Eastern Health

Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research

The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Eastern Health leads collaborative research to optimise safety, quality, and experience of care for clinicians, patients and carers.

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The Deakin University – Eastern Health partnership was established in 2000. Our research spans acute, subacute, community, and residential care settings; fosters collaboration across health disciplines, and with patients and carers; and connects research with education, clinical practice and policy.  The Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research – Eastern Health is led by Professor Julie Considine AO and supported by a team of skilled researchers. Our team works closely with researchers, clinicians, managers, research students, patients, and carers from a range of disciplines and backgrounds.

  • Research agenda

    Our work is organised into three pillars of research: patient safety, patient experience and health workforce. Through partnership and co-design with clinicians and consumers, our researchers specialise in developing, testing, and implementing evidence-based solutions to optimise patient and carer safety; clinician knowledge, skills and decision-making; and models of care delivery.

  • Research projects

    Patient safety

    Recognising and responding to deteriorating patients

    • Emergency departments (including Improving the safety and quality of emergency nursing care. Curtis et al. NHMRC GNT 2005403 and OPERATE: Older Persons Early Recognition Access and Treatment in Emergencies. Celenza A et al. MRFF GNT 2018473)
    • Hospital-in-the-Home
    • Post anaesthetic care unit
    • Acute care wards (including Prioritising Responses Of Nurses To deteriorating patient Observations (PRONTO) Bucknall T et al NHMRC GNT 1114545)
    • Aged care (including Improving Aged Care Quality and Safety (HIRAID-AGEDCARE). Shaban et al. MRFF GNT 2023190)

    Rapid response systems

    • Nursing interventions for patients with rapid response system triggers
    • Clinicians use of pre-Medical Emergency Team and Medical Emergency Team tiers of the rapid response system
    • Medical Emergency Team modifications

    Nurse decision making

    • Intensive care nurses’ decisions and management of vasoactive medications
    • Acute care nurses’ decision making in recognising and responding to changes in patients’ clinical states
    • Junior nurses’ experiences of implementing non-pharmacological interventions for delirium management: a qualitative descriptive study

    Nurse-led care

    • Emergency departments (including Giving patients an EPIC-START: An evidence based, data driven model of care to improve patient care and efficiency in emergency departments. Curtis et al. MRFF GNT 2017845)

    Patient experience

    Shared decision making

    • Antenatal care with pregnant women with high body mass index

    Medication safety

    • Medication taking among consumers from culturally and linguistically diverse communities

    Co-design

    • Digital application to support patient involvement in safety critical healthcare communication
    • Improving hospital discharge

    Health workforce

    Behaviour change

    • Emergency nurses (approach to patient assessment)
    • Subacute and acute care wards (use of falls alarms)
    • Residential aged care (approach to patient assessment)

    Leadership in healthcare

    • Nurse and midwife managers

    Educational preparation of specialist nurses

    • Team-Based Learning
  • Our team

  • Contact us

    Deakin QPS
    qps@deakin.edu.au

    Eastern Health – Director
    Professor Julie Considine AO
    +61 3 9895 3177
    Email Professor Considine

    Eastern Health Partnership
    Level 2, 5 Arnold Street
    Box Hill, VIC 3128