A new Melbourne-based nursing and midwifery research partnership will embed research in clinical practice and strengthen leadership pathways.
The Nursing Research Academic Partnership brings together La Trobe University, The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) and the Royal Women’s Hospital (RWH).
The collaboration is driven by a shared ambition to build nursing and midwifery research leadership and deliver meaningful improvements in patient care, workforce capability and health system outcomes.
“This partnership reflects a shared commitment to building nursing and midwifery research capability where it matters most – at the point of care,” said La Trobe Vice-Chancellor Professor Theo Farrell.
“By embedding research within clinical settings, we can accelerate translation into practice and deliver outcomes that matter for patients, clinicians and the broader health system.”
The partnership reinforces nursing and midwifery as central drivers of health system reform and the care economy underpinned through La Trobe’s Judith Lumley Centre and the Australian Institute for Primary Care and Ageing,
“This partnership allows us to scale that work, strengthen research capability and create new academic-clinical pathways that support nurses and midwives to grow as researchers while remaining embedded in practice,” said La Trobe’s School of Nursing and Midwifery Dean Professor Marie Gerdtz.
“By placing research at the centre of nursing and midwifery practice, this partnership translates frontline insight into better patient outcomes and system‑wide impact”.
The partnership will support:
- Research embedded in clinical practice, accelerating translation from evidence to care
- Joint academic-clinical roles and expanded career pathways for nurses and midwives
- New professorial appointments, postdoctoral roles and up to 50 PhD scholarships
- Increased student placements and workforce development opportunities.
The initiative placed nursing leadership at its core, said The Royal Children’s Hospital Executive Director Nursing and Chief Nursing Officer Kath Riddell.
“Embedding nurse researchers within clinical settings ensures our nurses have an opportunity to undertake research that is immediately relevant to practice, will strengthen care for our patients, while building research capability across our services and beyond.”
Research-informed nursing was essential to delivering high-quality, compassionate and equitable care, said Chief Nursing and Midwifery Officer at the Royal Women’s Hospital Laura Bignell.
“This partnership will allow our nurses and midwives to shape the future of clinical practice by contributing directly to evidence that improves patient care.
“By connecting academic expertise with the realities of frontline care, we can build a stronger workforce, foster innovation and ensure that women and newborns benefit from the very best that nursing research can offer.”
