Profile
Associate Professor Amanda Henderson is the Head of School of Nursing, Midwifery and Paramedicine and is a Visiting Research Fellow with the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Service. Amanda brings to her role a broad knowledge base spanning nearly 40 years of both practical nursing experience and academic endeavours.
During her formative years as a nurse, Amanda held diverse roles across Australia, including: clinical nursing specialist (cardiology and intensive care), nursing unit manager, assistant director of nursing (human resources), and project manager for a National consortium designing pre-admission services. She has evaluated several National health programs targeting: pre-admission services, bed management, integration of health care services and care planning for palliative care patients.
Amanda’s inherent gravitation towards the evaluation and improvement of health services led to her completing her PhD on a Consumer Perspective of Patient Satisfaction. She then worked with the National Institute of Clinical Studies, before moving to the Middle East where she undertook varied academic teaching roles.
Her practical experience as a nurse, coupled with an enthusiasm for research, are the driving forces behind Amanda’s passion for improving student learning and supporting nursing students’ empowerment. She is the project leader for the recently implemented Check-in Check-out process, which was designed to support clinical learning in clinical spaces including clinical laboratories, simulation, and work integrated learning.
Amanda’s further research pursuits are in palliative care and interventions to enhance communication in end-of-life contexts, and her most recent consultancies have involved Collaborative Improvement Projects with Palliative Care Australia.
Publications
Many of Associate Professor Amanda Henderson's publications are available from the USC Research Bank under Dr Amanda Alexander and Dr Amanda Henderson.
Research areas
- learning and teaching (evidence based practice)
- work integrated learning
- palliative care nursing
- systematic reviews of practice
- health service evaluation
Teaching areas
- Research methods
- Evidence based practice
Associate Professor Amanda Henderson's specialist areas of knowledge include graduate employability and clinical learning spaces.