Deakin Centre for Patient Quality and Safety Research

• Deakin Distinguished Professor Alison Hutchinson: Co-Director and Chair in Nursing, Barwon Health
• Deakin Distinguished Professor Tracey Bucknall: Co-Director and Chair in Nursing, Bayside Health

Chairs in Nursing and Midwifery

• Professor Cate Nagle: Chair in Midwifery, Barwon Health
• Associate Professor Louise Alexander, Chair in Mental Health Nursing, Bayside Health
• Deakin Distinguished Professor Julie Considine AO: Chair in Nursing, Eastern Health
• Professor Ana Hutchinson: Chair in Nursing, Epworth HealthCare
• Deakin Distinguished Professor Andrea Driscoll: Chair in Nursing, Monash Health
• Professor Rochelle Wynne: Chair in Nursing, Western Health
• Professor Linda Sweet: Chair in Midwifery, Western Health

Professors

Associate Professors

Senior Lecturers

Lecturers

Postdoctoral Research Fellows

Senior Research Fellows

Research Fellows

Research Assistants

Associate Members

• Beyene Meressa Adhena Preconception folic acid supplementation model development for reproductive age women.
• Tarryn Armour Nurse preparedness for postgraduate study in perioperative nursing.
• Jennifer Barr Empowerment and shared decision making in patient experience in health care when living with multimorbidities.
• Norma Barrett Parent Voices: Birth Trauma and Healthcare Complaints.
• Pataporn Bawornthip Improving health literacy and reducing the risk of hypertension in Chiang Mai province, Thailand: A mixed method study.
• Amy Carroll Feedback on Road: An Explanatory Sequential Mixed Methods Study of Paramedicine Students? Experiences of Feedback on Road.
• Suzie Clayden Nurse Practitioner models of care for management of chronic disease in rural health care settings.
• Deana Copley Communication processes when commencing a new medication in patients with a chronic illness.
• Tendayi Bruce Dziruni Recognition and response to behaviours of concern in medical wards at The Alfred Hospital.
• Anie Edward Strategies for Healthcare Infection Elimination and Auxiliary Services Development (SHIELD): A Mixed-Methods Investigation.
• Alicia Ferguson Strengthening the Maintenance of Clinical Competence Among Midwifery Educators: Co-designing a model for Midwifery Educators in India.
• Simone Fitzgerald How artificial intelligence could be used to support decision-making in the ICU.
• Glenna Mae Guiriba Optimising transitions in care for older adults with acute coronary syndrome and multimorbidity.
• Monina Hernandez Impact of UTI and ARI bundle on the infection rate, health workers’ knowledge and practices, and older adults’ quality of care.
• Nicky Hewitt Nurse and midwife managers’ transformational leadership.
• Mahadi Iddrisu Perspective of nurse anaesthetists as second victims during care of a patient in a low-resource teaching hospital.
• Hira Aslam Evaluating the effectiveness of decentralised DR-TB care models integrated with short-term treatment regimens in Pakistan.
• Hannah Jongebloed Increasing consumer knowledge of the benefits and risks of lung cancer screening.
• Mataya Kilpatrick Antimicrobial stewardship activities in an acute paediatric setting.
• Elyse Ladbrook Impact of acute intercurrent illness on patients admitted to subacute care.
• Lysha Lee An exploration of intergenerational programs in residential aged care facilities in Australia.
• Pippa Lin Patient perceived autonomy in the management of insulin dependent diabetes mellitus in the hospital setting.
• Michele McGrath The intersection between nursing students’ clinical assessment and workforce readiness.
• Karen McKenna Evaluation of the organisational response to COVID-19 pandemic. An organisational case study.
• Dr Atefeh Mehrabifar Examination of medication errors in the perioperative setting.
• Birye Dessalegn Mekonnen Effect of pregnancy intention on completing the continuum of care for maternal, neonatal, and infant health in Ethiopia.
• Dr Luis Meave Mendoza Identifying adverse events using the Global Trigger Tool method in central-north Mexico.
• Samira Mokhlesi Breastfeeding experience of mothers who have undergone bariatric surgery: A qualitative study.
• Israel Bekele Molla Improving Diabetic social support through chronic care model in Ethiopia: Cluster randomized controlled trials.
• Nicola Murfet Understanding the Experiences of Women Living with Type 2 Diabetes During Breast Cancer Treatment to Enhance Diabetes Care.
• Suzie Noye Improving patient outcomes through further exploration of deteriorating patient education for acute nurses
• Britt O’Keefe The cost of doing nothing. Building resilience in Australia’s personal care workforce employed within a residential aged care setting.
• Amanda Pereira-Salgado Quantifying the clinical and economic implications of acute heart failure.
• Meg Pollock How to fix a broken heart: A guide for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation patients.
• Kathren Puyk Improving Pressure Injury Management – bridging the gap between research evidence and practice.
• Helena Rodi Establishing a framework to assess adherence to oncology guidelines and the Optimal Care Pathways.
• Andrea Russell How can consumers and aged care staff contribute to falls prevention in residential aged care?
• Jaime Schey The psychometric performance of the FOUR Score compared to the GCS in intensive care settings.
• Amy Tagliante-Saracino Exploring the Nursing Workforce in Victorian Neonatal Services.
• Monique Vermeulen Transition of registered nurses to postgraduate student midwives- A mixed method study.
• Catherine Williams Education and training needs of allied health professionals in clinical trials.
• Vicky Yuan Engaging with electronic medical records.
• Elahe Zare Farashbandi An information service model for improving the health status of older adults.

