Keypath Nursing & Midwifery
Pieta Shakes
- Lecturer, Nursing and Midwifery
- pieta.shakes@jcu.edu.au
Tracey Gooding
- Lecturer
- tracey.gooding@jcu.edu.au
Improving Access and Community Trust in Perinatal Genomics for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse Communities: the ImpACT-PG project
A 2yr MRFF project led by Professor Lisa Hui (University of Melbourne) including 15 Chief Investigators from five organisations and four partner organisations.
There is a critical need to ensure equitable access to perinatal genomic testing for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities in Australia. Our project adopts a novel, consumer centred approach to address this healthcare gap. By building the evidence base on CALD community experiences of perinatal genomics and developing the translational pathway to more equitable health care, our findings will empower all individuals to make informed decisions and support the well-being of their families.
Project objectives:
1. Obtain new evidence on community values, attitudes, and experiences of perinatal genomics among CALD communities
2. Co-design, develop, and pilot culturally-appropriate, in-language health information resources for CALD individuals about perinatal genomics
3. Examine the ethical, policy and social implications of disparities in access to and experiences with perinatal genomics of CALD communities
4. Build capacity for population-based data collection and future monitoring of perinatal genomic testing in Victoria as a model for other jurisdictions
Strengthening the resilience of ICU nurses: Co-designing an online education intervention.
Led by Tracey Gooding. ICU nurses face elevated risk of burnout, compassion fatigue, depression, and PTSD due to repeated exposure to trauma, death, and ethically complex care. While existing wellbeing interventions (mindfulness, positive psychology, exercise, reflection, peer support, CBT, psychoeducation) show promise for building resilience, they often fail to reflect ICU nurses' lived experiences, and their effectiveness when delivered online remains untested.
This study used a participatory co-design approach — focus groups with ICU nurses across experience levels, followed by thematic analysis and a mini-Delphi consensus process — to explore nurses' psychosocial challenges, coping strategies, and preferences for content. Findings will inform the design of an online education intervention aimed at strengthening ICU nurse resilience.
Ethical GenAI use by design: Co-Creating assessment with students and industry in postgraduate nursing online course
This SoLT participatory project comprises activity-orientated focus groups with students and industry representatives to integrate ethical use of GenAI into assessments in NS5333 Synthesising Evidence for Healthcare. Collaborative redesign builds upon JCU's core principles of learning and teaching, including partnership with students, futures-oriented learning, and assessment that upholds academic integrity. Informed by current TEQSA assessment reform guidance and Accord recommendations, this project will also contribute to academic knowledge through exploring the pedagogical implications of such collaborative assessment redesign. Students who completed NS5333 in 2024 or 2025 have the opportunity for experiential learning about assessment design through participating in this collaborative project.
Culturally safe fetal diagnosis
CoPI with Skye Stewart. This multidisciplinary seed project explores First Nations perspectives on fetal anomalies to address a paucity in knowledge. Using Indigenous methodologies, particularly Yarning, led by Aboriginal midwife and researcher Stewart, participants will share insights through culturally meaningful conversations. The project strengthens allyship among non-Indigenous researchers while generating foundational knowledge to support future large-scale studies. This project will facilitate the development of a competitive research grant, advancing efforts to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families receive respectful, informed support during prenatal diagnosis. The project provides an experiential opportunity for CHS researchers to undertake ethical research with Indigenous peoples (1).
STEP-CMV: Serological Testing and Education to Prevent CMV Infection in Early Pregnancy, Norman Beischer Medical Research Foundation
Led by Professor Lisa Hui - University of Melbourne. Congenital cytomegalovirus (cCMV) is the most common infectious cause of disability in Australian newborns, yet it remains under-recognised by both clinicians and the public. CMV is a common virus that is passed from person-to-person, usually causing no illness in healthy individuals. However, if a woman acquires CMV during pregnancy, the virus can cross the placenta and infect the developing baby, leading to severe complications such as brain injury, stillbirth, or neonatal death.1 Children born with cCMV may experience lifelong disability, including hearing loss, developmental delay, epilepsy, and cerebral palsy.2 This study seeks to address to issues: Lack of Australian data on maternal CMV infection rates in early pregnancy. No
robust Australian data exist on CMV infection rates during the first trimester—the most
critical period for fetal harm. These data are essential for health economics modelling
and policy recommendations.
• System barriers to CMV counselling, testing and referral in primary care. Despite excellent GP engagement with CMV eLearning modules, our research revealed structural barriers to GPs implementing CMV education in antenatal care.
