Ten Queensland nurses and midwives will share in $580,000 to conduct research ranging from preventing bed sores to providing better care for cognitively impaired patients.
Minister for Health and Ambulance Services Yvette D’Ath today announced the successful recipients of the latest round of Nursing and Midwifery Research Fellowship grants.
“Queensland is brimming with skilled nurses and midwives, many of whom have an interest in research that improves health outcomes for their patients,” Minister D’Ath said.
“They are on the frontline of healthcare and, as such, ideally placed to find solutions to the problems they face.
“The Nursing and Midwifery Research Fellowship programs taps into this well, offering financial support for the clinicians who have the compassion and curiosity to undertake important research.
“I congratulate the 10 recipients of the latest round of grants, which range from $20,000 to $120,000. They have embarked on a diverse and exciting range of projects and I wish them all well.”
Griffith University’s Dr Sharon Latimer was awarded $117,081 to lead a pilot study on pressure injuries, or bed sores, in intensive care unit patients in Gold Coast University Hospital.
The research team will test the effectiveness of two specialised sacral dressings in preventing pressure injuries.
“Pressure injuries are preventable skin injuries that are painful, costly and can increase a patient’s hospital stay,” Dr Latimer said.
“ICU patients are extremely sick, placing them at higher risk of developing sacral (tailbone) pressure injuries.
“Several specialised dressings prevent sacral pressure injuries however comparative evidence on their performance is limited resulting in clinicians asking, ‘which dressing is better’?
“Our research will help answer this important question.”
Dr Frederick Graham, the clinical lead of Princess Alexandra Hospital’s Delirium and Dementia Nursing Service (DDNS), has received $49,200 for a research project aimed at improving outcomes for hospitalised people with cognitive impairment and reduce patient-to-staff violence.
“When person-centred, biopsychosocial care is provided, many troubling responsive behaviours are prevented or reduced,” Dr Graham said.
“Because hospital wards are busy settings, subject to multiple divergent demands, they struggle to provide this required care.
“A process for providing a multidisciplinary focus on early biopsychosocial care planning in hospital wards could help.”
Novice Researcher Category
NAME | PROJECT TITLE | AMOUNT | ADMINISTERING ORGANISATION | |
Judith Macey | Prevalence of new-born skin injuries at birth |
| Queensland University of Technology | |
Yashni Kander | Improving access to tertiary and quaternary health services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients by addressing their social and emotional wellbeing | $20,000 | Metro North HHS | |
Mari Takashima | Paediatric Invasive Device Utility and Harm: A Point Prevalence Survey | $19,799 | The University of Queensland | |
Amanda Balmer | Exploring the context for introducing nurse-led satellite clinics to increase testing and surveillance for sexually transmitted infections in incarcerated populations | $19,988 | University of Southern Queensland |
Early Career Researcher Category
NAME | PROJECT TITLE | AMOUNT | ADMINISTERING ORGANISATION | |
Dr Frederick Graham | The Cognition Support Planning (CSP) protocol – a multicomponent ward-based protocol for early provision of biopsychosocial care for cognitively impaired patients |
| Metro South HHS | |
Dr Claudia Virdun | Strengthening inpatient palliative care based on what matters most for patients and carers: co-designed intervention development and pilot testing | $46,176 | Queensland University of Technology | |
Dr Andrea Taylor | Post-operative functional recovery in older adults who have undergone elective non-cardiac surgery – a prospective longitudinal cohort study | $49,117 | Metro North HHS |
Experienced Researcher Category
NAME | PROJECT TITLE | AMOUNT | ADMINISTERING ORGANISATION |
Dr Sharon Latimer | Testing the efficacy of two sacral dressings in preventing pressure injuries in adult intensive care population: TOWARDS ZERO pilot study | $117,081 | Griffith University |
Research Implementation Category
NAME | PROJECT TITLE | AMOUNT | ADMINISTERING ORGANISATION |
Dr Alison Craswell | Improving access to primary care for older adults in rural aged care homes: implementation of a nurse practitioner role | $119,552 | The University of the Sunshine Coast |
Dr Md Abu Hasnat Zamil Choudhury | Implementation of 1-2-7 Safety Planning for Suicide Risk Management in Inpatient Mental Health Care | $120,000 | Metro South HHS |
