Critical Care Nursing Professorial Unit
Location
Level 6, Main Block
Royal North Shore Hospital
St Leonards NSW 2065
Australia
Tel: +61 2 9926 8281
Fax: +61 2 9439 8418
Overview
The Critical Care Nursing Professorial Unit is based at Royal North Shore Hospital and is sponsored by the Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service. The major focus of the unit is to conduct and disseminate research and facilitate practice development based on evidence in critical care nursing. Members of the unit carry out teaching and promotion of learning in the University, the Area Health Service and other professional forums. In addition, members of the unit engage in consultancy work ranging from health care in developing countries to the national review of nursing education.
Goals
- To conduct and disseminate programs of research into the care of the critically ill that contribute to the scientific basis of nursing practice and promote patient comfort and recovery.
- To foster the research skills of research degree candidates and clinical nurses, through direct mentorship of novice researchers and the development in the University and the Area Health Service of a research culture and research programs.
- To facilitate critical care nursing practice development based on the evaluation of research evidence.
- To contribute to the teaching and learning of critical care nursing and clinical research skills in the University and the Area Health Service.
- To provide consultancy services that contribute to nursing education and health service provision nationally and internationally.
Personnel
Professor Sharon McKinley, RN, PhD
Email: sharon.mckinley@uts.edu.au
Professor of Critical Care Nursing, Head of the Critical Care Nursing Professorial Unit
Phone: +61 2 9926 8281
Ms Rachel Foley, RN, Grad Cert (Crit Care)
Email: Rachel.Foley-1@uts.edu.au
Research Officer
Phone: +61 2 9926 8281
Mr David Wastell, RN
Email: DWastell@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au
Research Officer
Phone: +61 2 9926 8281
Mrs Elizabeth Robertson
Email: EARobertson@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au
Administrative Assistant
Phone: +61 2 9926 8281
Research students
Mr Tom Buckley, RN, BSc (Hon), MN
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
email: Tom.Buckley@uts.edu.au
Ms Julia Poole, RN, MN, Grad Dip Hlth Sc (Geront), Mst Pub Man (Health), Dip Psych Old Age
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
email: Julia.L.Poole@student.uts.edu.au
Ms Kefalotse Dithole, RN, DipMid, BEd, MSc
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Ms Rosalind Elliott, RN, Bsc (honours), Dip HE, MN
Doctor of Philosophy candidate
Email: RMElliot@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au
Ms Leonie Weisbrodt, RN, BN, Grad Cert (ICU)
Master of Nursing Honours candidate
email: WeisbrL@wahs.nsw.gov.au
Ms Suzy Ladanyi, RN, MN Crit Care
Master of Nursing Honours candidate
Ms Julie Potter, RN (CNC), MHSc (Ed)
Master of Nursing Honours candidate
Email: JPotter@nsccahs.health.nsw.gov.au
Ms Esra'a Omari
Master of Nursing Honours candidate
Mr Richard Talisayon, RN
Honours candidate
Email: Richard.S.Talisayon@student.uts.edu.au
Research collaborators
Faculty of Nursing , Midwifery and Health
Professor Sue Nagy, Adjunct Professor, University of Technology, Sydney
Professor Doug Elliot, Professor and Director of Research, University of Technology, Sydney
Royal North Shore Hospital
A/Prof Simon F Finfer, Senior Staff Specialist, Clinical Associate Professor in Intensive Care, Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney
Dr Gordon Doig, Senior Lecturer in Epidemiology, Research Fellow in Critical Care
Ms Rosalind Elliot, Clinical Nurse Consultant, Intensive Care Unit
Ms Margaret Bramwell, Senior Social Worker, Intensive Care Unit
Dr Anthony Delaney, Staff Specialist, Intensive Care Unit
Dr Sarah Wesley, Staff Specialist, Intensive Care Unit
Prof Geoffery Tofler, Professor of Cardiology
Prof R Bartrop, Associate Professor, Psychological Medicine
Dr Chris Ward, Dir of Research, Haematology
National and International
Prof Kathleen Dracup, Professor and Dean, School of Nursing, University of California, San Francisco
Prof Debra Moser, Professor and Gill Chair of Cardiovascular Nursing, College of Nursing, University of Kentucky, Lexington
Prof Hendrika Mieschke, Department of Health Services, University of Washington
A/Prof Lynn Doering, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of California, Los Angeles
A/Prof Barbara Riegal, Associate Professor, School of Nursing, University of Pennsylvania
Dr Carol Ball, Royal Free Hospital, London
Prof Leanne Aitken, Professor of Critical Care Nursing, Griffith University, Brisbane, Queensland
Research projects
Research projects are concerned with psychological and social factors in critical illness and their effect on patients' comfort and recovery. Some of the current projects and their investigators are:
- Reducing prehospital delay in acute myocardial infarction. K Dracup, L Doering, S McKinley, H Mieschke, D Moser and B Riegel.
- Testing a home based rehabilitation program for survivors of critical illness: a randomised controlled trial. D Elliott, S McKinley, J Alison. L Aitken and M King.
- Improving the amount and quality of sleep for the intensive care patient. S McKinley and R Foley
- The effect of an algorithm-based sedation guideline on the duration of mechanical ventilation for intensive care patients in an Australian intensive care unit. R. Elliott, S McKinley, L, Aitken.
- A double blind, randomized, controlled trial of a routine daily interruption to sedation versus standard therapy in the Intensive Care Unit. L Weisbrodt, S McKinley, A Marshall, I Seppelt and L Cole, A Delaney and S Wesley.
- Cardiac risk factors in bereavement. T Buckley, S McKinley, G Tofler, R Bartrop, C Ward and C Tennant.
- Person-centered care for older people with disturbed behaviour in acute care. J Poole, S McKinley, L Chenoweth and S Hilmer.
- Anxiety and In-Hospital Complications after Acute Coronary Syndrome. S McKinley, D Moser, B Riegel, H Meischke and Selina Hole.
- PTSD in patients who have been mechanically ventilated in ICU. S McKinley, T Buckley, R Talisayon
- Use of delayed consent from adult intensive care patients in critical care randomized controlled trials. S McKinley, A Delaney, J Potter
- The effect of changing communication strategies in intensive care in Botswana on psychological outcomes. S McKinley, D Elliott, S Nagy, C Gordon, G Burr, R Gallagher, K Dithole