implementation of Family Nursing. This has allowed me to know how this approach is being developed in the internship and how the training is provided to nurses.

On the other hand, I have received advice for a forthcoming publication and have attended seminars for doctoral students, learning about the different research being developed at School nursing at the University of Iceland and creating synergies with the students of doctorate who are doing their thesis at area Family Nursing.