Her research is focused primarily on nursing workers in long-term care facilities, including ways to improve their work experiences, training, and teamwork. She has researched the ways in which nursing home organizational structure can be enhanced to increase teamwork among direct-care workers, the reasons for declining availability of nursing home–based preemployment training for nursing assistants, cultural competence among nursing home staff, and nursing home culture change. Tyler received her PhD from the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University.