Health researchers ready for the next big breakthrough

WA Country Health Service (WACHS) and Curtin University are delivering the next generation of health researchers thanks to the State Government’s Future Health Research and Innovation Fund.

As part of the Future Health Research and Innovation Fund for Implementation Science Fellowships, two PhD scholarships were awarded in 2021 for the project Safer care for children in hospital; Strengthening and sustaining the ESCALATION system.

Administered through Curtin University, the Implementation Science Fellowships were awarded along with Translation fellowships for research programs in Aboriginal health or country and regional health.

WA Country Health Service partnered on all eight successful projects funded through these schemes.

WACHS scholarship recipient for the ESCLATION project, Paediatric Nurse Practitioner Scott Stokes recently completed his Doctorate of Nursing Practice, awarded by Chatham University, Pittsburgh.

Based in Broome, Scott’s research focused on the escalation of care for children with sepsis and involved developing, implementing and evaluating a paediatric sepsis pathway in the Kimberley.

Curtin University Professor Acute Paediatrics Fenella Gill said Scott’s research would benefit families seeking to make use of escalation pathways in regional hospitals.

“Scott’s research has a real opportunity to make a difference in the lives of patients and families in regional WA,” Professor Gill said.

Curtin scholarship recipient Chelsea Kelly is a registered nurse in paediatric critical care at Perth Children’s Hospital, previously based in Albany and Broome.

Chelsea is developing a framework to support health professionals to detect early signs of clinical deterioration in hospitalised children with darker coloured skin in WA, with a focus on Aboriginal children.

“We’re extremely excited to see where both of these research projects lead,” Professor Gill said.