Dr. Thea van de Mortel, PhD (SCU), MHlthScience(SCU), BSc(Hons)(W'gong), DipNursing(W'gong), IntCareCert(NSWCollNursing). Thea is a Registered Nurse with a clinical background as a Clinical Nurse Specialist in Intensive Care. In the early 90s Thea developed an interest in the Biomedical/Biological Sciences and completed a Bachelor of Science degree with Honours in Biology. Her Honours project examined the influence of ultraviolet light on anuran physiology. During that time she demonstrated biochemistry, physiology, and various other biology subjects to biology and nursing students at the University of Wollongong. Thea began lecturing in Biomedical Science at SCU in 1996 and completed a PhD in 2010. Her doctoral research was entitled: "A cross cultural comparison of health care students' hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices." She developed and validated an instrument called the Hand Hygiene Questionnaire that is currently being used in various research projects in Europe on health care students' hand hygiene. In 2008, Thea was the recipient of the Vice Chancellor's Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning for: "Inspiring and flexible approaches to teaching science to nursing students and leadership in continuous quality improvement of the curriculum", and in 2009 was the recipient of an Australian Learning & Teaching Council Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning for: "Sustained leadership in curriculum design, practice and strategies to inspire and motivate students in the study of science within nursing'. Thea has as a particular interest in infection control, wound healing, the effects of stress on the human body, and continuous quality improvement of curricula. She has expertise in quantitative research methods and grounded theory.
Journal articles
A path of perpetual resilience: exploring the experience of a diabetes-related amputation through grounded theory (with Wendy Livingstone and Beverley Taylor), Contemporary Nurse (2011)
Little research has been done on the experience of diabetes-related amputation. The aim of this...
Ritualistic preoperative fasting: is it still occurring and what can we do about it? (with Judy J. Andrew-Romit), ACORN: The Journal of Perioperative Nursing in Australia (2011)
A literature review indicates that patients continue to fast for prolonged periods from both food...
A comparison of the hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs, and practices of Greek nursing and medical students (with Eleni A. Apostolopoulou and Georgios L. Petrikkos), American Journal of Infection Control (2010)
Profession influences healthcare workers' hand hygiene (HH) adherence. Greek nursing and medical students were surveyed...
Continuous curriculum review in a Bachelor of Nursing program: preventing curriculum drift and improving quality (with Jennifer L. Bird), Journal of Nursing Education (2010)
Higher education institutions have rigorous internal accreditation processes for new courses and typically require thorough...
Development of a questionnaire to assess health care students’ hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices, Australian Journal of Advanced Nursing (2009)
Objective
To determine the reliability and validity of a hand hygiene questionnaire (HHQ) developed to...
Book chapters
Is hand hygiene linked to health benefits in the community in developed countries?, Hygiene and its role in health (2008)
Hygiene refers to practices associated with ensuring good health and cleanliness. The scientific term "hygiene"...
Theses
A cross-cultural comparison of health care students' hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices, PhD thesis, Southern Cross University, Lismore, NSW (2010)
Registered nurses’ hand hygiene (HH) compliance is generally higher than that of physicians. This may...
Conference publications
A comparison of the hand hygiene knowledge, beliefs and practices of Greek nursing and medical students (Presentation), 7th annual Multi Disciplinary Conference (2008)
Background: Profession appears to influence adherence to hand hygiene (HH) guidelines amongst healthcare workers. This...
Utilising health promotion theory to improve hand hygiene in the ICU: a pilot study (with Margherita Murgo), Abstracts Monitoring the future: 32nd ANZICS/ACCCN Annual Scientific Meeting on Intensive Care, incorporating the 13th Australian and New Zealand Paediatric and Neonatal Intensive Care Conference (2007)
Is there a relationship between university entrance scores and the approaches of first year nursing students to studying and learning? (with M Khyentse), Supporting sciences : facts or frameworks for nursing practice : proceedings / Conference on Science in Nursing Education - COSINE '96 (1996)
Is Litoria aurea susceptible to increased UV-B radiation?, Conference on the Biology and Management of the Green and Golden Bell Frog (1995)