Dolene Rossi

The write stuff: A proactive approach to increasing academics' writing skills and outcomes

An important way to advance the profession of nursing, to promote best practice and to improve the quality of nursing care, is for nurses to publish. A publication track record is necessary to gain competitive research funding, build knowledge, disseminate new insights and advance the profession. However, academics often experience obstacles in publishing ranging from a pervasive teaching culture, lack of confidence in writing, and lack of strategies to write more strategically. The benefits of writing retreats have been discussed within the nursing and other academic literature but the specifics about the method as well as the unplanned benefits have not been explored. More exploration and discussion is needed about factors assisting writers to complete papers and successfully publish. This paper discusses a novel intervention which aimed to seed the beginnings of a flourishing scholarly community at a regional Queensland University. The paper also presents qualitative and quantitative evaluation data.

Evaluation of an aged care nurse practitioner service: quality of care within a residential aged care facility hospital avoidance service

BackgroundReducing avoidable hospitialisation of aged care facility (ACF) residents can improve the resident experience and their health outcomes. Consequently many variations of hospital avoidance (HA) programs continue to evolve. Nurse practitioners (NP) with expertise in aged care have the potential to make a unique contribution to hospital avoidance programs. However, little attention has been dedicated to service evaluation of this model and the quality of care provided. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the quality of an aged care NP model of care situated within a HA service in a regional area of Australia.MethodsDonabedian’s structure, process and outcome framework was applied to evaluate the quality of the NP model of care. The Australian Nurse Practitioner Study standardised interview schedules for evaluating NP models of care guided the semi-structured interviews of nine health professionals (including ACF nurses, medical doctors and allied health professionals), four ACF residents and their families and two NPs. Theory driven coding consistent with the Donabedian framework guided analysis of interview data and presentation of findings.ResultsStructural dimensions identified included the ‘in-reach’ nature of the HA service, distance, limitations of professional regulation and the residential care model. These dimensions influenced the process of referring the resident to the NP, the NPs timely response and interactions with other professionals. The processes where the NPs take time connecting with residents, initiating collaborative care plans, up-skilling aged care staff and function as intra and interprofessional boundary spanners all contributed to quality outcomes. Quality outcomes in this study were about timely intervention, HA, timely return home, partnering with residents and family (knowing what they want) and resident and health professional satisfaction.ConclusionsThis study provides valuable insights into the contribution of the NP model of care within an aged care, HA service and how staff manipulated the process dimensions to improve referral to the NPs. NP service in this study was dynamic, flexible and responsive to both patient and organisational demands.

Collaborative Research: A Partnership That Seizes Opportunities, Navigates Challenges and Constructs New Knowledge and Shared Understandings

This chapter recounts the journey of researchers who navigate situational, contextual, and methodological challenges during the course of an action research project. A collective case study was used to reach cross-institutional, multidisciplinary understandings of the patterns, processes, and consequences of learner interaction in online courses. A model was constructed to explain the relationships among course design, interaction, and learning. A set of guidelines was also developed that identified curriculum design and delivery conditions conducive to interaction and effective learning in online courses. Yet it is argued the significance of this journey resides in the knowledge constructed as a consequence of the recursive actions and interactions within the research maze and the reflexive dynamic among researchers whose learning was enhanced rather than obstructed by the obstacles they found in their way.

Navigating, Negotiating and Nullifying Education Research Mazes: Successful Strategies for Mobilising Contextual, Conceptual, Methodological and Transformational Challenges and Opportunities

This chapter articulates three possible approaches to engaging with education research mazes: navigating (by heading towards, away from and/or around selected points of scholarly reference), negotiating (through interacting with research frameworks, technologies, participants, gatekeepers and other stakeholders), and nullifying (in the sense of understanding and where appropriate diminishing and/or enhancing what is puzzling or troubling about the research). The authors illustrate these three approaches to mobilising education research mazes with targeted accounts drawn from their respective research projects. In doing so, the chapter demonstrates theoretically framed and experientially grounded strategies for embracing the contextual, conceptual, methodological and transformational research challenges and opportunities presented in the subsequent chapters in the book. From this perspective, education research mazes emerge as integral components of the broader research enterprise.