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Halcomb, Elizabeth (Liz) J. Prof.

Professor of Primary Health Care Nursing & Head of Postgraduate Studies, School of Nursing

  • Faculty of Science, Medicine and Health
  • Health Impact Research Cluster
  • School of Nursing
  • Australian Health Services Research Institute
  • Illawarra Health and Medical Research Institute
  • ISPRN (Illawarra and Southern Practice Research Network)

Overview

An international award-winning nurse academic, Liz has a strong interest in Primary Health Care nursing. In particular, her PHC research expertise relates to the nursing workforce in primary care, chronic and complex disease and lifestyle risk factor reduction. Additionally, Liz has undertaken research around the nursing academic workforce and teaching and learning in nursing. Liz has extensive experience in mixed methods research, as well as having led several systematic reviews.

In 2018, Liz was inducted in to the Sigma Theta Tau International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame in recognition of the significant and sustained national / international recognition of her work and its positive impact on the profession and the community. At the University of Wollongong, Liz plays a leadership role developing PHC nursing research, as well as engaging multidisciplinary academics within Primary Health Care to address the growing challenges in providing health care within the community.

Examples of recent research include:

  • The development of mental health standards for registered nurses in Australian general practice (Australian College of Mental Health Nurses).
  • Evaluation of a New Graduate nurse program in general practice (in collaboration with SWS PHN, funded by SWS Research).
  • Understanding the perceptions, attitudes and beliefs of middle aged Australians about lifestyle risk, chronic disease and the role of health professionals.
  • The development of professional practice standards for registered and enrolled nurses in Australian general practice (Australian Nursing & Midwifery Federation).

Top Publications

Available as Research Supervisor

Available for Collaborative Projects

Selected Publications

Investigator On

Other Research Activities

Impact Story

  • The Mental Health Practice Standards for nurses in Australian General Practice support the delivery of stepped mental health care by nurses working in general practice and other primary care settings. The Standards provide an important framework for general practice nurses to self-assess their professional development needs to ensure that consumer mental health needs are met. Further, the Standards provide an evidenced base framework enabling the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses to develop CPD eLearning modules for primary care nurses. Each module empowers these nurses to develop knowledge, skills and confidence about mental health and incorporate these into their day-to-day practice.<br /><p>The program includes 6 x 1 hour modules, which general practice nurses can complete in single or multiple sessions. Modules include:</p><p><strong>Module 1:</strong> About mental health</p><p><strong>Module 2:</strong> About mental illness and ways to engage</p><p><strong>Module 3:</strong> Therapeutic approaches for everyday practice</p><p><strong>Module 4:</strong> Mental health assessment, risk assessment and (care) planning <em><br /></em></p><p><strong>Module 5:</strong> Referral, documentation and care coordination<strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>Module 6: </strong>Knowledge to Practice (This new module uses practice-based examples to explore and expand on strategies described in <strong>Modules 1 to 5</strong>)</p>

     Detail View
  • This research informed the development of professional practice standards to guide the role of nurses employed in general practices across Australia. These standards impact the profession in a number of ways. Firstly, they provide a framework for tertiary institutions to develop curricula and assess student performance. Secondly, they communicate the nurses’ scope of practice to other health professionals, stakeholders such as employers and consumers. Finally, they can be used to assess an individuals’ competence to practice either as part of regular renewals of practice certification, after breaks of service or in professional conduct disputes.<br /><br />Defining the full extent of the nurses’ scope of practice in general practice is a key strategy to reducing the role confusion and ambiguity that has been reported amongst this group of nurses. Providing clarity for health professionals, consumers, policy makers, academics and the nurses themselves provides a powerful tool to optimizing the nurses’ role in this setting. This has the potential to not only improve service delivery by ensuring that nurses work to their full scope of practice but also improve job satisfaction, recruitment and retention of nurses.

