Collaborative research leads to better patient care

27 Jul 2016

By The Record

From Left to Right: Chair of Nursing Research, Leanne Monterosso; Nurse Researcher, Dr Gail Ross-Adjie; and Clinical Nurse Researcher, Alexis Cranfield, stand behind the collaborative research that was presented at the symposium in early June 2016.Photo: Supplied

Patient-focused research was recently celebrated at St John of God (SJOG) Murdoch Hospital for its contribution to ensuring high standards of safety and quality in health care at a research symposium.

A collaborative research involving SJOG Murdoch Hospital’s Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Research and the University of Notre Dame Australia (UNDA), Fremantle, was launched at a symposium held on 7 June 2016.

Research completed to date included understanding the perceptions and needs of caregivers regarding palliative care provision which has since been replicated in the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital’s emergency department and with paramedics in the St John Ambulance Service.

The Centre has also researched the incidence, risk factors and healthcare cost of falls after major joint replacement surgery and been involved in a collaborative study on women’s wellness after cancer care.

Professor Leanne Monterosso, the Chair of Nursing Research, said SJOG Murdoch Hospital’s partnership with UNDA has enabled the Centre to promote evidence-based and leading-edge clinical practice.

“The primary aim of our research is to continuously improve the quality and safety of care we provide our patients, as well as contribute the body of research that exists in health care globally,” Professor Monterosso said.

“We have also been investigating the hospital’s workforce and how employee engagement and intergenerational tension in the nursing workforce play a part in delivering excellent care.”

“We are very proud of our achievements over the past five years, and thankful to Notre Dame for its ongoing support.”

Professor Elaine Pavlos, Dean of the School of Nursing and Midwifery at UNDA, welcomed the launch of the research report and praised the ongoing collaboration between the two institutions.

“The University of Notre Dame Australia is committed to the Centre for Nursing & Midwifery Research and the existing collaboration we share with St John of God,” Professor Pavlos said.

“This Centre is the only one of its kind in the private health care sector in Western Australia within which the University is associated.”

Prospective new studies for 2016 at the Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Research include survivorship after cancer care and the identification of patients with palliative care needs in the emergency department.

 

St John of God Murdoch Hospital, part of St John of God Health Care, is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to furthering the values and healing mission of Jesus Christ.

Established in 1994 to provide comprehensive, quality health services for patients in Perth’s southern suburbs, St John of God Murdoch Hospital is now one of Australia’s leading private health campuses.

The hospital has 507 beds, including a 20-bed hospice, a 24-hour emergency department, 20-chair Cancer Centre, and a wide range of clinical and diagnostic services, including medical, surgical, paediatric, maternity, and critical and coronary care. The hospital’s Social Outreach Services provide counselling, advocacy and support, psycho-education and psychological therapies for people of all ages across a range of locations.