• Dr Rami Aldwikat Delirium in the Post Anaesthetic Care Unit: Prevalence, incidence, determinants and outcomes.
• Dr Afizu Alhassan Influence of a preceptorship training programme on the perceived competence of nurse preceptors and the quality of clinical placement of nursing students.
• Dr Josh Allen Anticipating clinical deterioration: Patient characteristics and system factors.
• Dr Mohammed Amin Improving Metabolic Syndrome in Ghanaian Adults with Type 2 Diabetes through a Home-based Physical Activity Program.
• Dr Melissa Blake Breastfeeding a late preterm infant within a Special Care Nursery.
• Dr Laura Brooks Culturally sensitive communication at the end of life in the intensive care unit.
• Dr Kathryn Brundell Rural safety in Victorian maternity care.
• Dr Theodora Dedo Azu Maternal and neonatal birth outcomes associated with anaemia in pregnancy in Ghana
• Dr Gabrielle Burdeu Acute care nurses’ decision making in recognising and responding to changes in patients’ clinical states.
• Dr Tigestu Alemu Desse Development of a complex intervention for effective management of type 2 diabetes in a developing country.
• Dr Abdul-Ganiyu Fuseini Development and psychometric validation of a patient reported outcome measurement tool for dignified care during acute hospitalisation of older adults in Ghana.
• Dr Madeline Hawke Shared decision-making with pregnant women with high body mass index.
• Dr Stephanie Hunter Vasoactive medications and nurse decision making.
• Dr Rebecca Jedwab Nurses’ experiences of an electronic medical record implementation: A mixed-methods study.
• Dr Sabine Kleissl-Muir Effects of a low carbohydrate diet on heart failure symptoms and quality of life in patients with diabetic cardiomyopathy.
• Dr Nat Kondos What influence does stand down decision making at the end of a medical emergency team call have on patient outcomes?
• Dr Apinya Koontalay Codesign of Thai-based heart failure program to improve patient outcomes.
• Dr Michael Le Grande Screening for obstructive sleep apnoea in cardiac rehabilitation patients.
• Dr Jess Lees Exploring how health professional students learn technology mediated physical examination.
• Dr Rachel McKittrick Improving care for older people through innovative nurse-led, patient-centred workforce models.
• Dr Paula Medway Policy to practice: Exploring the implementation and impact of maternity policy in Australia.
• Dr Sharyn Milnes How do doctors construct and operationalise patient-centred care?
• Dr Guncag Ozavci Communicating about managing medications by older patients across transitions of care.
• Dr Kerry Rigby Nurse and Direct Staff Familiarisation With Technology in Residential Aged Care.
• Dr Monica Schoch Point of care ultrasound in haemodialysis vascular access.
• Dr Stephanie Sprogis Evaluating the pre-Medical Emergency Team tier of Rapid Response Systems.
• Dr Annie Tan A mixed methods study of the impact of COVID-19 to the maternity care services in Australia.
• Dr Olivia Tierney Midwifery Student Continuity of Care Experience in Australia: Defining the Objectives and Learning Outcomes.

