Dr Virginia Plummer - Researcher Profile

Biography

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Teaching

• Course Coordinator, Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Emergency Health (Paramedic)
• Evidence based practice and research
• Acute care – Clinical practicum final year students, international students
• Interprofessional health education, nursing and paramedic practice
• Nursing informatics
• Case management and care integration
• Nursing management
• Disaster & Emergency Nursing Management

Research Interests

Dr Virginia Plummer is a Senior Lecturer and Course Co-ordinator of a double degree Bachelor of Nursing/Bachelor of Emergency Health (paramedic). She is also Deputy Director of the Mobile Health Research Group researching in health care technologies and currently leads a team researching in the use of digital pen and paper technology for electronic clinical pathway data management, funded by an Australian Research Council Grant. During her PhD she analysed nurse patient ratios and patient dependency data on the same patient and staff cohort for almost 2 million nursing hours to establish how nursing workloads are measured, costed and allocated. She continues to research on workloads studies locally and internationally and is also focusing on co-ordinating an international team of researchers exploring the link between mental readiness and performance excellence for nurses in disasters.

Virginia is currently supervising local and international research students of Masters of Nursing and PhD in the areas of emergency and disaster nursing, intensive care nursing, nursing informatics, midwifery, health service management and leadership, nursing workloads and associated policy. Her hospital management experience includes directorship in public and private sectors and board membership of several health care organizations. She is also a Site Evaluation Member for the Council of Ambulance Authorities.

Accredited Level 2 Supervisor

Preferred Research Methodologies

• Quantitative methods
• Mixed methods

Professional Affiliations

• Fellow, Royal College of Nursing Australia
• Fellow, Australian College of Health Service Management
• Chair of Research and Publications Committee, Nursing Section, World Association Disaster and Emergency Medicine
• Member, Oceania Chapter, World Association Disaster & Emergency Medicine
• Member, Clinical Costing Standards Association of Australia
• Member, Health Informatics Society of Australia
• Member, College of Emergency Nursing Australasia
• Member of the DHS Health Professional Review Panel
• Member, Paramedics Australasia
• Member, Australian Collaborative Education Network
• Associate of the Centre for e-Health at the University of Wollongong.

Qualifications

GRADUATE CERTIFICATE IN HEALTH PROFESSIONAL EDUCA

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2006

PHD

Institution: Monash University

Year awarded: 2005

HEALTH POLICY AND MANAGEMENT

Institution: University of Wollongong

Year awarded: 1996

GRAD DIPLOMA IN HEALTH ADMINISTRATION

Institution: La Trobe University

Year awarded: 1994

NURSING

Institution: La Trobe University

Year awarded: 1992

Publications

Book Chapters

Gebbie, K., Hutton, A., Plummer, V.M., 2012, Update on competencies and education, in Annual Review of Nursing Research v30 Disasters and Humanitarian Assistance, eds Christine E. Kasper, Springer, Germany, pp. 169-192.

Plummer, V.M., 2009, Shaping funding policy for nursing services, in Nursing and clinical informatics: Socio-technical approaches, eds Bettina Staudinger, Victoria Hub, Herwig Ostermann, Information Science Publishing, USA, New York, pp. 124-143.

Plummer, V.M., 2006, Mandatory staffing: Australia's experience, in Policy Politicsi in Nursing and Health Care, eds Diana J Mason, Judith K Leavitt and Mary W Chaffee, Elsevier, Philadelphia USA, pp. 527-540.

Journal Articles

Al Mutair, A., Plummer, V., Copnell, B., 2012, Family presence during resuscitation: a descriptive study of nurses' attitudes from two Saudi hospitals, Nursing in critical care [E], vol 17, issue 2, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd., United Kingdom, pp. 90-98.

Nelwati, N., McKenna, L.G., Plummer, V.M., 2012, Indonesian student nurses' perceptions of stress in clinical learning: A phenomenological study, Journal of Nursing Education and Practice [E], vol 3, issue 5, Sciedu Press, Canada, pp. 56-65.

Heslop, H., Plummer, V.M., 2012, Nurse staff allocation by nurse/patient ratio versus a computerized nurse dependency management system: A comparative cost analysis of Australian and New Zealand Hospitals, Nursing Economics [P], vol 30, issue 6, Jannetti Publications, Inc., United States, pp. 347-355.

