Western Health is committed to providing Best Care to our community. Underpinning Western Health’s world-class clinical care is our commitment to research and education. One key initiative of the Strategic Directions 2021-2023 is to “build stronger connections between and amongst researchers, educators, clinical leaders and frontline staff, through multidisciplinary projects, learning and innovation”. This is achieved by fostering curiosity and supporting staff to lead and participate in research.

Research Week is held each October at Western Health, to celebrate the great research undertaken at the health service and to learn more about our future initiatives and innovations.

As part of this important week Nursing & Midwifery holds a session which focuses on celebrating the work and projects undertaken by nurse and midwife researchers. During this week we also bestow Research Grants and the Mavis Mitchell Scholarship to support nursing-led and midwifery-led research at Western Health.

Research Week 2023:

It was wonderful to celebrate the high caliber of nurse and midwife-led research being undertake at Western Health during Research Week when it was recently held in October.

We were honoured to be able to hear the keynote addresses from:

  • Associate Professor Debra Kerr, who is relatively new to the Western Health-Deakin University Partnership, and gave a really interesting overview of her past research and findings – including her specialisation in What to Teach and How to Teach Nurses About Communication?
  • Adjunct Professor Tanya Farrell, who gave an inspiring address on Why Midwives Matter and How They Make a Difference?, which included an insight into changes to the midwifery workforce over time and how midwives can influence the future from ward, boardroom and beyond!

It was fantastic to hear presentations from 5 of our nurses and midwives who have been undertaking research over the past 12 months – the work they are doing is amazing – including:

  • Hannah Sharrock (Professional Practice Development & Improvement Manager, Nursing & Midwifery Workforce Unit) – Workforce Outcomes of the Non-traditional Workforce Groups – Qualitative Results
  • Anie Edwards (Acting Operations Manager, Infection Prevention) – P2-N95 Mask Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Nurses’ Experiences and Perceptions of Adverse Effects
  • Cindy Ogluszko (Prostate Cancer Specialist Nurse/ Clinical Nurse Consultant/ Continence Nurse Advisor) – Understanding The Needs of Patients and Their Partners Regarding Sexual Health Intervention Following Prostate Cancer Treatment
  • Christine Pirotta (Education Site Coordinator) – A Blended Learning Approach to Hospital Orientation for Newly Employed Registered Nurses in the Acute Care Setting
  • Dr Vidanka Vasilevski (Research Fellow, Western Health Partnership) – Staff Perspectives of Maternity Care for Women From Migrant and Refugee Backgrounds.

Congratulations to Anie Edward who won the prize for best oral presentation for ‘P2-N95 Mask Use During the COVID-19 Pandemic – Nurses’ Experiences and Perceptions of Adverse Effects’, and Kylie Feely for being awarded best poster for her work in ‘Reducing Pressure From Nasogastric Tubes in ICU’.

Nursing & Midwifery Research Grants:

Western Health is committed to providing Best Care to our community. Underpinning Western Health’s world-class clinical care is our commitment to research and education. One key initiative of the Strategic Directions 2021-2023 is to “build stronger connections between and amongst researchers, educators, clinical leaders and frontline staff, through multidisciplinary projects, learning and innovation”. This is achieved by fostering curiosity and supporting staff to lead and participate in research.

Each year the Executive Director of Nursing and Midwifery seeks applications from Western Health staff for grant funding to undertake dedicated nursing and/or midwifery research.

There are two Nursing & Midwifery Research Grants awarded each year:

  • Nursing Research Grant ($15,000) 
  • Midwifery Research Grant ($15,000) 

There is also one Research Grant of $10,000 open to a nurse or midwife:

  • Denise Paterson Research Grant ($10,000) 

These are exciting opportunities for nurses and midwifes to be innovative, lead research and contribute to an improvement in practice and better patient outcomes.

These Nursing & Midwifery Research Grants are bestowed annually during Research Week, at the Nursing & Midwifery Research session.

Click here to view the past recipients of these grants.

Mavis Mitchell Memorial Scholarship:

The Mavis Mitchell Memorial Scholarship is a $5,000 award or scholarship granted to Registered Nurses and/or Midwives, who are employed within Western Health. Applications will be accepted by individuals or a team.

The intent of the scholarship is to provide funding to enable and assist eligible Registered Nurses/Midwives to undertake a service improvement/quality project or research in any activity approved by the Selection Committee. The project or research must be beneficial to our clients, or to the community served by Western Health, in the opinion of the Selection Committee. This project or research can be by an individual or group.

Click here to view the past recipients of the Mavis Mitchell Scholarship.

Tippet Trust Scholarship:

The prestigious Tippet Trust Postgraduate Scholarship is aimed at providing significant financial support for nurses or midwives wishing to develop and/or upgrade their knowledge and skills in a clinical specialty. The Tippet Trust Postgraduate Scholarship is offered to an outstanding candidate who has applied for one of Western Health postgraduate scholarships.

Click here to view the past recipients of the Tippet Trust Scholarship.