Deakin University’s School of Nursing & Midwifery and Alfred Health Nursing Services have a long established research and education partnership.
Under the leadership of Professor Tracey Bucknall, Foundation Chair in Nursing at Alfred Health, staff at the Deakin Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research / Alfred Health Partnership conduct high quality research that makes a substantive contribution to scientific knowledge, clinical nursing practice and the quality of patient care.
Strategic objectives include:
- Conducting high quality research that improves patient and organisational outcomes
- Strengthening research training and support for nursing staff within Alfred Health
- Facilitating the integration of research evidence into clinical practice
- Developing partnerships between consumers, staff and researchers to strengthen research, education and health service delivery.
Deakin University also has undergraduate and postgraduate coursework students completing clinical placements in their nursing, allied health and health science degrees across numerous departments at Alfred Health.
Research strengths include Patient Safety focusing on high-risk areas for the health service, and Knowledge Translation, which uses an integrated approach to ensure that clinicians use the best available evidence in their practice.
Research programs are linked closely with the national Safety and Quality Health Service (NSQHS) Standards. Centre staff include research fellows and assistants, research students and interdisciplinary research associate. Active international and national research collaborations are a strength of the program.
La Trobe University Clinical School at Alfred Health
La Trobe University’s Clinical School at Alfred Health integrates research, teaching and clinical practice in allied health and nursing. The broad objectives of the Clinical School are to:
- Provide national and international research leadership in allied health and nursing
- Conduct clinical research that makes a difference to patient outcomes
- Promote interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration in healthcare delivery and research
- Provide a centre of excellence for undergraduate and postgraduate education in nursing and allied health.
- Lead the translation of best evidence into clinical practice.
La Trobe Nursing and Allied Health undergraduates undertake placements at The Alfred, with nursing students attending the Clinical School for part of year two and all of year three of a Bachelor of Nursing degree.
Under the leadership of professorial staff in physiotherapy (Prof Anne Holland), occupational therapy (A/Prof Natasha Lannin) and nursing (A/Prof Bill McGuiness), the School provides allied health and nursing clinicians with postgraduate research opportunities and supervision on site at Alfred Health. This includes access to laboratory space for patient testing, postgraduate student space and access to university resources.
Research Strengths
Research programs include:
- Rehabilitation for Chronic Lung Disease: Professor Anne Holland leads a research program that aims to optimise health and wellbeing for people with cardiorespiratory disease, including new models for pulmonary rehabilitation.
- Neurological Rehabilitation: Associate Professor Natasha Lannin’s research program is focused on neurological rehabilitation as a means to improve quality of life.
- Time Critical Interventions: Associate Professor Bill McGuiness leads a research program that aims to optimise the delivery of time critical interventions in acute care, including new methods for preventing and treating pressure injuries and for facilitating wound healing.