     Detail View

Available as Research Supervisor

Potential Supervision Topics

    • Primary care
    • Nursing workforce
    • Chronic disease, especially cardiovascular disease
    • Primary health care
    • Lifestyle risk factor modification
    • Nurse academics

Advisees

  • Graduate Advising Relationship

    Degree Research Title Advisee
    Doctor of Philosophy Transition to employment in forensic mental health Kinghorn, Grant
    Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated) Examining activity within Australian general practice James, Sharon
    Doctor of Philosophy Understandings of Childhood Immunisation in Primary Care Smith, Sarah
    Doctor of Philosophy An RCT of a Hypertension Management Intervention in General Practice Stephen, Catherine
    Doctor of Philosophy Developing a Primary Health Care Workforce: Understanding Perceptions of a PHC Career Path Calma, Kaara Ray
    Doctor of Philosophy The Meaning of Safety in Acute Mental Health Inpatient Settings Cutler, Natalie
    Master of Philosophy Feed-forward: Using Annotated Exemplars to Promote Student Engagement and Satisfaction (FASTEN) Project Carter, Rebekah

Full Name

  • Elizabeth Jane Halcomb

Mailing Address

  • Building 41 - School of Nursing, UOW

    Northfields Avenue

    Wollongong

    New South Wales

    2522

    Australia

Web Of Science Researcher Id

  • B-6526-2011

Top Publications

Selected Publications

Investigator On

Other Research Activities

Impact Story

  • The Mental Health Practice Standards for nurses in Australian General Practice support the delivery of stepped mental health care by nurses working in general practice and other primary care settings. The Standards provide an important framework for general practice nurses to self-assess their professional development needs to ensure that consumer mental health needs are met. Further, the Standards provide an evidenced base framework enabling the Australian College of Mental Health Nurses to develop CPD eLearning modules for primary care nurses. Each module empowers these nurses to develop knowledge, skills and confidence about mental health and incorporate these into their day-to-day practice.<br /><p>The program includes 6 x 1 hour modules, which general practice nurses can complete in single or multiple sessions. Modules include:</p><p><strong>Module 1:</strong> About mental health</p><p><strong>Module 2:</strong> About mental illness and ways to engage</p><p><strong>Module 3:</strong> Therapeutic approaches for everyday practice</p><p><strong>Module 4:</strong> Mental health assessment, risk assessment and (care) planning <em><br /></em></p><p><strong>Module 5:</strong> Referral, documentation and care coordination<strong><br /></strong></p><p><strong>Module 6: </strong>Knowledge to Practice (This new module uses practice-based examples to explore and expand on strategies described in <strong>Modules 1 to 5</strong>)</p>

     Detail View
  • This research informed the development of professional practice standards to guide the role of nurses employed in general practices across Australia. These standards impact the profession in a number of ways. Firstly, they provide a framework for tertiary institutions to develop curricula and assess student performance. Secondly, they communicate the nurses’ scope of practice to other health professionals, stakeholders such as employers and consumers. Finally, they can be used to assess an individuals’ competence to practice either as part of regular renewals of practice certification, after breaks of service or in professional conduct disputes.<br /><br />Defining the full extent of the nurses’ scope of practice in general practice is a key strategy to reducing the role confusion and ambiguity that has been reported amongst this group of nurses. Providing clarity for health professionals, consumers, policy makers, academics and the nurses themselves provides a powerful tool to optimizing the nurses’ role in this setting. This has the potential to not only improve service delivery by ensuring that nurses work to their full scope of practice but also improve job satisfaction, recruitment and retention of nurses.

     Detail View

Potential Supervision Topics

    • Primary care
    • Nursing workforce
    • Chronic disease, especially cardiovascular disease
    • Primary health care
    • Lifestyle risk factor modification
    • Nurse academics

Advisees

  • Graduate Advising Relationship

    Degree Research Title Advisee
    Doctor of Philosophy Transition to employment in forensic mental health Kinghorn, Grant
    Doctor of Philosophy (Integrated) Examining activity within Australian general practice James, Sharon
    Doctor of Philosophy Understandings of Childhood Immunisation in Primary Care Smith, Sarah
    Doctor of Philosophy An RCT of a Hypertension Management Intervention in General Practice Stephen, Catherine
    Doctor of Philosophy Developing a Primary Health Care Workforce: Understanding Perceptions of a PHC Career Path Calma, Kaara Ray
    Doctor of Philosophy The Meaning of Safety in Acute Mental Health Inpatient Settings Cutler, Natalie
    Master of Philosophy Feed-forward: Using Annotated Exemplars to Promote Student Engagement and Satisfaction (FASTEN) Project Carter, Rebekah

Full Name

  • Elizabeth Jane Halcomb

Mailing Address

  • Building 41 - School of Nursing, UOW

    Northfields Avenue

    Wollongong

    New South Wales

    2522

    Australia

Web Of Science Researcher Id

  • B-6526-2011

Visualisations

  Publication History
 

Research Areas

Geographic Focus