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I am a registered nurse with over 30 years clinical experience in allergy nursing,15 years in eczema (atopic dermatitis) nursing and have been with the University of South Australia since 2005. I believe that effective patient/family education by Health Professionals is essential to every health interaction. Allergic conditions (many of which are ongoing) continue to increase globally, many are multifactorial, and nurses from all fields are often called upon, to play a pivotal role in management of the various manifestations of allergic disease, such as allergic rhinitis (hayfever), food allergy, anaphylaxis, eczema, asthma and drug allergies. I coorditate and teach the Professional Certificate in Allergy Nursing, a 13 week short course,... Read more
About me
I am a registered nurse with over 30 years clinical experience in allergy nursing,15 years in eczema (atopic dermatitis) nursing and have been with the University of South Australia since 2005. I believe that effective patient/family education by Health Professionals is essential to every health interaction. Allergic conditions (many of which are ongoing) continue to increase globally, many are multifactorial, and nurses from all fields are often called upon, to play a pivotal role in management of the various manifestations of allergic disease, such as allergic rhinitis (hayfever), food allergy, anaphylaxis, eczema, asthma and drug allergies. I coorditate and teach the Professional Certificate in Allergy Nursing, a 13 week short course, which enables nurses to gain the knowledge and skills in caring for people across the lifespan, who have allergies. Importantly, successful graduants develop skills in critical awareness and evaluation of information, resources and research surrounding allergic conditions. Not all allergy information available online is robust!
My PhD research focus involved exploring, describing and mapping, with paediatric and child health nurses, how they helped patients and familes transform the information provided to them into knowledge they could use meaningfully, in various contexts, within parent education encounters. Furthermore, parents were also participants in the action research study, to identify those Learning Principles (LPs) important to their successful learning process and confidence building. It was key to identify how nurses used LPs, especially Cognitive LPs. Cognitive LPs are the features of the learning process that facillitate people to think, reason and problem-solve - essential skills for patients/families to develop if they are to manage any chronic conditions, master care confidently and be concordant with treatment/management recommendations. Explicit descriptions of the ways nurses used LPs was a gap in the nursing literature. Results from practice observations showed that nurses were using cognitive and adult LPs (with nurses' proficiency confirmed by parents' accounts), but when interviewed, the nurses struggled to put their practice into words. Through focus groups discussions and a workshop, nurse and parents eventually described the LPs used in practice. Descriptions of the cognitive LPs nurses used to help parents' learning aligned strongly with the Dimensions of Learning (DoL) framework (Marzano et al.1997); a framework based upon research from educational psychology and the Dimensions of Thinking. The five DoL domains are 1) attutude and perceptions; 2) acquiring and integrating knowledge; 3) extending and refining the knowledge; 4) applying the knowledge and 5) habits of mind. Health professionals are the key to effective patient education. These domains help describe a process whereby people can be guided to transform information into usable knowledge. Providing patients/families with information alone is of minimal value for their skill development, unless the HPs providing it, facilitate the information-knowledge transformation process.
I also have a special interest in helping patients/families deal with the mental health impact and distress they commonly experience when a person has a long-term health condition (such as allergies and/or eczema). These issues have been under-recognised by the global community until recently. Studies now identify significant distress, including suicidal ideation, across the life-span for people with skin disorders and/or allergies. Effective patient/family education, to help people with health conditions to become confident and think, reason and problem-solve while managing their condition is vital. My membership of the Mental Health Suicide Prevention Research & Education Group at the University of South Australia helps my continued skill development in this important area.
I am a member of a number of professional organisations: Australian College of Nursing, Australian Dermatology Nurses Association (ADNA), associate nurse member of the Australian Society of Clinical Immunology and Allergy (ASCIA); Australian College of Children's and Young People's Nursing (ACCYPN), Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF), Eczema Support Australia, British Dermatology Nurses Association (BDNG). I am also the ADNA representative on the Coalition of National Nursing and Midwifery Organisations (CoNNMO).
I still work in clincial practice in allergy and dermatology settings, and am an academic within Clinical and Health Sciences at the University of South Australia.
About me
Australian Nurses' Federation, Associate member Australasian Society of Clinical Immunologists and Allergists, Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation SA Branch, Australian Dermatology Nurses Association Joint state representative 2013-4, Newsletter editor 2016- 2021,CoNMo representative; Member British Dermatology Nurses Group, UK, SA,The Golden Key International Honour Society Membership for academic excellence Flinders University Chapter 2005,The Golden Key International Honour Society Membership for academic excellence Flinders University & University of South Australia Chapters, Australian College of Children & Young Peoples Nurses.
About me
Doctor of Philosophy University of South Australia
Masters of Nursing University of South Australia
Bachelor of Nursing The Flinders University of South Australia
Establishing eczema education opportunities in South Australia to help families who have children with eczema. Patient/parent education- facilitating nurses to be effective educators to guide patients/parents/families to turn information provided to them inot knowledge they can use meaningfully. Learners use thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills to master care and self-management of chronic conditions.
