Dean of Health Sciences

Professor Hal Swerissen

This month the Faculty, with the rest of the University participated in the AQUA review. I would like to thank all those staff in the Faculty who took part. This is an important process for improving the outcomes for students and our research effort.

The Faculty continues to make excellent progress in the implementation of our new curriculum model. The review of the Common First Year has highlighted a number of strengths and some important areas that need improvement. A number of changes have been made in response to the semester one evaluation. A further review will be held in semester two and the results will again be used to make improvements. I would like to thank Matt Oates and the first year team for the excellent work they have done in implementing and reviewing the program.

I have conducted a number of meetings with schools and departments to discuss the introduction of the clinical school network model for practicums with staff. The overall framework for the new model is firming up and the Faculty has a number of detailed discussions about the implementation of the model underway with health agencies. I look forward to being able to report on the outcomes of these discussions toward the end of the year.

The La Trobe Rural Health School implementation is proceeding. A formal proposal to establish the School at the beginning of 2010 has been agreed by the Faculty and will shortly be considered within the University. The positions of Head of School, Professor of Nursing and Head of Department and Professor of Allied Health and Head of Department have been advertised. The anatomy and physiology facility in Bendigo is being built, user group meetings on the design of the buildings are being held and the curriculum structure of the rural clinical school network is being finalised. I anticipate consulting with staff about organisational and governance matters relating to the school in the near future.

The building works for the new student hub in health sciences buildings one and two have gone out to tender. The new building will provide state of the art administrative space to support students and staff. As this project proceeds there will be consultation with staff to manage the building works over the next six months or so.

Alternate format

Dean's Report September 2009 (PDF 1.53MB)

Out and About

This month I have been out and about on the following activities:

• Guest Editorial in VHA Health Matters;


• Attended Tertiary Education Plan, Bendigo;


• Premier roundtable on health reform;


• State Health Minister roundtable on health reform;


• Spoke to Albury Wodonga GP network on "To reform or not to reform: options for Aust Health system";


• Guest Speaker Victorian Divisions of General Practice forum ”Primary Care Strategy”;


• Guest speaker at Library planning day.

Staff Publications

I have received notification of the following publications and conference presentations since our last newsletter. Congratulations to the staff who have been involved.

Jennings N, Lee G, Chou K, Keating S. A survey of patient satisfaction in a metropolitan Emergency Department: comparing nurse practitioners and emergency physicians. International Journal of Nursing Practice 2009; 15 (3): 213-218.

Lee G. Comorbid illness affects health-related quality of life after Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery. Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing 2009; 26 (3): 24-31.

Free B, Lee G, Bystrzycki A. Literature review of studies on the effectiveness of Nurse Practitioners ability to order and interpret X-rays. Australasian Journal of Emergency Nursing 2009; 12 (1): 8-15. Doi:10.1016/j.aenj.2008.11.004.

Azzopardi S, Lee G. Quality of life two years after Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery. Journal of Cardiovascular Nursing 2009; 24(3):232-240. Impact Factor=1.47.

Lee G, Metcalf S. Building research capacity through a hospital-based clinical school of nursing. Nurse Education Today 2009; 29 (3): 350-356. Impact factor =0.702.

Lee G. “Commentary on Lau-Walker MO, Cowie MR, Roughton M. Coronary heart disease patients’ perception of their symptoms and sense of control are associated with their quality of life three years following hospital discharge”. Journal of Clinical Nursing. Accepted April 2009. Impact Factor=1.376.

Davis P, Lin V, and Gauld R. "Public health in Australia and New Zealand" in Beaglehole and Bonita (eds). Global Public Health. Oxford University Press. 2009.

Lin V. Looking Back to Look Forward: Lessons from Chinese medicine registration in Victoria. Australian Journal of Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine. 4, 1, 2009. it was based on a keynote address at the Australian Acupuncture and Chinese Medicine Association national conference in May.

Sovan Dey article on Stem cell therapy is published in national news paper. Here is the link for it. http://www.thedailystar.net/newDesign/news-details.php?nid=101372.

Carey, L.B., Robinson, P. Cohen, J. (2009) Organ procurement and health care chaplaincy in Australia, Journal of Religion and Health, On-line, DOI 10.1007/s10943-009-9279-1 [In press].

Australian e-Journal for the Advancement of Mental Health (AeJAMH), Volume 8, Issue 2, 2009 ISSN: 1446-7984 Toward an understanding of how art making can facilitate mental health recovery. Theresa Van Lith, 1, 2 Patricia Fenner1 and Margot J Schofield 1, 3.

Bauer, M., Nay, R., & McAuliffe, L. (2009) Catering to love, sex and intimacy in residential aged care: What information is provided to consumers? Sexuality and Disability, 27, 3-9.

Bauer, M., Fitzgerald, L., Haesler, E., & Manfrin, M. (2009). Hospital discharge planning for frail older people and their family. Are we delivering best practice? A review of the evidence. Journal of Clinical Nursing, 18, (18), 2539-2546.

Conference Presentations

Kenny, A. (2009) Nursing shortages: current policy is no easy solution. Core address NET Conference, Fitzwilliam College, 7-10 September, Cambridge, UK.

Kenny, A. (2009) Conference chair. Partnership Working Theme, NET Conference, Fitzwilliam College, 7- 10 September, Cambridge, UK.

