Jane Douglas

Biography

I have worked as a registered nurse in a variety of areas since completing a Bachelor of Nursing at the University of Newcastle. Nursing has offered a breadth of opportunities, allowing me to combine my passion for the profession of nursing and nurse education. My work as an RN has included clinical, educational and regulatory roles. Initially I specialised in the area of intensive care nursing, working in ICUs and PICUs in Sydney and as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Newcastle. This led me into the specialty of pain management, working with the Hunter Integrated Pain Service and the Mater Hospital in Newcastle. More recently I have worked in community and palliative care settings, focusing on the complexity associated with palliative care and chronic illness. In 2005 I began working in nurse education at the University of Newcastle, combining this with my clinical practice. I discovered that working in nurse education was something I enjoyed and found it very rewarding. I decided that was the path I would like to follow. To further my knowledge in the area of education, I undertook a Graduate Diploma in Adult Education at the University of New England and in 2008 I was employed as a full time academic at the University of Canberra. Since then I have worked as a lecturer at the Australian Catholic University and now at CSU. I also spent three years working at a national level, with the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC) as an Associate Director for Professional Programs. My Master of Advanced Nursing Practice investigated curriculum development and working with ANMAC allowed me the opportunity to deepen that knowledge and further my understanding of curriculum across the contexts of nursing and midwifery in Australia. The issues impacting the nursing workforce are important and I am currently a PhD candidate at the University of Wollongong, examining workforce issues affecting Early Career Registered Nurses.

Research Interest

Workforce issues particularly those affecting early career RNs