Professor Michelle Barakat-Johnson

Michelle Barakat-Johnson is the conjoint Professor of Wound Care and Skin Integrity and Skin Integrity Clinical Lead at SLHD and the University of Sydney Faculty of Medicine and Health, and the Director of the Tissue Repair Institute (A newly established institute at SLHD and University of Sydney) dedicated to advancing research in skin integrity.

With over two decades of experience in wound care clinical and research leadership, Prof Barakat-Johnson specialises in innovative, evidence-based approaches that improve patient outcomes, enhance clinical practices, and reduce healthcare costs. She is the founder of the Wound Care Command Centre at SLHD which is expanding to service NSW, an NHMRC Parentship grant recipient in 2024 to expand on the Digital Wound Model of Care, CI on six competitively-funded Q1 research grants totalling over $9,000,000 in funding since 2019 and an Award recipient of the 2023 EPUAP Investigator award for her work on pressure injury prevention across one health district and the ability to reduce PI reduction and sustain the reduction.

Professor Lorna Moxham FACN

As an immigrant, housing commission and state school educated girl from a background far from privilege, Lorna started her nurse training at Concord Repatriation Hospital in April 1980 after an unfulfilling 6 months of being a trainee insurance underwriter. Wanting to specialize in Mental Health, she commenced her Psychiatric Nurse Training at the Rozelle Hospital in Sydney. After successfully passing her state exams, she registered as an RPN, in 1985.

In 1985 nursing education started its transfer to the higher education sector. Inquisitively, Lorna wondered what this was all about, and so started her journey of ongoing professional development. Despite failing her year 12 higher school certificate, she has now proven to the teacher who said she would amount to nothing, that you cant hold a good nurse down.  Lorna now has a number of degrees, including a PhD uneasily earned after many years and many hours of study.

Fast forward 44 years from commencing nursing – Lorna is Professor of Mental Health Nursing at UOW. She is also Co-Founder / Co-Director of Recovery Camp. Recovery Camp is truly innovative – the only evidenced based, social enterprise that has been commercialised and thus made sustainable, in Australia.  43 camps, 14 universities, 600 people with mental illness, professional development for facilitators and a pipeline to the mental health nursing workforce.

Lorna feels privileged to have been contributing to her profession for over 4 decades. For her to do this, Lorna works closely with Dr Christopher Patterson – her nursing co director at Recovery Camp. Lorna is also supported by her husband Paul – also a nurse who works clinically and her daughters Janaya, a proud Wiradjuri woman and primary school teacher and also Georgia, who is completing her own studies at university. To compliment the support – Ariana, Lorna’s 8 year old granddaughter lives with her.

Media release statement

For 42 of Lorna’s 44 years as a nurse, she has specialised in mental health nursing, and now, more than ever before, mental health is at the forefront of people’s thoughts. Working to assist with recovery, enhancing emotional wellbeing and with a desire to see more nurses enter this specialist area, Lorna conducted the first Recovery Camp in 2013. Now commercialised and nurse-led, Recovery Camp is delivered in three states, is an evidence-based, psychosocial intervention for people with mental illness and is an educationally award-winning clinical placement for nursing, OT and paramedicine students. Empowerment. Education. A win win.

Nikki Johnston OAM MACN

Nikki became a registered nurse in 1989 and a Nurse Practitioner in 2008. She was recognised in the 2019 Australia Day Honors as a recipient of a Medal of the Order of Australia for her contribution to nursing.

Currently working for Calvary Health Care, Canberra Nikki believes all Australians deserve access to quality care in their last months of life regardless of their age, diagnosis or where they live. Currently end of life care experiences differ broadly for those living in residential aged care and access to specialist palliative care isn’t usual practice.

Nikki has initiated research through the INSPIRED trial which integrates specialist palliative care into residential aged care through the use of Palliative Care Needs Rounds. The trial found that regular rounds identified residents most at risk of dying without an adequate plan in place.

The INSPIRED trial has significantly reduced length of hospital stay and in-hospital deaths with significant costs savings to the community. Importantly, participants were more likely to experience a better-quality death (including better symptom control, advance planning, closeness with relatives and spiritual care).