Barwon Health is Victoria’s largest regional integrated healthcare provider. It addresses the health needs of individuals at all stages of life and circumstances through a comprehensive range of services. Spread across 21 sites, these services include: outpatients, maternity, gynaecology, paediatics, special care nursery, neonatal intensive care, emergency, acute medicine, surgery, mental health, primary care, community services, aged care and sub-acute care and rehabilitation.

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Barwon Health enables academic staff to collaborate with clinical colleagues. Multidisciplinary teams work together to plan and implement research relevant to the current healthcare environment.

Barwon Health’s regional and rural location provides the opportunity for collaborative research with QPS School of Nursing and Midwifery partners across metropolitan and rural areas.

Current programs of nursing research

Our research addresses current, high-priority issues in nursing and health services, including:

• workforce models, workforce education, training and wellbeing
• experiences and care of people living with cognitive impairment
• models of care
• use of digital technology in healthcare
• implementation of health service and clinical interventions to promote care quality and safety.
• strategies to translate research evidence into practice.

Examples of research projects

• Hospital Elder Life (HELP) program implementation
• Training needs analysis for continuous quality improvement to build the capacity and capability of the aged care workforce. A pilot feasibility study
• Evaluating implementation of a multi-component intervention to optimise the timing and use of induction of labour (IOL)
• Evaluating implementation of the Specialist Dementia Care Program (SDCP)
• Evaluation of the Victorian Public Sector Residential Aged Care (PSRAC) workforce
• Evaluating the Neonatal Postnatal Support Nurse (NPSN) pilot program
• Implementing perioperative heel offloading wedges for patients to reduce pressure injuries: an evaluation study

Current programs of midwifery research

Our research is informed by midwives, women in their care and the multidisciplinary team. It is underpinned by a commitment to woman-centred care.

• Undertaking impactful research that translates to practice, education and policy.
• Effectively generating and communicating evidence
• Measuring the impact of technology and innovations
• Supporting the midwifery workforce to thrive.

Examples of research projects

• Improving Access and Community Trust in Perinatal Genomics for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: the ImpACT-PG project. Medical Research Futures Fund
• Homebirth: outcomes after the first 12 months
• Risk factors for postanal readmission: a tale of two cities
• A scoping review to determine if Secondary Victim Phenomena and Vicarious trauma the same or different constructs
• Evaluating a trusted research environment: an acceptability and feasibility study

Our team

• Chair in Nursing (Barwon Health): Deakin Distinguished Professor Alison Hutchinson
• Chair in Midwifery (Barwon Health): Professor Cate Nagle
• Research Fellow:Dr Susan Perlen
• Post Doctoral Research Fellow in Knowledge Translation: Dr Renee Fiolet
• Research Assistant: Jen Whan-Cooper

Contact us

• Deakin QPS: qps@deakin.edu.au
• General enquiries: +61 3 4215 3288
• Barwon Health partnership: Kitchener House, The University Hospital Geelong, Ryrie Street, PO Box 281, Geelong VIC 3220

Visit Barwon Health’s website

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Bayside Health partnership provides clinical research opportunities for nurses across a variety of acute and specialty health care settings.

The collaboration provides a unique opportunity for nurses seeking clinically focused research training. The centre conducts research that focuses improving clinical decision making and patient safety, alleviating patient symptoms and increasing the uptake of research evidence in practice. In addition, it supports clinicians seeking experience in multidisciplinary research projects in critical care, acute care and specialty health care contexts.