Connecting for confidence: a peer-support basic numeracy program (for medication calculations) to build confidence and connectedness for nursing students with basic numeracy and English language anxiety. (Teaching and Learning Grant 2015- $10,000) https://lo.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4128 Connecting for Confidence information
Research
Research outputs for the last seven years are shown below. Some long-standing staff members may have older outputs included. To see earlier years visit ORCID, ResearcherID or Scopus
Open access indicates that an output is open access.
Year | Output |
---|---|
2023 |
|
2021 |
Open access
4
3
7
|
2020 |
Open access
13
10
3
|
2019 |
|
2017 |
Open access
1
|
Year | Output |
---|---|
2023 |
|
2021 |
Open access
4
3
7
|
2020 |
Open access
13
10
3
|
2019 |
|
2017 |
|
2017 |
Open access
1
|
2016 |
1
1
|
2015 |
|
2014 |
Open access
13
11
6
|
Thompson, D.L. (2023). A resource guiding nurses, healthcare professionals, patients/families on using cognitive Learning principles in person-and family-centred health education, Oral Presentation at 29th International Council of Nurses Congress, Montreal, Canada, July 1-5.
Thompson, D.L. (2023). ‘I can't explain it to be honest'...Using metacognition within action research helped experienced nurses conect with their 'intuitive' knowledge of person-and family-centred health education practice, Poster Presentation at 29th International Council of Nurses Congress, Montreal, Canada, July 1-5.
Thompson, D. L. (2021). ‘I do it without knowing it’ perceptions and use of learning principles in nurses' parent education practice : an action research study / PhD Thesis; by Deryn Lee Thompson. Access: https://unisa.alma.exlibrisgroup.com/view/delivery/61USOUTHAUS_INST/12248690000001831
Thompson D, Smith C, May E et al. I know I do it but can’t say how; nurses’ use of Learning Principles, Action Research. Oral presentation at 32nd Sigma Theta Tau International Research Congress (virtual), July 21-23, Indianapolis, USA 2021.
South Australia Health Excellence in Nursing & Midwifery Award (2021) Finalist Translating Research into Practice
2020 Australian Nursing and Midwifery Federation Research in Action Award $1500.00
Research
Establishing eczema education opportunities in South Australia to help families who have children with eczema. Patient/parent education- facilitating nurses to be effective educators to guide patients/parents/families to turn information provided to them inot knowledge they can use meaningfully. Learners use thinking, reasoning and problem-solving skills to master care and self-management of chronic conditions.
Connecting for confidence: a peer-support basic numeracy program (for medication calculations) to build confidence and connectedness for nursing students with basic numeracy and English language anxiety. (Teaching and Learning Grant 2015- $10,000) https://lo.unisa.edu.au/course/view.php?id=4128 Connecting for Confidence information
External engagement & recognition
Organisation | Country |
---|---|
Royal District Nursing Society | AUSTRALIA |
Southern Cross University | AUSTRALIA |
University of Adelaide | AUSTRALIA |
University of South Australia | AUSTRALIA |
Women's and Children's Hospital | AUSTRALIA |
External engagement & recognition
Engagement/recognition | Year |
---|---|
Excellence: Research in ActionAustralian Nursing and Midwifery Federation (ANMF) |
2020 |
Finalist, Excellence in Research and knowledge TranslationSA Health |
2020 |
Associate MemberAustralasian Society of Clinical Immunologists and Allergists |
2018 |
Co-FounderSouth Australian Allergy Nurses Education Group |
2018 |
Joint state representativeAustralian Dermatology Nurses Association |
2018 |
MemberAustralian Nurses Federation (ANF) |
2018 |
MemberAustralian Nursing and Midwifery Federation, South Australia Branch |
2018 |
MemberBritish Dermatology Nurses Group |
2018 |
MemberAsthma SA |
2018 |
MemberEczema Association of Australia |
2018 |
Galderma Research and Literature AwardAustralian Dermatology Nurses Association |
2015 |
Member Golden Key International Honour Society
Co-Founder South Australian Allergy Nurses Education Group 2002-current
The Golden Key International Honour Society Membership for academic excellence, Flinders University Chapter 2005.
The Golden Key International Honour Society Membership for academic excellence, University of South Australia Chapter 2011.
Volunteer Teacher
AsthmaSA - Live Well with Eczema (Community organisation) 2008 to current
Teaching & student supervision
Teaching & student supervision
Supervisions from 2010 shown
Thesis title | Student status |
---|---|
110808 - Anaphylaxis in Schools - Mitigation of risk and Management of risk in the early childhood education setting. An Australian perspective | Current |
Pain assessment as a social transaction: how does current curriculum enhance students understanding for clinical practice? | Current |