YEREVAN, Armenia — The American University of Armenia (AUA) Gerald and Patricia Turpanjian College of Health Sciences is pleased to announce that Maria Aleksandrova (BSN ’25), one of the first graduates of the Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) program at AUA, published the first-ever peer-reviewed article written by a nurse working in Armenia.
Her paper, entitled “It’s My Life: An Ethical Analysis of Parent-Adolescent Decision-Making Conflict Over Cancer Treatment,” explores an ethical dilemma involving a 14-year-old boy who refuses treatment when diagnosed with relapsed neuroblastoma, a type of pediatric cancer that arises in the nervous system of young children. The article raises important questions about adolescent autonomy, parental authority, and the role of the healthcare team in pediatric cancer care.
The idea of writing this article first emerged during an ethics course taught by Dr. Pamela Grace, mentor and senior author, when Aleksandrova took the course as part of her BSN curriculum at AUA. “During our sessions, Dr. Grace often invited us to bring real-life cases for discussion, and I shared this example about the ethical challenges of minors, which became the spark for this paper,” she recalled. With Dr. Grace’s guidance, Aleksandrova developed the analysis into a scholarly article — an achievement she describes as both a professional milestone and a transformative learning experience. Maria also gained valuable experience in collaborative scholarship when Dr. Grace connected her with two established researchers, Dr. Melissa Uveges and Dr. Jennifer Cahill. Dr. Uveges contributed expertise on the ethics of family decision-making, while Dr. Cahill enriched the work with her knowledge of childhood cancers.
The paper applies the four-topic method (medical indications, patient preferences, quality of life, and contextual features), a widely recognized method to examine ethical dilemmas. It emphasizes the unique contributions nurses can make, including validating adolescent concerns, bridging communication between families and clinicians, supporting shared decision-making, and advocating for both palliative care and psychosocial support.
The key takeaways from Aleksandrova’s work include the importance of structured ethical frameworks, trust-building, and shared decision-making in navigating treatment refusals by adolescents. Her publication not only advances nursing scholarship in Armenia but also highlights the critical role of nurses in addressing ethical dilemmas in patient care.
Having a local nurse serve as the first author of a peer-reviewed publication is unprecedented in Armenia, underscoring both the transformative impact of the BSN program in empowering nurses and its pivotal role in advancing the nursing profession.
The AUA Turpanjian College of Health Sciences works actively to improve population health and health services in Armenia and the region through interdisciplinary education and development of health professionals to be leaders in public health, nursing, health services research and evaluation, and health care delivery and management.