Her current research focuses on developing practical, scalable education approaches that ensure clinicians, regardless of location, can deliver high-quality, evidence-based care. Driven by the challenges she sees in everyday practice, her work centres on bridging gaps in training, particularly for nursing clinicians, and translating knowledge into real-world impact for patients across the state.
Can you tell us about your background and what motivated you to pursue research in emergency medicine?
My interest in research really comes from clinical practice. In emergency medicine, you’re constantly seeing variation in access to care, training, and outcomes, particularly between metropolitan and rural settings. One of the biggest challenges is education. We focus a lot on training medical officers, but nursing clinicians often have far less access to structured education, and that gap is even more pronounced in rural and remote environments. That’s what motivated this work, trying to find practical ways to deliver meaningful, hands-on training to clinicians across all settings, so that patients can benefit from consistent, high-quality care.
Can you provide an overview of your research and describe how EMF funding has supported your research?
This project focuses on developing interactive, scenario-based learning modules to support trauma care, beginning with pelvic binder application. The aim was to create an educational resource that could be used beyond a single hospital, across Queensland and potentially Australia, to improve clinician knowledge and confidence in managing trauma. EMF funding made this possible. It allowed us to bring together a multidisciplinary team, develop the module, and explore whether clinicians could not only learn the skill, but also be effectively assessed remotely. Importantly, it gave us the opportunity to think beyond traditional face-to-face teaching and explore scalable solutions that can reach clinicians in rural and remote settings.
How does your work aim to improve patient outcomes or enhance system sustainability?
At its core, this work is about ensuring patients receive the right care, regardless of where they are injured. For example, something as simple as a pelvic binder can make a significant difference, but only if it’s applied correctly. If it’s placed poorly, it may do nothing or even cause harm. Done well, it can reduce bleeding, decrease pain, and stabilise patients for transfer to definitive care. By improving clinician knowledge and confidence, particularly in settings where access to specialist support is limited, we can improve patient outcomes while also reducing unnecessary complications and resource use.
What impact do you hope your research will have on emergency medicine practice or healthcare policy in the long term?
The goal is to create education that is transferable and scalable. If you develop something that only works in a single tertiary hospital, it doesn’t achieve much. We want to ensure that clinicians across Queensland, including those in the most remote areas, can access the same high-quality training and apply it in practice. Long term, I hope this contributes to more consistent care across the state and supports new models of education and assessment, particularly in remote learning environments.
What role has collaboration with other clinicians or researchers played in your project, and how has it enhanced your work?
Collaboration has been central to this project. We brought together clinicians, educators, and technical experts to design something that was both clinically relevant and practically usable. That combination was critical, particularly when developing interactive learning that reflects the realities of a trauma environment, rather than isolated skills training. It also opened my eyes to new ways of thinking. Working across disciplines helped us explore a relatively simple concept in a much more engaging and impactful way.
Based on your experience, what advice would you give to other clinicians considering applying for EMF funding?
I’d absolutely encourage clinicians to go for it. Being awarded funding opens up opportunities that aren’t normally possible within a busy clinical workload. At the same time, be prepared for the process. One of the biggest surprises was that the research itself was often the easiest part, while governance, ethics and implementation challenges took far longer than expected. Stay flexible, expect delays, and focus on building a strong team, because that’s what ultimately gets the project across the line.
What are the next steps for your research?
We’re now looking at how we can expand and scale the modules, both geographically and across different clinical skills. There’s also a strong interest in continuing to develop remote assessment models, ensuring that clinicians can not only access training but also demonstrate competency without needing to be physically present in a major centre. We’ve already seen encouraging feedback from clinicians using the module, which gives us confidence to keep building on this work and continuing to expand access to high-quality trauma education across Queensland.