Academic Program for Nurses and Allied Professionals

The Academic Program for Nurses and Allied Professionals at the Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders (CHRD).

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a complex condition which requires a comprehensive approach to care delivery to achieve improved outcomes in this condition. Research has demonstrated that the use of a multidisciplinary team has positively impacted on clinical outcomes in patients with AF. International guidelines now recommend the use of this approach in contemporary management of AF. However, the optimal mode and components of care delivery are unknown and need further investigation.

The Academic Program for Nurses and Allied Professions at the Centre for Heart Rhythm Disorders (CHRD) encourages nurses and allied professions to undertake post-graduate research in all aspects of care delivery for chronic cardiovascular conditions with a particular focus on heart rhythm disorders.

The program is embedded within the CHRD where a team of electrophysiologists, cardiologists, nurses, clinical and basic scientists, as well as allied professionals such as exercise physiologists focusing on clinical management and research in the field of cardiac arrhythmias.

The program will be associated and in line with Integrated Care in Patients with Atrial Fibrillation – The iCARE-AF Study. This is a large multi-centre, multi-state Randomised Controlled Trial recruiting patients with Atrial Fibrillation and comparing the effectiveness of delivering an integrated care approach (i.e. patient centred, multidisciplinary team and using smart technology for patients and health care team) versus usual care by a cardiologist.

The Academic Program for Nurses and Allied Professions aims to perform cutting edge research within the scope of cardiovascular science, including:

• Implementation and assessment of alternative models of care delivery in arrhythmia management
• Research with a focus on Patient Reported Outcome Measures (PROMs), such as health-related and disease specific quality of life, disease specific symptom burden
• Optimal components and delivery of patient education
• Characterisation of disease burden and identification of interventions for improved outcomes
• Strategies to enhance self-monitoring, self-care and self-management of chronic cardiovascular conditions
• Primary care interventions to improve detection, diagnosis and management of AF
• Understanding the added value of multidisciplinary team approaches and implementing these in daily practice by means of redesigning health care processes

The program welcomes nurses and allied health professionals with an interest in postgraduate research to contact us.

For further information, please contact:

Prof J Hendriks, Program Lead ( Dr Hendriks's homepage ).

Dr A Elliott, Program Associate (Allied Health) ( Dr Elliott's homepage ). 

Dr M Middeldorp, Program Associate (Allied Health) ( Dr Middeldorp's homepage ).

Other nursing support:

Ms Gemma Wilson

Ms Emma D'Arcy

Mr Donald Olson