Bish, M., Kenny, A., Gussy, M., Keith, B., Kidd, S., McKinstry, C. (2009) A partnership approach to improving oral health outcomes for mental health clients. NET Conference, Fitzwilliam College, 7-10 September, Cambridge, UK.

Carey, L.B. (2009) "Chaplaincy Reporting and Coding", RAAF Chaplains Conference 17-21 August, RAAF Base Glenbrook, Sydney, NSW.

Liang Z. and Howard P. ‘Strategies to improve the use of evidence in health management decision making’, ACSHE National Congress, Aug 2009, Gold Coast.

Liang. Z. (2009) ‘The practice of evidence-based decision making among healthcare managers in Victoria: implications to researchers and research institutions’. SHAPE Symposium, July 2009, Glenelg.

Chandana Unnithan participated in the national Health Informatics Conference and presented the following research paper, published in the refereed proceedings by Health Informatics Society of Australia.

Unnithan C, Smith R, Fraunholz B (2009) Maximising the Benefits of RFID Integration in Clinical Contexts: A Linear Conduit, HIC’09 – Frontiers of Health Informatics Conference, National Convention Centre, 19-21 August, Canberra, Australia.

Vivian Lin gave the lunch time address at the annual symposium of the National Institute for Complementary Medicine in June, on "National registration of Chinese medicine – implications for researchers, practitioners, and industry".

Vivian Lin was an invited speaker on the gender equity and health panel at the International Society for Equity in Health meeting, in Crete, in June.

Dr Michael Bauer has been invited to speak at an international symposium in October organised by the Canadian Research Network for Care in the Community in Toronto. Event: Keep on Rockin: Sexuality and Aging.

Petrie, E. (2009). Paper - “Mindfulness of Care” Paper submitted for the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. September 29 – October 3.

Page, K., Edward, K., Hamilton, B., Gilbert, M., Davidson, P., Salzberg, M., Wilson, A., Castle, D., &Worrall-Carter, L. (2009) – Paper - A medical record audit of current depression and anxiety screening practices in those with coronary heart disease. St Vincent’s Research Week. Melbourne, August 25.

Edward, K., Page, K., Hamilton, B., Gilbert, M., Davidson, P., Salzberg, M., Wilson, A., Castle, D., & Worrall-Carter, L. (2009). -Paper- Screening For Depression and Anxiety - Physical and Mental Health Considerations. Paper submitted for the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses. September 29 – October 3.

Deegan, J (2009) A View of the Cost of Failure to Identify and Utilise the Professional Skills of Culturally & Linguistically Diverse Nurses. Royal College of Nursing Annual Conference Melbourne: September 2-4 2009.

Research – funding/grant success

Professor Bigby has received the following research grant:-Carling- Jenkins, R., Icono, T, Torr, J, Bigby, C. Alzheimer’s Disease in People with Down Syndrome: Developing a Model of Care. Alzheimers Dementia Research Program.$20.000.

Awards

The following staff have received awards. Congratulations!

Dr. Zhanming Liang obtained the Fellowship of the Australian College of Health Service Executives in Aug 2009.

Lynne McPherson received an award for 'excellence in service and commitment to Child Protection' from DHS Child Protection during Child Protection week.

Professor Christine Bigby has been appointed as a Visiting Professor in the Tizard Centre, University of Kent, UK from Nov 2009 to Sept 2014.

Teaching

Vivian Lin has been teaching a short course version of our health promotion leadership program (Prolead program) at the Swiss Summer Public Health School, University of Lugano, on Aug 16-22.

Inaugural Nurse Educator Workshop

Nursing and Midwifery recently held the Inaugural Nurse Educator Workshop for sessional staff on 27 August 2009. The feedback was very good and thanks to Dawn Whittall for developing and launching this initiative. Facilitators included John Hannon, Judy Lyons, and Dawn Whittall. Results of the evaluation are as follows - Number Enrolled = 20, Number Attended = 17, Yield Rate = 85.0%; Number of Respondents = 15; Response Rate = 88.2 %. More specifically, 80% of participants rated the overall value of the educational content high to very high and 80% rating the quality of the session high to very high. In terms of the presentation of the workshop 100% participants rated this high to very high.

News from Bendigo

Bendigo continues to receive significant media coverage for the new regional programs in speech pathology, podiatry and paramedics, including The Age, My Careers for the new Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Paramedic Practice course.

Bendigo campus has also successfully launched a Student Mentoring Program involving 17 year 11 students from Bendigo Senior Secondary College. La Trobe students from various FHS courses together with psychology and pharmacy students will provide mentoring for secondary students, giving them insights into university life and training for their relevant health profession. Dr Rob Townsend has provided the training sessions for this program.

The Faculty will also be involved with the Bendigo South East College year 9 Aspire Program in 2010 which is a similar program to what is conducted at the Bundoora campus with Ivanhoe Grammar students.

Bendigo South East College and Bendigo Senior Secondary College will be industry partners for the second year Bachelor of Health Science/Master of Occupational Therapy Practice unit: Participation in Diverse Communities through Service Learning. Students will be working with indigenous students and students from a Karen refugee background at these schools.

45 year 10 students from Weeroona College visited FHS Bendigo on the 14th for experiential activities, tour of the building and campus and information on health professions and courses.

Staff Changes

I would like to thank the following staff for their contribution to the Faculty, Cathy Driver, Nursing & Midwifery, Bendigo and Natalie Humphries, Senior Executive Officer, FHS.

I would like to welcome Pam Lyons has been appointed Project Officer with the LRHS.