Our Goal
The Nursing Research Department at RCH is integrally connected to clinical practice. The department partners with Nursing and our multi-disciplinary team to improve the uptake of evidence into practice and to facilitate generation of new evidence through research. The goal of the nursing research team is to
Establish and grow a research program in nursing,
Support and promote research activities of nurses at the Royal Children's Hospital and
Promote the interface between research and practice through the implementation of evidence-based practice.
Our Team
Professor Fiona Newall
PhD, MN, B.Sci(Nsg), RN
Director, Nursing Research
Fiona completed her undergraduate nursing training at Curtin University in Western Australia. In 1998, Fiona moved to Victoria and commenced working in the field of paediatric thrombosis and anticoagulation. Fiona completed her PhD (2009) and Master of Nursing (Research, 2005) at the University of Melbourne, both research projects exploring questions identified from her clinical practice.
Fiona has published extensively within her field of clinical and research practice, and is internationally recognised as a Clinical Researcher. In addition to her position as Director of Nursing Research at RCH, Fiona continues to work clinically within her field of paediatric anticoagulant management
Dr Sharon Kinney
PhD, MN, PICU Nursing Cert, Cardiothoracic Cert
Nurse Consultant, Research
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Sharon supports nursing research development at the Royal Children's Hospital and is a lecturer with Nursing, The Melbourne School of Health Sciences and Research Fellow with the Department of Paediatrics, The University of Melbourne. Sharon has worked for many years in paediatric critical care nursing and has held clinical and educational appointments within the area. She has previously co-ordinated and developed the curriculum for the Paediatric Critical Care Postgraduate Nursing Program at The University of Melbourne.
Sharon was involved with establishing one of the first paediatric Medical Emergency Team (MET) systems and her PhD Thesis examined the MET system at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Her research interests include paediatric resuscitation, paediatric critical care nursing, and improving the safety and quality of care for hospitalised children
Sally Lima
MSN, Grad Dip Adv Nsg, RN
Nurse Consultant, Research
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Sally has a Post Graduate Diploma in Advanced Nursing and has completed a Masters of Nursing Science. She has worked in a number of clinical, education and facilitation roles and has contributed in a variety of ways to research and other projects.
Sally supports nurses and nursing teams in the exploration and development of evidence based practice. In addition to being part of the nursing research team Sally is currently enrolled in her PhD, her area of study being the evaluation of a competency framework for nurses new to paediatric practice.
Dr. Stephen McKeever
R.G.N, RN (Child), Dip.Trop.Nurse, ENB 415, BSc.(Hons), Ph.D.
Nurse Consultant, Research
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Stephen initially trained as adult nurse, in the United Kingdom, before completing a conversion course to become a children's nurse in 1997. Since this time his clinical experience has mainly focused on the care of the critically ill child. In 2012, Stephen graduated with a PhD from The University of Melbourne. His doctoral thesis examined electroencephalogram changes occurring in children during anaesthesia.
In the Nurse Consultant role, Stephen is available to provide practical guidance and support to nurses wishing to investigate areas of clinical practice that aim to improve care provided to children and their families.