Thursday January 16, 2025

Eastern Health’s Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research (QPS – Eastern Health) saw 35 publications and 35 presentations realised in 2024; all helping to improve care for consumers and clinicians.

In partnership with Deakin University, research studies covered nine disciplines including specialty medicine, supportive & palliative care, nursing & midwifery, residential aged care services, women’s & children’s, mental health, intensive care services, emergency services and learning & teaching.

Chair in Nursing and Director, Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Eastern Health, Deakin Distinguished Professor Julie Considine AO RN PhD SFHEA, says Clinical Midwifery Specialist and PhD Candidate Madeline Hawke’s publications were a particular standout from the year.

“One of the game changers for us in the publication space has been a series of papers by Madeline Hawke, who’s a midwife at Eastern Health Box Hill. Her PhD research is about shared decision making in antenatal care for women in larger bodies.

“She wrote a paper about the interviews she did with women, and then another paper about the interviews she did with midwives and doctors. And it’s really an Australian first, in depth understanding of how women in larger bodies experience antenatal care.”

Another one of the larger, ongoing projects is continuing to expand into 2025.

The HIRAID® emergency nursing framework is a national study, currently involving 29 emergency departments, including the three housed at Eastern Health. The framework is designed to support emergency nurses in assessing and managing emergency department patients after triage.

Professor Considine was elated at the expansion of this program.

“That framework is now being implemented across the whole state in South Australia and we’ve received a grant to implement HIRAID® in a regional provincial hospital in Thailand. Eastern Health has been part of something that is just going gangbusters. In 2025 Tasmania will be implementing it across the state, and we’re having currently having conversations with Sweden and Canada.

 “Even though you might think it’s just this little study that’s happening at here at Eastern Health, the reach is extraordinary and it’s one of the biggest studies I’ve been involved in,” Prof Considine said.

While patient safety will always be a research priority, Prof Considine AO foresees a greater focus on discovering ways to strengthen the health workforce in supporting their work across a range of settings.

“I think health workforce is going to see a big shift in next decade and there may be more emphasis on how we look after and future proof our people. Speaking from a nursing point of view, traditionally nursing has been geared to prepare nurses to work in hospitals. That’s not necessarily going to be the way we deliver healthcare in the next 10 to 20 years. Now we’ll be caring for people at home and in many varied contexts.

“The other big priority may be consumer participation and engagement. I think we’re in a position now where we’re still learning, but we know how to engage consumers better than we did 10 years ago. I think consumers want to be engaged. It’s going to be quite a different landscape in the next few years but it’s great. I love it,” Prof Considine said.