Associate Professor Sandra West
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Associate Professor
M02 - Mallett St Campus |
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Themes | Biographical details | Research interests | Teaching areas | PhD & Masters project opportunities | Keywords
Biographical details
I am a registered nurse and midwife with a clinical background in critical care practice, and have worked as an academic for more than 20 years. My research focuses on issues related to the nursing workforce, and I also have a particular interest in e-learning and the use of ICT-based technologies in research and practice.
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Research interests
Areas of expertise
My research work focuses on three broad areas:
• Shift-work and its effects for women specifically. Projects include investigating shiftwork tolerance in mid-life, new graduate adaptation to shift-work and the effects of current approaches to rosters/scheduling for shift-working women.
• The (re)organisation of nursing work within acute care areas. Projects here include observational studies within the nursing workplace which are primarily focussed on nurses work at night and interview based studies of nurses experiences of their workplace especially the experiences of migrant nurses and exploring why nurses intend to continue working in clinical roles.
• The development of research cultures both within clinical environments, where I focus particularly on assisting Clinical Nurse Consultants to develop communities of practice to support their research endeavours, and within academic environments, where I work with doctoral students and colleagues to enhance their use of digitial research tools and the application of theory to research design.
I use both quantitative and qualitative research approaches as determined by the research problem under investigation, establishing project-based research teams to ensure the availability of the methodological knowledge needed to underpin a particular project. I have experience from a quantitative perspective in the design of Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) and the use psychometric scales, and from a qualitative perspective I have experience in the use of phenomenology, grounded theory,situational analysis and ethnography.
Professor Trudy Rudge and I have recently established the Society and Work in Nursing Research Group with the aim of bringing together researchers in the fields of nursing, the social sciences and the humanities to critically think both theoretically and methodologically, about nursing and its work and to contribute effectively to current debates around the value of nursing work. We welcome contact from potential PhD students and other researchers interested in working in these areas.
Teaching areas
Current research students
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Supervisor for M Kelleher, 'Clinical assessment and the haemodialysis procedure.' PhD submitted 2009
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Supervisor for A Matheson, 'Shiftwork and nursing: The ignored connection.' PhD submitted 2009
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Associate Supervisor for N Malouf, 'Lessons about the transition and retention of new graduate nurses from tertiary education to the workforce.' PhD submitted 2009
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Associate Supervisor for J Cheung, Nurses’ experience of caring for “outlier patients” in the acute care setting PhD commenced 2008
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Supervisor for M Bloom Evaluating the impact of the introduction of an elearning education tool on the health care setting: A pilot study Master of Nursing (Honours) commenced 2009
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Completed research and higher degree students
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Associate Supervisor for M Lewis, A longitudinal study of the relationship between factors influencing transition and student progression through accelerated professional preparation programs PhD awarded 2011
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Supervisor for A Marshall Information use in clinical practice: A case study of critical care nurses’ enteral feeding decisions. PhD awarded 2008
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Supervisor for T McNeil The use of high fidelity patient simulation in nursing: A means to effective learning? Master of Nursing (Honours) 1st Class awarded 2008
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Supervisor for L Kwanten Shifting the focus: A systematic review of shiftwork and women’s health Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Honours) 1st Class awarded 2007
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Supervisor for A Shorten, 'Making Choices For Childbirth: A Randomized Controlled Trial of a Decision-aid for Informed Birth after Caesarean,' two years after PhD commenced. PhD awarded 2006
Theses examined
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Rinks M “The adoption of 3D radiation therapy planning systems in Australia” Doctor of Philosophy University of Sydney, 2009
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Phillips N “The administration of medications via enteral tubes in adults: A systematic review of the evidence and description of actual practice” Doctor of Philosophy, La Trobe University, 2008
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Qiaoyue GS Investigation of factors influencing women’s choice of waterbirth Bachelor of Nursing (Honours), University of Sydney, 2007
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Kwanten L Shifting the focus: A systematic review of shiftwork and women’s health Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (Honours) University of Sydney, 2007
Areas of teaching
I currently teach several postgraduate units of study within the coursework Master of Nursing. These include Nursing Research: Methods & Application, Nursing and Work and Advanced Cellular Physiology.
PhD and Masters project opportunities
Constructing work in a shiftworking world: Perspectives of early career registered nurses