Academic Department
Cabrini – Deakin Centre for Nursing Research
Staff
Professor Tracey Bucknall
Head, Cabrini -Deakin Centre for Nursing Research
RN, ICU Cert, BN, Grad Dip Adv Nurs, PhD, MRCNA
Email : tracey.bucknall@deakin.edu.au
Tracey is a Professor at Deakin University and the new Head of the Cabrini-Deakin Centre for Nursing Research at Cabrini Hospital. Prior to this appointment, she was an Associate Professor at the School of Nursing, University of Melbourne, and Director of Nursing Research and Development at Western Health. Tracey has clinical qualifications and extensive experience in critical care nursing, and has held a variety of clinical, educational and research appointments in both private and public hospitals, and in the tertiary sector.
Her primary research interest has been clinical decision making. She has concentrated on understanding how individuals make decisions routinely and in uncertainty, understanding the environmental and social influences in health care. Tracey also researches the implementation of research into practice in areas such as pain and sedation management, medication safety and health maintenance for the elderly. More recently she has incorporated patient involvement in decision making as a means of influencing clinician uptake of research evidence.
Tracey is an Associate Editor for Worldviews on Evidence Based Nursing. She teaches in undergraduate and postgraduate nursing education programs, and supervises Masters and PhD students in decision making research.
Lera O’Connor
Research Fellow, Cancer and Palliative Care
Cabrini - Deakin Centre for Nursing Research and Cabrini Palliative
Care Unit
RN BAppSci MPH
Email: pallresearch@cabrini.com.au
Lera is a registered nurse with a specific interest in cancer and palliative care. In addition to her part-time research role, Lera holds a clinical position in the inpatient palliative care unit. She has completed a nursing education degree, and more recently a Master of Public Health through Monash University. Her research project explored outpatient compliance with morphine.
Lera’s current research involves carer satisfaction with palliative home care services, and the provision of carer support interventions. She is also interested in working with clinical nurses to assist them in the identification and development of research ideas to enhance the evidence base in palliative nursing.
Helen Smenda
Research Fellow, Cabrini - Deakin Centre for Nursing Research
DipNURS Stud, BA (Nurs/ed), MBUS (research)
Email: helen.smenda@deakin.edu.au
Helen's recent appointment as research fellow for the Deakin-Cabrini Centre for Nursing Research encompasses project areas of clinical nurses’ decision making and clinical handover. Her previous research includes nurse recruitment and retention that arose from her MBUS thesis on nurse satisfaction and nurses’ decision making affecting patient safety.
Helen’s background includes 19 years as a registered nurse with extensive experience in clinical practice, teaching and research, gained from health and educational institutions in four countries (New Zealand, England, Hong Kong, Australia).
Linda Baker
Doctoral Candidate, Deakin University
Research Fellow, Cabrini - Deakin Centre for Nursing Research
RN, BN, GDip Nsing (Comm Hlth), MHlthSc (Nsing)
Email: ljbake@deakin.edu.au
Linda is currently completing a PhD exploring the care needs of older stroke patients in the acute care setting. Her principal research interests are stroke care, risk management, falls prevention and continence management.
Linda has worked as a Research Assistant and Research Fellow in various partnerships with Deakin University for six and a half years. For the past five years Linda has worked in the Cabrini – Deakin Centre for Nursing Research.
Nicky Hewitt
Master of Nursing (Research ) Candidate, Deakin University
RCpN (NZ), DipHE (Critical Care), BSc (Physiology), PGDip (Nursing)
Email: hnic@deakin.edu.au
Nicky is a registered nurse who is completing her Master of Nursing (Research) at Deakin University and is based at the Cabrini - Deakin Centre for Nursing Research for the duration of her thesis. She is currently examining the effect of lateral positioning for critically ill adult patients using the Cochrane Collaboration method for systematic reviews of interventions.
Nicky has over 16 years experience in Intensive Care including the neuroscience, general and cardiothoracic subspecialties. She completed a university based critical care course in 1993 and has subsequently worked in numerous critical care units in the UK, NZ and Australia. Nicky has also worked as a postgraduate critical care course coordinator and university lecturer, teaching in NZ and Australia. While studying, Nicki is also working as a clinical nurse specialist in the Intensive Care Unit at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne.
Fiona Ryan
Research Assistant, Cabrini - Deakin Centre for Nursing Research
RN, BN (Hons), BAppSc (Psychology)
Email: fryan@deakin.edu.au
Fiona commenced working as a registered nurse at Cabrini Health in 2004 in her graduate year program. Since then Fiona has undertaken the Advanced Clinical Practice Course and her Honour’s degree in Nursing. Her thesis examined how ophthalmic day surgery patients convalesce at home. In 2005 Fiona also commenced working as a Clinician Researcher at the Cabrini-Deakin Centre for Nursing Research. Currently Fiona works as both a Registered Nurse at Cabrini Health working on the Urology/Gynaecology ward, a research assistant at the Cabrini-Deakin Centre for Nursing Research, and a sessional lecturer at Deakin University in the School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences.
Fiona is currently working on several projects including: Healthcare-associated urinary and blood stream infections and how patients recover at home after chemotherapy treatment. She aims to commence her PhD (Nursing) in 2008.
Jill McHenry
Research Assistant, Cabrini - Deakin Centre for Nursing Research
RN, Cardiac Nurse Cert, ACP Cert.
Jill is an Associate Nurse Manager at Cabrini Malvern, with specific interest in acute medical nursing. Jill has many years experience across various nursing specialties. Currently her clinical role includes risk prevention, management and analysis, and in service education.
Jill is currently the Clinical Nurse Specialist affiliated with the Medibank Private Falls Prevention and Management Project, which is a collaboration between Cabrini Health and Cabrini-Deakin Centre for Nursing Research. A Masters of Health Science (Nursing) is under consideration.
