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

Pieta Shakes

01 Oct 2025 - 30 Nov 2027

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

Facing the Unexpected: Improving Women’s Mental Health through Training to Address the Psychosocial Aspects of Prenatal Diagnosis (Old ID 28954)

Pieta Shakes

01 May 2022 - 31 Dec 2025

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

Pieta Shakes

01 Jan 2025 - 30 Dec 2027

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

Pieta Shakes

01 Jan 2025 - 01 Jan 2027

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

Implementation and evaluation of CONNECT: a framework to build social presence and connectedness to content, peers and staff in a 100% online postgraduate course.

Tracey Gooding

01 Jun 2023

A systematic evaluation of the effectiveness of the CONNECT framework in guiding teaching staff to use evidence-based strategies to promote a sense of belonging, social interaction, and community in online postgraduate students.

The effects of a simplified rubric design on marker experience: A pilot study

Tracey Gooding

01 Jun 2024

The aim of this pilot study is to examine the effect of reducing the number of performance levels and narrowing the grade range for each performance level within an assessment rubric compared to a standard assessment rubric on experience, efficiency, and inter-rater reliability among markers assessing student assessments in a postgraduate course.

Strengthening the resilience of ICU nurses: Co-designing an online education intervention

Tracey Gooding

03 Jun 2024 - 30 Oct 2025

Focus groups were conducted to explore the psychosocial challenges experienced by ICU nurses, as well as their perspectives on the types of content that would be most valuable in an online educational intervention aimed at strengthening resilience and wellbeing in ICU nurses. This project was funded by a JCU CHS Seed Grant.

Development of a Virtual Wellness Hub: A student well-being initiative for online learners.

Tracey Gooding

06 Jan 2025 - 31 Oct 2025

The aim of this project is to design a Virtual Wellness Hub intervention specifically for online Master of Nursing students at James Cook University (JCU). This initiative will be developed with input from literature on student wellbeing needs, mental health professionals, faculty and feedback from students, focusing on student-centred, user-friendly, accessible resources designed to enhance student well-being for online learners.