Content
USC mental health nursing research gains funding
Health researchers at the University of the Sunshine Coast have received a $225,192 grant from the Golden Casket Foundation which could positively influence the quality of mental health nursing practice and the outcomes for patients across Queensland and beyond.
The world-first study by Professor Edward White and Associate Professor Julie Winstanley will involve mental health nursing staff at 24 centres in both metropolitan and regional areas of the state.
This study will build on previous work conducted by the research team over the past 15 years and will focus on an area of health which is considered a priority by both the State and Federal governments.
One of the participating centres is likely to be located within the Sunshine Coast Health Service District, where USC has increasingly strong research partnerships with health service providers.
The two USC health researchers and their team will assess whether Clinical Supervision – a structured staff support arrangement that involves small groups of nurses meeting regularly – will improve the nurses’ personal well-being, the quality of care they deliver and the outcomes for patients.
“One of the current concerns for health policy makers is the recruitment and retention of high quality mental health nurses and we believe that Clinical Supervision may assist with these two matters”, Professor White said.
“Mental health nurses deal with challenging and sometimes harrowing clinical situations on a day-to-day basis and Clinical Supervision may contribute to their support whilst they deliver clinical services to patients in their care”.
Associate Professor Winstanley said: “This will be a randomised controlled study to test for any difference between centres that introduce Clinical Supervision and those that do not”.
“There is already evidence to suggest that the most popular model of Clinical Supervision promotes the well-being of nurses,’’ she said. “This is the first study, that we know of, which goes much further to test the hypothesis that Clinical Supervision can also improve the quality of the care they provide and clinical outcomes for patients”.
Associate Professor Winstanley said she was delighted to have received the Golden Casket Foundation grant for the study, which is expected to run for 12-15 months.
“Approximately 50 applications were received, of which, six studies were funded,’’ she said. “We are particularly pleased because we believe that this may be the only grant awarded, on this occasion, to a regional university, the only one dealing with mental health and the only one from the discipline of nursing.”
Golden Casket Lottery Corporation Limited Chief Executive Bill Thorburn said the USC was one of six Queensland health and medical research organisations that would benefit from the $1.2 million awarded in the second round of Golden Casket Foundation grants.
The Golden Casket Foundation was established in April 2005 by the Queensland Government and Golden Casket Lottery Corporation Limited and uses interest accrued on unclaimed first division lotto prizes to reinvest in Queensland’s future by supporting medical research in Queensland.