Nikki’s approach improves Residential Aged Care Facility (RACF) staff confidence in discussing death and dying with families and planning for symptoms and goals of care at end of life. It supports palliative care in RACF and normalises death and dying, while providing essential anticipatory prescribing and better decision-making leading to planned care for residents.

Nikki’s work was influential in the Commonwealth’s decision to provide $32.8 of funding in the 2018-2019 Budget to support older Australian living in RACFs. The INSPIRED model of care is being rolled out in three States/Territories in Australia and being tested in rural and remote areas. Nikki has been recognised for her work nationally and internationally for integrating specialist palliative care into RACFs.

Professor Jeanine Young FACN

Professor Jeanine Young, University of the Sunshine Coast, has worked in Australia and the United Kingdom in neonatal intensive care, paediatrics and community child health. Jeanine has a special interest in infant care practices; in particular breastfeeding and parent-infant bed-sharing. She works closely with Red Nose to ensure national infant sleep recommendations are evidence-based, and is passionate about growing community capacity through partnership models to address health inequalities associated with infant mortality. Jeanine has established a research program to investigate Queensland’s high infant mortality rate, with a focus on evidence-based strategies to assist health professionals in delivering Safe Sleeping messages to families with young infants. Through international collaborations and local community partnerships, Jeanine first introduced the Pēpi-Pod Program, a portable sleep space combined with safe sleep education as a strategy to promote safe infant sleeping and breastfeeding in the context of shared sleeping. This culturally appropriate and feasible strategy to reduce infant mortality has been integrated into service delivery rural, remote and metropolitan Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, Queensland, and more recently in other Australian states and territories. Jeanine has also initiated the first Australian trial of a sleep enabler suitable for postnatal units to support breastfeeding and promote safer infant sleep environments in hospital. Jeanine works in partnership with government, industry, safety and regulatory bodies, and communities in translating evidence into practical advice for parents. Her efforts in reducing infant mortality through supporting the role of health professionals and health promotion within communities have received state, national and international recognition. In collaboration with Change for our Children New Zealand, Jeanine is the Australian lead for the Pēpi-Pod Program, which comprises a practical infant sleep space suitable for shared sleeping embedded in safe sleep education, now available in metropolitan, rural and remote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Jeanine has also initiated the first Australian trial of a portable sleep space suitable for postnatal units to support breastfeeding and promote safer infant sleep environments in hospital.

Linda Campbell

Linda Campbell has over 30 years of experience in nursing including working in rural and remote areas of Australia and New Zealand, as well as the USA. She has an interest in blood transfusion and its alternatives, and was appointed as the Clinical Nurse Consultant for Patient Blood Management (PBM) at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (WA) in 2012. Linda has led the program since its inception.

PBM aims to decrease the risk of blood transfusion by optimising haemoglobin (Hb) and iron stores prior to elective surgery involving significant blood loss. Preoperative optimisation facilitates the post-op recovery of Hb and has the capacity to change transfusion practice. This intervention has significantly reduced transfusion rates in elective joint replacement patients and the model has been replicated at a secondary site and is now rolled out to other surgical specialties at SCGH.

It is important to Linda that patients receive equitable care despite the geographical challenges of living thousands of kilometers from Perth. Creating networks with GPs and regional healthcare providers has been instrumental in the success of PBM. Over 1000 patients across the State of Western Australia are referred to Linda annually and audit has shown that 99% of joint replacement patients receive PBM review and care. Educating clinical staff about the impact of blood transfusion and PBM has led Linda to contribute to GP clinical pathways, deliver presentations at State, National and International meetings and provide tutorials for WA undergraduate medical students.

The overall transfusion rate has fallen by 30% at SCGH since PBM was introduced. This not only has significant cost saving benefits (over $1.2 million annually) but has made a major contribution to patient safety and reduced the demand on the blood supply; ensuring that donor blood is available for trauma or transfusion dependent patients. Although PBM is relatively new evidence based discipline in medicine it is one of the few areas where improved outcomes, reduced risks and cost savings are all made at the same time. This legacy will continue to improve patient care for years to come.