Qut School Of Nursing Phd Scholarship: Mental Health Short-Stay Services

The QUT School of Nursing and Metro North Health are seeking to appoint a full-time PhD scholarship under the supervision of Professor Clint Douglas (Chair of Nursing, QUT and Metro North Health) and Associate Professor Debbie Long (Academic Research Lead, QUT School of Nursing). 

The PhD project is funded by The Prince Charles Hospital Foundation to better understand and enhance care provided in short-stay mental health inpatient settings. 

The scholarship is valued at $32,500 (AUD) per annum tax free for up to 3.5 years.    

This project seeks to identify the best way to evaluate mental health inpatient services that focus on providing brief periods of care in response to mental health crises (short-stay approaches). The contexts of the Prince Charles Hospital (TPCH) and Caboolture Mental Health Services will provide opportunities for real-world stakeholder consultation to select or develop a patient-reported outcome measure based on co-design principles.

TPCH operates a Short Stay Pathway within its acute inpatient services, and Caboolture Hospital has a dedicated ‘Short Stay Unit’. These services continue to evolve, and similar services are increasingly being considered across Australia. These are recent service developments, so we currently do not know the best way to evaluate them. This project aims to find a solution to this challenge. This solution is expected to inform best practices locally and in similar services elsewhere.

Evidence has shown that a growing population of people presenting with mental illness can benefit from brief hospitalisations. The short-stay approach has developed over the past few years, aiming to provide an environment and staffing skill set tailored to the needs of this group. However, short-stay approaches are still in their infancy, with only six to 10 such services currently available in Australia (though this figure is rapidly growing). This PhD project seeks to evaluate and guide best practices within the mental health short-stay context. The clinical contexts across Metro North Health will provide an opportunity to identify or develop a patient-reported outcome measure for application in the real world.

We would like to encourage mental health clinicians to apply. 

Academic eligibility requirements for a PhD are that you must have either:

• a completed recognised relevant honours degree (first class or second class Division A) or equivalent
• a completed recognised master degree or professional doctorate (by research or coursework). Master and professional doctorate degrees by coursework must have a significant research component, normally not less than 25 per cent. Holders of a master and professional doctorate by coursework must have a minimum grade point average (GPA) score of 5.0 on the QUT 7-point scale and present evidence of research experience and potential for approval.

Your expression of interest should include the following:

• a cover letter describing your interest in the project
• an up-to-date CV containing your contact details
• academic transcripts 
• relevant supporting documents of prior research.

Monday, 29 April 2024 at 11:59pm

Interested applicants are required to send their expression of interest to Professor Clint Douglas (**********@qut.edu.au).

For questions about academic eligibility and scholarship administration, please contact ***@qut.edu.au. For enquiries about the PhD opportunity, please contact Professor Clint Douglas (**********@qut.edu.au).