PCNA Biennial Conference

The PCNA 2014 Biennial Conference was held at the Sofitel in Sydney on April 6 and 7, 2014.

Keynote speakers

Professor Patricia Davidson is a global leader in managing cardiovascular and chronic conditions; she has recently been appointed the fourth Dean of the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. She is a core member in the Centre for Cardiovascular and Chronic Care (CCCC) in the Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney NSW Australia. Patricia has many outstanding achievements in nursing and health research, particularly in the area of chronic disease management, end-stage heart failure and working with vulnerable populations.

Associate Professor Sandra Lynch, Dip Teach, BA (Illinois), MA Hons (Macq), PhD (UNSW), is Director of Centre for Faith, Ethics and Society at the University of Notre Dame Australia. Sandy is a moral philosopher whose most recent research includes work on the teaching of professional ethics, particularly on the teaching of legal and nursing ethics. Her broader research areas are in ethics and the constitution of the self, friendship and its ethical dimensions and the intersection of philosophy and literature. Her background in school education stimulated research in the areas of values education and the promotion of critical and creative thinking skills in school and in university contexts.

Workshops Facilitators

Professor Keryln Carville has extensive clinical experience and is committed to research and education within the domains of wound and ostomy care. Keryln was appointed an Inaugural Fellow of the Australian Wound Management Association in 2006. She is Chair of the Australian Pressure Injury Advisory Panel; Chair of the AWMA Australian Wound Standards Committee, Chair Pan Pacific Pressure Injury Alliance and Chair Evidence Committee International Wound Infection Institute.  Keryln is an active participate in the Wound Management Innovation CRC Program 3, which is an Australian funded research program. She sits on the Editorial Boards of WoundPractice & Research and the Journal of Stomal Therapy Australia. She was awarded the WA Health Life Time Achievement Award for Nursing in 2010.   

Associate Professor Meera Agar is a Palliative Medicine Specialist, and Director of the Palliative Care Service at Braeside Hospital, HammondCare. She holds academic appointments with Flinders University and University of New South Wales. She is the clinical trial director for the Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research, South West Sydney. She undertook her doctoral studies on the management of delirium at the end of life and is the Chief investigator for a randomised clinical trial exploring antipsychotics for the management of delirium in palliative care. She is the Australasian representative on the European Delirium Association Board. Her research interests include delirium in palliative care, palliative care for dementia and high grade glioma, and health services research.

Ms Annmarie Hosie is an experienced registered nurse with expertise in palliative and aged care. She has worked in co-ordination, consultancy and palliative care clinical trials roles. Annmarie is currently a PhD candidate within the School of Nursing, University of Notre Dame Australia, Sydney. The focus of her doctoral research - The DePAC study - is determining how palliative care nurses can better prevent, recognise and assess patients’ delirium, using knowledge translation as the conceptual framework.

Professor Elizabeth Lobb has established national and international research collaborations and pursued independent multi-disciplinary clinical collaborations in oncology, haematology, cancer genetics and palliative care for 15 years. This research has enhanced evidence based communication and psycho-social care across the cancer continuum from diagnosis, through treatment, remission and survivorship or relapse, palliative care and bereavement support for families and caregivers.  She has worked clinically as a bereavement counsellor for many years. Her research interests include the communication of prognosis in metastatic cancer, doctor/patient communication, the needs of patients with high grade gliomas and their carers, bereaved carers of women with ovarian cancer, couple communication on end of life issues and persistent grief disorder.