Research agenda

The researchers specialise in understanding how clinical decisions are made and the impact of those decisions on patients, families and health services. We focus on developing and implementing evidence for nursing practice to enhance the quality of care received and the safety of patients. Major programs of research are: Patient safety and quality of care, Decision support; and Knowledge translation.

Examples of research projects

Identification and management of deteriorating patients

• Prioritising Responses Of Nurses To deteriorating patient Observations (PRONTO) National Health and Medical Research Council Partnership Project Grant.
• Listen to me, I really am sick! Understanding patient and family perspectives in triggering responses to medical emergencies. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant.
• Rapid review of the literature and draft revision of the National consensus statement: Essential elements for recognising and responding to clinical deterioration. Funded by Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Preventing hospital acquired infections

• Establishing the prevalence and burden of health care associated infections in Australian hospitals. Funded by a private philanthropic donor.
• Improved detection of infections following surgery for meaningful public reporting. National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship Grant.
• Communicating with older people across transition points of care. Australian Research Council Discovery Grant.
• Engaging patients in communication at transitions of care. Funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.
• Improving documentation at transitions of care for complex patients. Funded by the Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care.

Patient and family participation in decision making

• INTroducing A Care bundle To prevent pressure injury (the INTACT trial) NHMRC Project Grant.
• Patients’ preference for participation in patient safety activities. Australian Research Council Discovery Grant.

Decision support

• Predicting medical emergency team calls, cardiac arrest calls and re-admission after intensive care discharge: creation of a tool to identify at-risk patients.

Knowledge translation

• De-implementation in health and care services: what works, for whom, why, and under which contexts? A Realist Synthesis. National Institute of Health Research, UK.
• Using an audit with feedback knowledge translation intervention to promote safety and quality in health care. Australian Research Council Linkage Grant.

Our team

The centre is led by Deakin Distinguished Professor Tracey Bucknall and supported by research fellows, clinicians, honorary nurse researchers and research students (honours, master’s, PhD).

• Chair in Nursing (Bayside Health): Deakin Distinguished Professor Tracey Bucknall
• Honorary Professor: Professor Elizabeth Manias
• Senior Research Fellow: Dr Daphne Cheung
• Research Fellow: Dr Stephanie Chappel
• Research Manager: Bridey Saultry
• Research Assistant: Kathryn Joseph

Contact us

• Deakin QPS: qps@deakin.edu.au
• Alfred Health – Director: Deakin Distinguished Professor Tracey Bucknall
  • Email: tracey.bucknall@deakin.edu.au
  • General enquiries: +61 3 9076 5779
• Bayside Health partnership: Commercial Road Melbourne, VIC 3004

Visit Bayside Health’s website

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Eastern Health partnership leads collaborative research to optimise safety, quality, and experience of care for clinicians, patients and carers.

The Deakin University – Eastern Health partnership was established in 2000. Our research spans acute, subacute, community, and residential care settings; fosters collaboration across health disciplines, and with patients and carers; and connects research with education, clinical practice and policy.  Our team works closely with researchers, clinicians, managers, research students, patients, and carers from a range of disciplines and backgrounds, and provides nurses and midwives with opportunities for research training and experience in clinical practice.

Research agenda

Our work is organised into 3 pillars of research: consumer experience, patient safety, and workforce development and sustainability. Through partnership and co-design with clinicians and consumers, our researchers specialise in developing, testing, and implementing evidence-based solutions to optimise patient and carer safety; clinician knowledge, skills and decision-making; and models of care delivery.

