Research Areas

Workforce issues

Recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives is one of the highest priorities for health services. Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and/or Midwifery (RUSON / RUSOM) are employed to undertake nursing or midwifery activities, delegated and supervised by a registered nurse or midwife. Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of RUSON and RUSOM has grown substantially. RUSONs and RUSOMs represent the future health workforce; however, we have little understanding about their needs for support. 

Projects include:

Nurturing Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and Midwifery to Optimise Their Experience in Practice Settings

The overall purpose of this research is to inform development of support systems and resources to optimise the experience of RUSON and RUSOM at Barwon Health, to help them transition and assimilate into the workforce, the health care environment, and their roles at Barwon Health. It is anticipated that providing a positive experience will promote the recruitment and retention of nurses and midwives following graduation. 

The population for this study includes approximately 82 RUSON and RUSOM employed at Barwon Health during 2022/2023. All RUSON and RUSOM employed at Barwon Health have been invited by email to participate in the study via completion of a survey, and/or participation in an interview and/or co-design workshop. Recruitment of participants started in August 2023. This research is funded by the Victorian Nurses and Midwives Trust.

For further information please contact: [email protected]

Exploring the experiences and career trajectory of Registered Undergraduate Students of Nursing and Midwifery

The aim of this project is to undertake a longitudinal exploration of the RUSON and RUSOM role across multiple clinical sites in Victoria, including Barwon Health.

The objectives of this research are to explore the expectations and experiences of, and satisfaction with, the RUSON/RUSOM role from the perspective of RUSON and RUSOM staff, and nurses and midwives; and to investigate the long-term impact of RUSON/RUSOM employment on graduates with regards to transition to professional practice, job satisfaction, retention, workplace choice, and professional development. An online survey and focus groups conducted by video call will be used to collect the data annually over 5 years. This project commenced in August 2023. This study is funded by the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research, Deakin University.

For further information please contact: [email protected]

Improving workforce capability and capacity in communicating with people living with dementia (PLWD) using an artificially intelligent (AI) avatar, “Talk with Ted”

Most people living with dementia experience difficulties in communicating their needs, which ultimately impacts the quality of their relationships, health and well-being. Over 400,000 Australians live with dementia, which is projected to increase to 800,000 by 2058.

This project aims to contribute to the aged-care sector’s workforce capability and capacity by implementing evidence-based learning, via an avatar, that leads to scalable and translatable solutions and improvements in service delivery, promotes the adoption of technology, and ultimately leads to an improvement in the quality of care experienced by those living with dementia. This research is funded by Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA).

Aged care patient experiences

Loneliness and social isolation are significant challenges for those living in residential aged care and the COVID-19 pandemic has made this even more challenging. Reminiscing and story sharing activities have been shown to positively impact those living with mild dementia.

Projects include:

Virtual reality experiences for residential aged care residents with mild dementia 

This project will implement and evaluate innovative virtual reality (VR) experiences for residential aged care residents living with mild dementia. The VR experiences have been designed specifically for older people and provide the ability to go on a wide variety of virtual tours to places that may not be otherwise possible, e.g. a trip to the Eiffel tower. The experiences can also be undertaken together in groups with others, enabling social interaction. This research is funded by Aged Care Research and Industry Innovation Australia (ARIIA).