Professional and Industry Engagement

Academic staff in the School of Nursing and Midwifery are leaders in their fields. Many are known nationally and internationally, showing leadership through a range of activities including editorship of journals, membership of professional organisations, and sitting on professional and regulatory committees.

Leadership Development

As a leading educational provider of nursing and midwifery education, the School promotes the development of leadership skills in nurses and midwives of all levels. Leadership training and education is provided at undergraduate and postgraduate level, through coursework studies or in the research only degrees.

For more information about postgraduate leadership training opportunities please contact: Judy Mannix.

The Joanna Briggs Institute

The Joanna Briggs Institute (opens in new window) is a recognized global leader in Evidence-Based Healthcare and an International not-for-profit Research and Development Organisation specializing in Evidence-Based resources for healthcare professionals.

The Joanna Briggs Institute has over 35 Collaborating Centres, servicing over 90 countries. The Collaborating Centre for New South Wales is based at the South Western Sydney Centre for Applied Nursing Research (opens in new window) (CANR), which is a collaborative research centre of the University of Western Sydney and the South Western Sydney Area Health Service, located at Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, Australia.

The New South Wales Centre for Evidence Based Health Care (NSWCEBHC)

The New South Wales Centre for Evidence Based Health Care (opens in new window) (NSWCEBHC) was established in 2001. The Centre has a strong research program, including conducting systematic reviews (SR), implementing research evidence, performing evaluation cycles and under taking primary research arising out of systematic reviews. A feature of the Centre is the involvement of clinicians to work with the core team to complete research.

The NSWCEBHC also conducts education and training on topics relevant to evidence based practice for nursing academics and health professionals. The educational activities of the Centre are focused on developing the skills and confidence of clinical nursing and midwifery staff in locating, appraising and integrating evidence into their practice. The NSWCEBHC also conducts training for clinicians and academics in NSW who are interested in undertaking systematic reviews. In addition, the NSWCEBHC also has students undertaking systematic reviews as part of a postgraduate higher degree research program.

To date, the NSWCEBHC has conducted over 18 systematic reviews and currently have two protocols registered on the Joanna Briggs Institute data base. The NSWCEBHC has strong links with other Evidence based Practice organizations including the Wounds Group of the Cochrane Collaboration.

The systematic review conducted by the NSWCEBHC titled "Water for Wound Cleansing" was listed in the top 50 most accessed reviews and the findings are used by the Cochrane Collaboration as evidence aid summaries for disaster affected areas. This review was the first Australian review to be disseminated as a pod cast in the Cochrane library.

The Centre for Applied Nursing Research (CANR)

The Centre for Applied Nursing Research (CANR) (opens in new window) was established in 1991 as a joint venture between the School of Nursing and Midwifery at the University of Western Sydney (UWS) and the Sydney South West Area Health Service (SSWAHS).

The purpose of the CANR is to undertake research, and to facilitate and support collaborations between nurses, midwives and academics that will generate research relevant to the clinical, health promotion and health education role of nurses and midwives, and provide a basis for evidence based practice. CANR's vision is to generate and use collaborative nursing and midwifery research as a basis for excellence in care, health promotion and education. The CANR team work closely with the clinical facilities across SSWAHS and the majority of projects are in collaboration with clinicians focusing on areas such as nursing and midwifery practice, service development and evidence synthesis.

Examples of Major projects include: Midwifery-initiated oral health program, Improving patient safety through risk management behaviour assessment and education for registered nurses, Early identification of the seriously ill child and adult in emergency by nurses, Longitudinal analysis of prenatal mental health: psychosocial risk, patterns of service use and outcomes for mothers and infants, Reducing malnutrition of adult inpatients through nutritional support guidelines for nursing.

For more information about the Centre for Applied Nursing Research please contact: Professor Maree Johnson.

The school also hosts Xi Omicron Chapter (349) of Sigma Theta Tau International Honor Society of Nursing (STTI) (opens in new window), and international nursing leadership organisation. The Xi Omicron Chapter is the only Chapter of STTI in Australia and is active under the leadership of Dr Sharon Bourgeois (President). Other Chapters are located in over 90 countries and territories worldwide. 

Related Documents:

• Xi Omicron Student Endorsement Form (opens in a new window) [Acrobat Document: 23Kb]
• Xi Omicron Nurse Leader Endorsement Form (opens in a new window) [Acrobat Document: 22Kb]
• Xi Omicron Student Application Form (opens in a new window) [Acrobat Document: 22Kb]
• Xi Omicron Nurse Leader Application Form (opens in a new window) [Acrobat Document: 23Kb]
• Xi Omicron Board Members 2005-7 (opens in a new window) [Acrobat Document: 36Kb]
• Xi Omicron Brochure (opens in a new window) [Acrobat Document: 74Kb]
• Xi Omicron Information (opens in a new window) [MS Word Document: 32Kb]