Examples of research projects

Consumer experience

• Antenatal care with pregnant women with high body mass index
• Hospital to home for older patients affected by delirium: family and carer experiences. Including Hospital to home for older patients affected by delirium: family and carer experiences. Casey et al. Eastern Health Foundation Research and Innovation Grant 2026)
• Medication taking among consumers from with chronic diseases
• Medication taking among consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse and first nations communities (including Omonaiye et al. Improving care and outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples with Type 2 diabetes mellitus in Eastern Melbourne. Diabetes Australia Research Program – 2026 Grant)  
• Redesigning the hospital environment to promote sleep and recovery

Patient safety

Recognising and responding to deteriorating patients

• Emergency departments (including Improving the safety and quality of emergency nursing care. Curtis et al. NHMRC GNT 2005403 and Understanding emergency department triage nurses’ risk management decisions Considine et al. Eastern Health Foundation)
• Acute care wards (including HIRAID® Inpatient: Improving the safety and quality of nursing care for hospital patients Curtis et al. NHMRC GNT 2037072 / HCF Foundation)
• Aged care (including Improving Aged Care Quality and Safety (HIRAID-AGEDCARE). Shaban et al. MRFF GNT 2023190)

• Nursing and midwifery interventions for patients with rapid response system triggers
• Clinicians use of rapid response systems

Nurse decision making

•  Recognising and responding to changes in patients’ clinical states and, or clinical deterioration
•  Non-pharmacological interventions for delirium management: a qualitative descriptive study
• Evidence-informed care of patients with delirium

Nurse-led care

• Emergency departments (including Giving patients an EPIC-START: An evidence based, data driven model of care to improve patient care and efficiency in emergency departments. Curtis et al. MRFF GNT 2017845)

Medication safety

• Antipsychotic use for older people with delirium (including Safer antipsychotic use in delirium management. Tomlinson, Casey et al. Deakin University Institute for Health Transformation Research Accelerator Grant 2026)

Effective communication

• Communication difficulty and hospital adverse events
• Information exchange at clinical handover

Infection prevention and control

• Residential aged care

Workforce development and sustainability

Behaviour change

• Emergency nurses (structured approach to patient assessment and management, and communication with patients, carers and colleagues)
• Residential aged care (structured approach to patient assessment and management, and communication with patients, carers and colleagues)

Leadership in healthcare

• Nurse and midwife managers
• Early career nurses

Our team

• Chair in Nursing: Deakin Distinguished Professor Julie Considine AO
• Research Fellows:
• • Dr Olumuyiwa Omonaiye
  • Dr Nantanit (Rainie) van Gulik
  • Ms Penny Casey

Contact us

• Deakin QPS: qps@deakin.edu.au
• Eastern Health – Director: Deakin Distinguished Professor Julie Considine AO
  • General enquiries: +61 3 9895 3177
  • Email Professor Considine: julie.considine@deakin.edu.au
• Eastern Health partnership: Level 2, 5 Arnold Street Box Hill, VIC 3128

Visit Eastern Health website

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Epworth Health is a joint initiative between Deakin University and Epworth HealthCare. The centre was established in 2004 to conduct collaborative clinical research. It provides staff and students the opportunity to engage in clinically focused multidisciplinary research and training across acute, rehabilitation and community health care settings.

We specialise in developing and implementing evidence for nursing practice to enhance quality and safety in the delivery of health care. In particular, our research program is currently evaluating the effect different models of nursing care delivery have on health outcomes, medication quality and safety issues, and the impact of emerging technologies on patients and carers.

Our 3 overarching research priorities are:

• Patient engagement and participation in healthcare
• Patient experiences of care and recovery
• Clinical support for delivery of high quality, safe care

Our team

The centre is led by Professor Ana Hutchinson and supported by research fellows, multidisciplinary clinicians, nurse researchers and higher degree by research students (honours, master’s, PhD).

• Chair in Nursing: Professor Ana Hutchinson
• Dean of School of Nursing and Midwifery: Professor Nikki Phillips
• Research Fellow: Dr Damien Khaw

Contact us

• Deakin QPS: qps@deakin.edu.au
• General enquiries: +61 3 9426 6565
• Email the centre: Er-nursingresearch.centre@epworth.org.au
• Epworth Health partnership: Epworth HealthCare, Ground Floor, Victor Smorgon Epworth Education and Research Institute, 185-187 Hoddle Street, Richmond VIC 3121

Visit Epworth website

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Monash Health Partnership was established in 2006.

