Staff Research Interests
Our staff and their professional knowledge, wisdom and expertise are the secret to our - and your - success. We are proud to offer you some of New Zealand's leading nursing, midwifery and health academics, supported by an administration team focused on ensuring your time with us is as enjoyable and rewarding as possible.
The research interests of our staff feature below:
Dr Jo Walton
Professor
Head of School
Jo has a varied background in academia and clinical practice. Her research interests are wide, and her passion is to demonstrate how nursing can help improve the health outcomes of the vulnerable, the disabled and the chronically ill.
Dr Annemarie Jutel
Associate Professor
Director of Research
Annemarie's work focuses on diagnosis: how diagnoses emerge, what forces influence their creation, and the resulting impact of diagnostic categories on socio-cultural and health protecting practices. She has focused on the pharmaceutical and fitness industries as specific agents of medicalisation and is currently looking at the use of self-diagnosis in the management of pandemic influenza.
Dr Karen McBride-Henry
Senior Lecturer
Director, Research Degrees
Karen's particular expertise is in qualitative research. Her research focuses on the safe administration of medication.
Dr Kathy Nelson
Senior Lecturer
The main focus of my research is on nursing and health service arrangements for diverse populations with a particular focus on primary health care and the emergency department. Specific projects include the role of the emergency department in meeting the needs of people who present on multiple occasions. Nurses and Nurse Practitioners have a key role in providing innovative services for many groups and Kathy often works in partnership with them to write about their service and practice. Kathy supervises many students from Master's through to PhD level who have an interest in improving our understanding and the health and health care of different groups. For example, Chinese immigrants' experience of hospice services in New Zealand, the Quality of life of people on dialysis in the United Arab Emirates, the needs of stroke patients and their carers in Malaysia, People who re-present to the emergency department following intentional self harm and the care of pacific children in the home prior to an admission for skin infections. Kathy is experienced in working with mixed method design .
Dr Joan Skinner
Senior Lecturer
Joan's research expertise is in mixed methods, particularly focus groups and surveys, and focuses on risk and its effects on midwifery practice. Joan is a member of the Normal Birth Research Group.
Dr Kay deVries
Senior Lecturer
Kay has extensive experience in the supervision of postgraduate and commissioned research projects. Her specific research and clinical interest is related to all areas of old age and dementia care in acute, community and care home environments.
Robyn Maude
Lecturer
Robyn is seconded as a lecturer to the Graduate School from the Capital & Coast District Health Board and is currently enrolled in a PhD in Midwifery. Robyn's research interests are in the exploration of intermittent auscultation of the foetal heart in labour.
Caz Hales
Lecturer
Caz is a lecturer in clinical nursing and is currently enrolled in a PhD in Nursing. Her research interests are in critical care nursing and obesity management.
Helen Rook
Lecturer
Helen has a background in critical care nursing and brings with her practice and academic expertise from both New Zealand and Ireland. Helen has a passionate interest in nursing and the direction the profession is heading in the 21st century and beyond. Helen’s research interests include nursing theory, role preparation and the relationship between quality education and quality patient outcomes.
Dr Elizabeth Banister
Professorial Research Fellow
Elizabeth's research interests include knowledge translation, adolescent sexual health education and health literacy in both Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. She has expertise in qualitative research.