Practice Development: Hunter New England AHS
Professor Diana KeatingeSue Brazil
Catherine Turner
Dr Vicki Parker
Centre for Practice Opportunity and Development (CPOD)
Hunter New England Area Health Service (AHS) has an active network of practice development facilitators who work with their teams on projects and with each other on developing the skills of facilitators across the Area.
Nursing and midwifery staff in the Hunter New England AHS are involved in a range of practice development activities designed to improve health outcomes for the Hunter New England community.
The network supports the work of facilitators in a challenging and supportive environment. It is committed to the sharing of resources and learnings. Projects are aimed at informing practice through evidence that may be generated within or external to Hunter New England Health.
Professor Diana Keatinge
Chair of Paediatric Youth and Family
School of Nursing and Midwifery
Faculty of Health
The University of Newcastle
Areas of interest
- Research, clinical practice and education focusing on paediatrics/child and family health nursing
- Consumer involvement in health care
- Health service leadership and management
Programs/Projects
- Clinical Supervision Co-ordinator, 'Nurses in Kaleidoscope'
- Member, NSW Health Working Group, 'Identifying Child and Family Health Nurse Practice Standards'
- Team member, Australian Nurses and Midwives Council Consultancy led by Professor Margaret McMillan, 'Identifying ANMC National Guidelines on Boundaries of Professional Practice for Nurses and Midwives'.
Diana.Keatinge@newcastle.edu.au
Telephone 61 2 4921 6010
Facsimile 61 2 4921 6301
Sue Brazil
Nurse Manager
Practice Development
Hunter New England Health
Sue is a registered nurse and certified midwife. She trained at Royal Newcastle Hospital and undertook her Bachelor of Nursing through the University of New England in 1989. She completed her Masters in Nursing at the University of Technology, Sydney in 2002 with her thesis 'Improving the Practice of Family Centred Care in the Neonatal Nursery: Implementing Change in Clinical Practice'.
Areas of Interest
- Professional development
- Modelling care
- Workplace culture
- Action learning
- Clinical leadership
- Critical reflection
- Clinical supervision
susan.brazil@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Telephone +61 2 4985 3474
Mobile 0414 452 094
Catherine Turner
Nurse Manager
Clinical Practice and Policy
Hunter New England Health
Areas of interest
- Development and evaluation of clinical practice
- Development of facilitation skills for nurses and midwives
- Leadership development and improving access to clinical expertise for rural nurses and midwives
- Clinical practice models that include nurse and midwife practitioners.
Programs/Projects
- Hunter New England Health Practice Development Facilitation Network
- Hunter New England Health Discharge Planning Forums
catherine.turner@hnehealth.nsw.gov.au
Telephone +61 2 4985 3476
Mobile 0428 114 669
Dr Vicki Parker
Clinical Nurse Consultant
Research Practice Development
Centre for Practice Opportunity and Development
Greater Newcastle Sector, Hunter New England Area Health Service
Conjoint Senior Lecturer
University of Newcastle
Areas of interest
- Learning nursing/processes, experiences and possibilities
- Cultural diversity in nursing curricula
- Clinical leadership
- Critical companionship
- Mentoring
- Role modelling
- Change processes and practice improvement in acute care settings
- Multidisciplinary approaches to practice improvement.
Programs/Projects
- Stewardship as a means to develop leadership and capacity for change
- Supporting publication in nursing
- Multidisciplinary approach to tracheostomy management
- Use of point of care INR testing in acute hospital settings
- Developing a research agenda in acute hospital wards
- The management of chronic disease in the acute hospital environment
- Patient stories as the impetus for improved practice in nursing.
Centre for Practice Opportunity and Development (CPOD)
Dr Isabel Higgins
Clinical Nurse Consultant
Older Persons Acute Care
Dr Paula McMullen
Acting Manager Nurse Education
Greater Newcastle Sector
What is CPOD?
The Greater Newcastle Cluster Nursing and Midwifery CPOD is based at John Hunter Hospital and was established in 2005 to facilitate nursing research and practice development. The Centre's key role is to lead projects aimed at improving patient outcomes, and to bring about cultural change by building skills and interests in research and practice development amongst clinicians.
Why Do We Need CPOD?
The context of nursing practice is dynamic and increasingly complex. Current practice environments are characterised by increasing differentiation, increasing patient acuity, aging population of patients and staff, staff shortages and increasing numbers of non-graduate nurses of various levels of education. Within this context, the nature and scope of nurses' roles, functions and responsibilities need to be critically evaluated and revised to meet contemporary challenges.
What are the aims of CPOD?
- Increase utilisation of clinical research
- Develop capacities in research, education and information technology
- Facilitate practice development projects
- Encourage projects that are meaningful to nurses and patient outcome focused
- Foster critical questioning of current practice
- Encourage and role model critical reflection, creativity, innovation and excellence
- Make strategic alliances with nursing and other disciplines and with tertiary education centres
- Develop programs of research aligned with key research consortia
- Have strategic planning based on sound scoping, monitoring of trends and assessment processes
- Identify barriers, difficulties and tensions and use these as a means by which to understand resistance to change.
This web page is managed and authorised by Nursing & Midwifery Office of the NSW Department of Health. Last updated: 31 March, 2009