Monash Health is the largest public health service in the state of Victoria, providing care to one-quarter of the population of Melbourne. Services are provided across the lifespan, from prenatal to end-of-life care, and are delivered at 40 locations in the south-east of Melbourne, including six hospitals, five residential homes, community and mental health facilities. More than 18,000 employees work across these locations, including more than 8800 nurses and midwives. Annually at Monash Health, more than 3.2 million episodes of care are provided to members of the community, including more than 258,000 people admitted to hospital and the delivery of more than 10,000 babies.

Chronic and complex conditions

• How to fix a broken heart: a guide for Transcatheter Aortic Valve Implantation (TAVI) patients
• Perception and action: How the cognitive constructs of health and illness shape the model of care for co-morbid chronic disease in the hospital setting

Communicating for safety

Health Literacy of Caregivers (HELICS): Development of a novel intervention to optimize caregiver health literacy in clinical cancer settings

Lead researcher: Dr Eva Yuen

Informal caregivers frequently provide vital day-to-day care and support for people with cancer, often with little guidance or help. Their skills to find, understand, appraise, and apply information to make health decisions (i.e., health literacy) significantly impacts their capacity to provide care, and consequent health outcomes for the patient and themselves.

The proposed Health Literacy of Caregivers (HELICS) study will be the first internationally to: (a) comprehensively examine the impact of caregiver health literacy and caregiver activation on both patient and caregiver health outcomes (survey data from 190 patient-caregiver dyads), (b) identify strategies to improve caregiver health literacy and caregiver activation from the caregiver perspective (interviews with up to 30 caregivers), and (c) synthesize the strategies for inclusion in a novel caregiver health literacy intervention (engagement with ~20 stakeholders).

The two-year, mixed-methods, participatory-based study funded by an Executive Dean’s Health Research Fellowship will be conducted in collaboration with clinical staff and researchers at Monash Health and Austin Health’s Olivia Newton-John Cancer, Wellness and Research Centre. Together, the findings will enable us to achieve our overall goal of the study: to develop an innovative caregiver psycho-educational intervention to improve caregiver health literacy and caregiver activation, and the consequent health of both the patient and caregiver.

• Midwifery/Maternity Care
• Health workforce – support and development

Medication safety

• Partnering with Patients in Medication Administration
• Prescribing practices and clinical outcomes after acute hospitalisation

Translation of evidence into policy and practice

• Maternity service organisational interventions that aim to reduce caesarean section: a systematic review and meta-analyses

Technologies (EMR, telehealth, AI)

• Measuring nurse motivation, engagement and well-being in the implementation of an electronic medical record

Our team

The centre is led by the Chair in Nursing with the support of a research fellow and a research assistant.

• Chair in Nursing: Deakin Distinguished Professor Andrea Driscoll
• Research Fellow: Dr Eva Yuen
• Research Assistant BA (Hons): Cherene Ockerby
• Research Manager: Rose Lewis

Contact us

• Deakin QPS: qps@deakin.edu.au
• General enquiries: +61 3 9594 4610
• Email the centre: Deakin_SHNRC_PA@southernhealth.org.au
• Monash Health partnership: Monash Medical Centre, Clayton Campus, I Block, 246 Clayton Road, Clayton VIC 3168

Visit Monash Health website

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Western Health provides academic and professional leadership to nursing and midwifery clinicians, and researchers across Western Health. Established in 2014, the Partnership drives clinically embedded, multidisciplinary research and training across acute, chronic, rehabilitation, and community care settings. Our research portfolio is organised across five flagship streams: Acute Care Safety & Effectiveness, Workforce & Models of Care Innovation, Chronic & Integrated Care, Digital & Data Enabled Health, and Equity & Person-Centred Systems; underpinned by strong implementation science capability.

Led by Professors Rochelle Wynne (Nursing) and Linda Sweet (Midwifery), the Partnership supports a vibrant community of clinicians, researchers, and postgraduate students working collaboratively to generate high-impact, practice changing evidence. We are committed to improving patient safety, enhancing patient experience, and advancing the role and capability of nurses and midwives, with the ultimate goal of delivering equitable, world-class health outcomes for the diverse communities of Melbourne’s west.

