Nursing Research
Contacts
Jodee Eaves, Coordinator of Nursing - Education and Research
Nursing Services, Child and Adolescent Health Service
Phone: (08) 6456 5190 or (08) 6456 8498
Professor Fenella Gill, Professor Acute Paediatrics
Perth Children’s Hospital and School of Nursing Curtin University
Phone: 0402 881 604
Nursing research
Providing research leadership and development opportunities to CAHS nurses
The purpose of paediatric, child and adolescent health nursing research is to create, promote, translate, and implement evidence for best practice to ensure that children (0-18 years) and their families receive high quality, safe healthcare, and experience a good quality of life within their physical and psychological health environments.
Nursing research informs and supports evidenced-based practice offered to neonates, children, adolescents, and their families in acute care and community settings across the Child and Adolescent Health Service (CAHS).
We also support, guide and mentor nurses undertaking nurse-led research projects at CAHS and promote opportunities for new and aspiring researchers, including opportunities to pursue higher-degree research.
Building nursing and midwifery research
Research capacity and culture survey
In 2022 we undertook a research capacity and culture survey to guide the research strategy for nurses at CAHS.
This survey was designed to enhance understanding of perceived nursing research capacity and capability at CAHS. Major themes identified through responses from the 202 participants included research workforce and skills barriers, and factors that enabled research.
Recommendations drawn from the survey included:
- building nursing research capacity
- creating a positive research culture
- identifying clear nursing research pathways
- strengthening the research resource support network.
Nursing Research Network
Contact: Margie Lane
A key initiative in building research culture and capacity has been development of the CAHS Nursing Research Network. This Network is made up of experienced and early career researchers who partner with CAHS to help nurses take up research opportunities, to improve patient outcomes through evidence-based practice and knowledge translation. We welcome enquiries and participation from nurse and midwife scholars across WA.
Acute Care
Contact: Prof Fenella Gill
Fenella leads implementation science research focused on improving patient safety and family experiences in acute care. The research program is called Safer care for children in hospital and has culminated in the paediatric ESCALATION System adopted by more than 120 West Australian hospitals and the pre-hospital emergency response service state-wide. Fenella leads the Safer care for children in hospital research team and also helps others get involved in research through opportunities for hands-on experience, mentorship and supervision for Master by research and PhD students. Visit the ESCALATION website for updates on the research program and to read more about specific studies.
Community Health
Contact: Meredith Green
Research within the Child and Adolescent Community Health Service is designed to support the overarching vision of providing accessible, community-based services that serve infants, children and young people across Perth so they can achieve their best health, development and wellbeing, now and into the future, working in partnership with their families and caregivers. Current research priorities include: Current research projects related to nursing are: CACH Nursing is also involved in collaborative projects, such as ‘Maawit Maladjin - A primary care provider intervention to improve early child neurodevelopment in urban Aboriginal children’ led by Professor Dan MacAullay and Associate Professor Natalie Strobel. For more information go to the Community Health Clinical Research Overview.
Neonatal Care
Contact: Sarah Bottcher
The aim of neonatal research is to provide evidence for practice to optimise the care of newborns and their families in the neonatal units at Perth Children’s Hospital and King Edward Memorial Hospital. This is through improving the safety of care and interactions between parents and babies and evaluating the process of admission to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.
Child and Adolescent Mental Health Service
Contact: Laura Dondzilo
The types of research conducted in CAMHS ranges from basic science, translation, evaluation through to participation in multi-site investigations. Key research areas include: