Staff profile

Dr Les Fitzgerald

Head of Department Rural Nursing & Midwifery, Postgraduate Courses Coordinator

Faculty of Health Sciences

La Trobe Rural Health School
Department of Rural Nursing and Midwifery

Bendigo

 

Qualifications

RN., RM., Dip Teach Nurs., BEd., MNursStud., PhD

Membership of professional Associations

MRCNA

Area of study

Nursing

Brief Profile

Les is the Head of the Department of Rural Nursing & Midwifery in the LaTrobe Rural Health School with campuses at Albury/Wodonga, Bendigo, Mildura and Shepparton in Victoria, Australia. His teaching and research is focused on e-learning, evidence based practice and clinical education to advance the practice of nurses in the acute care setting as to is his work on the experience of men in nursing and midwifery and ethics of love and human caring. Les is currently working with higher degree students on the impact of workplace education on clinical practice outcomes, the influence of communities of professional practice on clinical performance of nurses and the role of men in birth suite. He is intersted in transformation research focusing on clinical practice change. He is developing a range of online blended delivery curricula using new technologies as well as examining the phenomena of love and human caring for nurses. 

Research interests

Clinical Skills

- e-learning, clinical education & human caring

Rural and Regional Health

- Innovative and Locally-Responsive Service Models

Teaching Units

Clinical Audit (NSG4_5CAU), Clinical Education (NSG4_5HEA), Clinical Project (NSG5CNP & NSG5CLP), Independent Study Unit (NSG5ISU), Learning & Teaching in Nursing (NSG3LTN)  

Recent Publications

Chapters in books

Fitzgerald, L. (2012). Using research evidence. In S. Borbasi & D. Jackson (Eds.), Navigating the maze of nursing research: An interactive learning adventure (3 ed.). Sydney: Elsevier.

Fitzgerald, L, & Stokes, J. (2012). Using library resources: what, when & how. In S. Borbasi & D. Jackson (Eds.), Navigating the maze of nursing research: An interactive learning adventure (3 ed.). Sydney: Elsevier.

Papers in refereed journals

Fitzgerald, L., Wong, P., Hannon, J., Solberg Tokerud, M., & Lyons, J. (2012). Curriculum learning designs: Teaching health assessment skills for advanced nursing practitioners through sustainable flexible learning. Nurse Education Today.

Pittman, E., & Fitzgerald, L. (2011) The campaigns for men to become midwives in the 1970's. Journal of the Australasian and New Zealand Society for Health and History. 13(2) 158-171.

Fitzgerald, L., Bauer, M., Koch,S. & King, S. (2011) Hospital discharge: recommendations for performance improvement for family carers of people with dementia. Australian Health Review. 35, 364-370.

Bauer, M., Fitzgerald, L.,  Koch S. & King, S (2011). How family carers view hospital discharge planning for the older person with a dementia. Dementia: International Journal of Social Research and Practice. doi:10.1177/1471301211407790

Bauer, M & Fitzgerald, L, (2010) Response to Manthorpe, J’s commentary on 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, 2539–2546; Vol 19, 1173-1174.

Bauer, M., Fitzgerald, L., Koch, S. & King, S. (2009). Hit and miss: How family carers perceive hospital discharge for people with dementia. Australasian Journal on Ageing. Vol 28 (Supplement 2), A43- A44.

Bauer, M.  Fitzgerald, L. Koch, S. & King, S. (2009) Improving hospital discharge preparation and support for families of patients with dementia: Final report. Alzheimer's Australia.

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.

Lee, G & Fitzgerald, L (2008) ‘A clinical internship model for the Nurse Practitioner programme’. Nurse Education in Practice. 8(6), pp397-404.

Price, Michelle, Fitzgerald, Les & Kinsman, Leigh (2007) Quality improvement: the divergent views of managers and clinicians. Journal of Nursing Management 15, 43-50.

Fitzgerald, Les (2006) A report on Singapore nurses answers to the question of ‘what is love in nursing?’. Singapore Nursing Journal, 33(4) Oct-Dec 47-54.

Reed, F and Fitzgerald, L (2005) The mixed attitudes of nurses’s to caring for people with mental illness in a rural general hospital. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing 14, 249-257

Fitzgerald, Les and van Hooft, Stan. (2000) `A Socratic Dialogue on the question: What is love in nursing?' Nursing Ethics 7 (6) pp481-491.