Al Hosis, K.F., Plummer, V.M., O'Connor, M.M., 2012, Nursing management in Saudi Arabia: evaluating strategies for succession planning, Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management [P], vol 7, issue 1, Asia Pacific Journal of Health Management, Australian College of Health Service Executives, pp. 19-27.

Innes, K., Plummer, V., Considine, J., 2011, Nurses’ perceptions of their preparation for triage, Australasian Emergency Nursing Journal [P], vol 14, issue 2, Elsevier, Australia, pp. 81-86.

Lowe, G., Plummer, V., O'Brien, A., Boyd, L., 2011, Time to clarify - the value of advanced practice nursing roles in health care, Journal Of Advanced Nursing [P], vol E, Wiley-Blackwell Publishing Ltd, UK, pp. 1-9.

Garvey, L., Plummer, V., 2010, What factors influence decision making by graduate nurses initiating medication?, International Journal of Clinical Skills [P], vol 5, issue 1, International Journal of Clinical Skills, UK, pp. 50-55.

Reid, L., Chivers, S., Plummer, V.M., Gibson, P.R., 2009, Inflammatory bowel disease management: A review of nurses' roles in Australia and the United Kingdom, Australian Journal Of Advanced Nursing [P], vol 27, issue 2, Australian Nursing Federation, Australia, pp. 19-26.

Newton, J.M., Plummer, V.M., 2009, Using creativity to encourage reflection in undergraduate education, Reflective Practice, vol 10, issue 1, Routledge, UK, pp. 67-76.

Plummer, V.M., 2005, It's a perfect match: dependency and skills, Hospital & healthcare, vol not available, Yaffa Publishing Group Pty Ltd, Surry Hills NSW Australia, pp. 38-39.

Conference Proceedings

Plummer, V.M., 2006, Informing nursing resource management-a study of TrendCare data, 14th Health Informatics Conference Proceedings 2006, 20 August 2006 to 22 August 2006, Health Informatics Society of Australia, Brunswick Vic Australia, pp. 143-147.

Plummer, V.M., Heslop, E.M., 2005, Accounting for nurse staffing resources, 2005 RCNA Annual Conference, 6 July 2005 to 8 July 2005, RCNA, Australia, pp. 1-45.

Other

Plummer, V.M., 2006, An analysis of patient acuity data utilising the TrendCare system, CCSAA Nursing Costs Forum, Clinical Costing Standards Association of Australia Ltd, Heidelberg Australia.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

An evaluation of occupational health services (OHS) in Hong Kong hospitals..

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

An exploration of Saudi women breastfeeding attitudes and practices in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia..

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Mckenna, L (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Assessment of patient safety culture in Saudi hospitals: A comparison between accredited and non accredited hospitals.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Cross, W (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Needs of families and their involvement in the car process for intensive care patients in Saudi Arabia: mixed method study.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Clerehan, R (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Overseas trained nurses in Saudi Arabia and factors that influence nursing - care delivery.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Mcintyre, M (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Patient's Preoperative Education: Comparative Study between Malaysia and Australia.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Lee, S (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Perspectives on birthing services in Saudi Arabia: An exploratory study.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Gilmour, C (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Understanding, developing and growing the role of the Nurse Practitioner (NP) in Australian healthcare services..

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Alhosis, K.

Program of Study:

Succession planning for nurse managers in Saudi Arabia. (PHD) 2009.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), O''Connor, M (Associate).

Student:

Alhosis, K.

Program of Study:

The level and impact of job satisfaction amongst saudi nurses. 2006.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main).

Student:

Almutairi, S.

Program of Study:

LIFESTYLE CHANGES AMONG PEOPLE WITH DIABETES IN SAUDI ARABIA. 2007.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main).

Student:

Altallal, S.

Program of Study:

The effect of hospital organisational structure on patient and nurse outcomes. (PHD) 2012.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Cross, W (Associate).

Student:

Chung, A.

Program of Study:

. 2008.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main), Sellick, K (Joint).

Student:

Innes, K.

Program of Study:

Triage nurses' perceptions of their educational preparation for the role of triage. 2007.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main).

Student:

Nelwati, .

Program of Study:

Stress in clinical education perceived by Indonesian novice nursing students. 2009.

Supervisors:

Mckenna, L (Main), Plummer, V (Joint).

Student:

Reid, L.

Program of Study:

Health services for the management of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) in Australia and the UK. 2009.

Supervisors:

Plummer, V (Main).