Research agenda

Our researcher is focused on generating robust actionable evidence to improve care delivery, patient outcomes and health system performance. We prioritise real-world challenges, co-design with consumers, and translate findings into practice to strengthen safety, workforce capability, and equitable care for diverse populations across the health service.

Research streams

Acute care safety and effectiveness

We aim to improve safety, timeliness, and clinical outcomes for acutely unwell patients through evidence-based interventions and system-level optimisation. Projects focus on clinical deterioration and escalation, acute treatment interventions and device safety, risk prediction and response systems. Lead projects include:

• AVERT: the Aggression and Violence Evaluation or Risk Tool
• FEEDS: Feeding Equipment for Enteral Delivery Systems in ICU
• TRACA: Troponin Response and Acute Care Assessment
• Post-birth debriefing for mothers

Workforce and models of care innovation

We redesign workforce roles and models of care to optimise scope of practice, capability, and service delivery. Projects focus on advanced and extended scope role, workforce redesign and rostering, education, leadership and optimising capability. Lead projects include:

• Midwifery Antenatal and Postnatal Service (MAPS) model for continuity of midwifery care
• PULSE Check on Maternity services
• STAR: Supported Success, Advancing Careers and Recognising Potential for Leadership
• Together Everyone Achieves More: TEAMs working together

Chronic and integrated care

We enhance outcomes for patient with chronic and complex conditions through coordinated, multidisciplinary, and longitudinal models of care. Projects focus on cardiovascular and renal care, multimorbidity and care transitions, and integrated and supportive care. Lead projects include:

• RISE: Renal Integrated Supportive Care Experiences: a qualitative study
• CAD-PATH: Coronary Artery Disease, Patient-centred Approaches to Transitions in Healthcare
• Critical Care Outreach in Maternity Services
• Midwife-led nutrition education RCT in rural/regional areas
• Impact of obesity on women’s pregnancy outcomes

Digital and data enabled health

We harness digital technologies, data, and AI to drive clinical decision-making, patient engagement, and health system performance. Projects focus on artificial intelligence and analytics, digital tools and environments, and patient-facing systems. Lead projects include:

• WECARE: Work Enhancement through Computational Assessment of Real Environments
• GenAI: Generative artificial intelligence use in healthcare
• Exploring childbearing women’s use of digital media for pregnancy, labour, and birth

Equity and person-centred systems

We embed equity, inclusion, and lived experience into care design and delivery to improve outcomes for diverse populations. Projects focus on consumer co-design and lived experience, cultural responsiveness and access, and population health equity. Lead projects include:

• Every Woman’s Heart: a James Lind Alliance, Priority Setting Partnership for Women and Cardiovascular Disease (Australia)
• She GLOWs: Self-management in Gestational diabetes for a Lifestyle that Optimises Wellness
• Heart Education and Awareness of Risks and Treatments (HEARTs): for the Indian diaspora

Achievements in our flagship streams are enabled by cross-cutting capabilities across the team in implementation science and behaviour change strategies. These approaches are embedded across all streams to translate evidence into practice within the learning health system that is Western Health.

Our team

• Chair in Nursing: Professor Rochelle Wynne
• Chair in Midwifery: Professor Linda Sweet
• Associate Professor in Nursing: Associate Professor Debra Kerr
• Senior Research Fellow (Midwifery: Dr Vidanka Vasilevski
• Research Fellow (Nursing): Stacey Matthews
• Research Fellow in Aboriginal Health: Tanya Druce
• Research Nurse: Reem Omarit
• Research Assistant (Midwifery): Mrs Sally Miller
• Research Assistant (Nursing): Tim Druce

Contact us

• Deakin QPS: qps@deakin.edu.au
• General enquires:
  • Email: Professor Rochelle Wynne (Nursing)
  • Email: Professor Linda Sweet (Midwifery)
• Western Health partnership: Western Centre for Health Research and Education, Sunshine Hospital, 176 Furlong Road, St Albans, Vic 3021

Visit Western Health website