Improving Parental Mental Health and Engagement in Neonatal MRI: A Co-Designed Study, 2026 MRCMHR Seed Grant
Led by Dr Liza van Eijk. Families of infants requiring neonatal MRI often experience significant stress, anxiety, and uncertainty during a highly vulnerable postnatal period. This project will examine the psychological impacts and decision-making experiences of parents in North Queensland, where some families decline imaging despite potential clinical benefits. Through reimbursed parent participation and co-designed roundtable discussions with healthcare staff, we will identify how current MRI practices and timing influence parental distress, including both increased burden and potential reassurance through earlier detection and support. Findings will inform family-centred improvements to care, supporting better mental health outcomes for families and their infants.
Perinatal palliative care: understanding a model of practice
Led by Dr Bronwyn Sacks - Victorian Paediatric Palliative Care Program. This mixed-methods study will examine the current model of care for pregnancies affected by a suspected or confirmed life-limiting or life-threatening fetal condition within a specialist maternity and paediatric centre. Funded through philanthropic funding received from Very Special Kids.
Facing the Unexpected: Improving Women’s Mental Health through Training to Address the Psychosocial Aspects of Prenatal Diagnosis (Old ID 28954)
This research project will produce novel knowledge that will be applied by TTU in the development of an online training program for health and allied health professionals. The training will enable these professionals to better support women and other pregnant people’s psychosocial health as they engage with processes related to receiving unexpected news of a fetal variation. The research project has 3 components: 1. survey research will be conducted with health and allied health professionals on training needs and interests; 2. lived experience co-design methods will be used to develop learning resources; 3. evaluation of the online training program.
NurtureNextGen: Co-design of a digital tool to support families of children with genetic neurodevelopmental conditions to receive balanced prognostic information
This project, led by Dr Erin Turbitt (UTS) was a successful MRFF application from the 2023 Consumer-Led Research Grant Opportunity. The project start was delayed due until 2025 due to parental leave.
The AIMS of this project are to:
1. Co-design an evidence-based, consumer-led intervention: NurtureNextGen, a digital tool to promote a strengths-based approach to discussing genetic neurodevelopmental conditions.
2. Investigate the implementation and feasibility of NurtureNextGen to inform the design of future research testing outcomes in controlled trials.
The SUPPORT-TFMR Project: Strengthening the Understanding of Parental Preferences and Options for Receiving supporT during and following a Termination For Medical Reasons Project
Project led by Dr Sarah Fogarty to undertake research to inform the development of guidance for care related to termination for medical reasons (successful application - funded by Stillbirth Foundation to commence in 2025).
The care and support parents receive around their stillbirth is pivotal to how they manage their grief journey. The loss of a baby before they are born, or shortly after, has wide-reaching and long-lasting impact for parents, family members, and communities. Captured within the experience of stillbirth are parents who have experienced a termination for medical reasons (TFMR). Australian surveillance of stillbirth includes unborn babies with a congenital anomaly who died through TFMR. In fact, congenital anomalies were the leading cause of stillbirth in Australia in 2021.(1) While strides have been taken in antepartum stillbirth care over the last 10 years, this care and support does not always meet the needs of parents who have experienced a TFMR. The TFMR journey has unique challenges that are not experienced by parents who have a spontaneous loss. These challenges can include complex medical information, tests and waiting, time-pressured decisions based on uncertain or ambiguous information, isolation from typical supports, procedures to end the life of the baby or induction to deliver early, and stigma, judgement or dismissal of the perceived “choice” around TFMR. This is evidenced by a participant in our research who states:
“you get to make a decision which is a crappy decision that you don't want to make a choice on, and then you get to also carry that forever with you”.(2)
Parents who have experienced a TFMR have indicated that even though ‘miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal loss’ might be how their loss is classified, they can struggle to feel part of the pregnancy and neonatal loss communities. Research shows that the burden of TFMR is high for parents, and this is an area where non-judgemental, compassionate, and sensitive support
Identifying language for people on the autism spectrum: a scoping review
- 2019
- Taylor & Francis
- Researchers:Pieta Shakes
Nurses develop Microcredential for digital health for the rural and remote health workforce
- 2024
- Australian Nursing Federation
- Researchers:Tracey AhernPieta ShakesTracey Gooding
Nurturing a systems approach to quality improvement in health professional education
- 2023
- Lippincott Williams & Wilkins
- Researchers:Pieta ShakesTracey AhernTracey Gooding
End Date:
01 Jan 2013
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01 Jan 2018
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01 Jan 2025
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01 Jan 2021
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01 Jan 2021
Title:
Postgraduate Certificate in Child and Adolescent Mental Health Nursing , Edith Cowan University
End Date:
01 Jan 2010
End Date:
01 Jan 2003
End Date:
01 Jan 2025
Start Date:
01 Jan 1998
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01 Jan 2000