Care for patient outcomes recognised

15 Mar 2017

15 March 2017

“I am honoured to have my work recognised and I feel that we have made great strides in helping to deliver optimal care to our patients,” Dr Ross-Adjie says.

Dr Ross-Adjie’s early research work at Murdoch was the catalyst for the appointment of a Chair of Nursing Research and subsequent creation of the hospital’s Centre for Nursing and Midwifery Research, established in 2012 in collaboration with the University of Notre Dame’s School of Nursing and Midwifery.

“Since that time we have continued to work across both the public and private health sectors, collaborating with colleagues from other health disciplines both nationally and internationally,” Dr Ross-Adjie said. 

“We believe that working this way maximises the benefits we can derive from our research and improves outcomes for both our patients and their families.”

The Centre is currently working on studies to better understand how older people can recover safely from their surgery without falls; profile the maternity health care needs of fly–in-fly-out families; explore staff and patient understanding of the emotional and spiritual aspects of hospital care; assist in improving the rates of breastfeeding duration and create of a series of informative videos to help cancer patients live well during and after treatment.

Dr Ross-Adjie’s PhD work involved the testing of a nursing bowel management protocol in patients who had knee or hip replacement surgery. Gail’s work in this area has profoundly impacted current bowel management across public and private sectors and the Murdoch Bowel Protocol^© is now used both nationally and internationally to ensure patients return to normal bowel activity soon after surgery. 

Due to the reduction in hospital length of stay after these procedures, the protocol is being revised with two different treatment regimens being compared to assess their effectiveness. 

Dr Ross-Adjie was the inaugural recipient of the Reginald 'Babe' Norman PhD scholarship in 2010 and in 2016, she received further funds to enable further research into patient falls. She was responsible for St John of God Murdoch Hospital becoming the first WA hospital to gain endorsement as an evidence based organisation from the Joanna Briggs Institute and the first WA hospital to gain three year endorsement.

Director of Nursing Dani Meinema said Dr Ross-Adjie’s passion for improving outcomes for patients and their families has made her a great candidate for this award.

“Dr Ross-Adjie has worked tirelessly to put nurse-led research at the forefront of the hospital,” Ms Meinema says.

“She is also well-known as a mentor to nurses and midwives interested in research, supporting their ideas to enable good quality research in areas of need.”

WA Nursing and Midwifery Excellence Awards winners will be announced on 6 May 2017.