Researchers involved in Professional Issues and Acute Care are focused on making a difference in the delivery of health services and for health professionals in the clinical environment, often using a multidisciplinary approach.

Lead: Prof Ashley Kable

We have well-developed relationships with Public Health researchers in the Faculty of Health and Hunter New England Health. These relationships provide the basis for development of innovative projects in acute care settings and issues in the professions

Expertise in this area includes quantitative and qualitative methodology, intervention studies, patient and workforce surveys, and focus groups and expert panels for the purpose of validating study instruments. Research topics have included:

  • Adverse events in surgical admissions
  • Using statistical modeling to identify predictors for adverse events
  • Patient surveys of post discharge complications and delivery of health services
  • Patient and health care worker safety
  • Designing/conducting/evaluating interventions to reduce adverse events in health care

Many of our researchers have extensive clinical backgrounds in Acute Care including Intensive Care, Perioperative, Medical and Surgical nursing.

Recent projects

Completed projects include a study in partnership with researchers in the School of Health Sciences and the NSW Nurses' Association: The Needlestick and Sharps Injuries Survey of NSW Nurses. This study was funded by a Workcover NSW Assist Applied Research Grant. The survey of 7,500 nurses in NSW, was about sharps related injury and follow up of these incidents in the workplace.

Research Higher Degree Topics

  • Human Patient Simulation (HPS) Manikins and Information Communication Technology (ICT): Use and Quality Indicators in Australian Schools of Nursing
  • Patient Perspectives on Managing Fluid Gain Between Haemodialysis Sessions
  • Development, Implementation and Evaluation of a Breastfeeding Protocol
  • An Enquiry into the Assessment and Management of Targeted Violence Using a Threat Assessment Process
  • Effect of Exercise Intervention on Physical Fitness, Depression and Self-Efficacy of Nursing Students
  • How do nurse's knowledge of ageing and attitudes towards older persons influence clinical practice and therapeutic interactions in Emergency Department settings
  • Post Operative Clinical Outcomes for Patients Undergoing Major Orthopeadic Surgery Following Venothromboembolism (VTE) Prophalaxis
  • The Experience of Registered Nurses Who Mentor Undergraduate Nursing Students
  • The VENT Study: Violence in the Emergency Department and Triage