Leanne Monterosso

The University of Notre Dame Australia · School of Nursing and Midwifery

Background: Neurological conditions produce considerable disease burden. Aims: To describe quality of life in patients with neurological conditions and informal caregivers receiving postdischarge generic community neurological nursing services, and caregiver burden. Method: A descriptive cross-sectional design was used with researchers adminis...

Objective: The aim of the study was to determine the incidence and associated risk factors for falls in older adults in the 12 months after elective, primary total knee replacement (TKR) surgery. Design: A prospective observational cohort of older adults undergoing TKR were followed. Baseline measurements included risk factors of history of fall...

Background The Birthing on Noongar Boodjar project (NHMRC Partnership Project #GNT1076873) investigated Australian Aboriginal women and midwives’ views of culturally safe care during childbearing. This paper reports on midwifery knowledge of Aboriginal women's cultural needs, their perceptions of health systems issues, and their ability to provide...

Background Hip replacement surgery improves health-related quality of life, however it has been suggested that falls rates increase after hospital discharge. The aim of the study was to determine the incidence and associated risk factors for falls in older adults in the 12 months after undergoing elective total hip replacement surgery. Methods A p...

Objective Malignant Pleural Mesothelioma (MPM) has a poor prognosis and high symptom burden. RESPECT-Meso was a multicenter randomized study examining the role of early specialist palliative care (SPC) on quality of life (QoL) with MPM. This is a post-hoc exploratory analysis of the symptom burden and unmet needs identified from RESPECT-Meso partic...

Background The length of stay for patients undergoing joint arthroplasty has reduced but there is a paucity of knowledge relating to bowel management within this enhanced recovery framework. Aim The study’s primary aim was to determine which of two dosage regimens of macrogol (Movicol®) commenced pre-operatively is most effective in facilitating a...

Background General practitioners (GPs) and general practice nurses (GPNs) face increasing demands to provide palliative care (PC) or end-of-life care (EoLC) as the population ages. In order to maximise the impact of GPs and GPNs, the impact of different models of care that have been developed to support their practice of EoLC needs to be understood...

Background General practitioners (GPs) and general practice nurses (GPNs) face increasing demands to provide palliative care (PC) or end-of-life care (EoLC) as the population ages. To enhance primary EoLC, the facilitators and barriers to their provision need to be understood. Objective To provide a comprehensive description of the facilitators an...

Purpose: To investigate the perceptions of perioperative nurses regarding the use and impact of cross-training in the perioperative department. Participants and setting: Scrub and scout perioperative nurses (n=8) who had completed a one-day recovery room cross-training program in a large tertiary private health care organisation in Western Australi...

Background General practitioners (GPs) and general practice nurses (GPNs) face increasing demands to provide end-of-life care (EoLC) as the population ages. To enhance primary palliative care (PC), the care they provide needs to be understood to inform best practice models of care. Objective To provide a comprehensive description of the self-repor...

Problem/background: Post-discharge healthcare for patients with neurological conditions is indicated to be suboptimal. Aim: To capture hospital discharge experiences and ramifications among patients with neurological conditions, and informal caregivers, and their recommended solutions. Methods: A modified World Café was held November 2016. A facili...

Purpose: Post-treatment follow-up for lymphoma potentially fails to address the supportive care needs of survivors. A nurse-led lymphoma survivorship model of care was developed and tested in a phase II pilot pragmatic randomised controlled trial (RCT). The intervention comprised three face-to-face appointments, delivery of tailored resources and...

Purpose This systematic review aimed to determine the effectiveness of nurse-led cancer survivorship care, compared with existing models of care, on patient reported outcomes for cancer survivors. Methods Randomised and non-randomised controlled trials and controlled before-after studies published in English between 1 January 2007 and 28 July 2017...

Background: With an increasing ageing population in most countries, the role of general practitioners (GPs) and general practice nurses (GPNs) in providing optimal end of life (EoL) care is increasingly important. Objective: To explore: 1) patient and carer expectations of the role of GPs and GPNs at EoL; 2) GPs’ and GPNs’ contribution to advance c...

Background With an increasing ageing population in most countries, the role of general practitioners (GPs) and general practice nurses (GPNs) in providing optimal end of life (EoL) care is increasingly important. Objective To explore: (1) patient and carer expectations of the role of GPs and GPNs at EoL; (2) GPs’ and GPNs’ contribution to advance...

Purpose: To explore and describe lymphoma survivors’ thoughts and perceptions of the components of a nurse- led lymphoma survivorship clinic intervention. Methods: An exploratory, qualitative descriptive study using interviews from 10 participants who had transi- tioned post-treatment into the survivorship phase via a nurse-led lymphoma survivorshi...

Neurological conditions represent leading causes of non‐fatal burden of disease that will consume a large proportion of projected healthcare expenditure. Inconsistent access to integrated healthcare and other services for people with long‐term neurological conditions stresses acute care services. The purpose of this rapid evidence assessment, condu...

Objective Reliable and valid needs assessment measures are important assessment tools in cancer survivorship care. A new 30-item short-form version of the Survivor Unmet Needs Survey (SF-SUNS) was developed and validated with cancer survivors, including hematology cancer survivors; however, test–retest reliability has not been established. The obje...

Background End of life care (EoLC) is a fundamental role of general practice, which will become more important as the population ages. It is essential that general practice’s role and performance of at the end of life is understood in order to maximise the skills of the entire workforce. Objective To provide a comprehensive description of the role...

Aims and objectives: To establish criterion-related construct validity and test-retest reliability for the Endotracheal Suction Assessment Tool© (ESAT©). Background: Endotracheal tube suction performed in children can significantly affect clinical stability. Previously identified clinical indicators for endotracheal tube suction were used as cri...

Purpose: To describe the unmet informational, psychological, emotional, social, practical, and physical needs and preferences for posttreatment survivorship care of individuals living with multiple myeloma to inform the development of relevant, person-centered, survivorship services. Methods: An exploratory, descriptive study using 2 focus group...

Purpose: To explore the post-treatment experiences and preferences for follow-up support of lymphoma survivors. Methods: Two focus groups were conducted with 17 participants to explore informational, psychological, emotional, social, practical and physical needs, 6-30 months post-treatment for lymphoma. Perceptions regarding a potential model of...

Background and purpose: Endotracheal tube suction performed in children can affect clinical stability. Previous research has identified clinical indicators used to perform endotracheal suction. These were used to develop the Endotracheal Suction Assessment Tool(©) (ESAT(©)). This study sought to evaluate the degree to which the Endotracheal Suctio...

Background: Despite advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment have significantly improved survival rates, patients post-treatment-related health needs are often not adequately addressed by current health services. The aim of the Women's Wellness after Cancer Program (WWACP), which is a digitised multimodal lifestyle intervention, is to enhance he...

This research aimed to establish the level of consumer experience with pastoral/spiritual care provision in a large tertiary private hospital. Two hundred and twenty-seven patients and bereaved carers of deceased patients who had received pastoral care were surveyed, with a response rate of 20% (n¼44). The key finding was the positive impact of pas...

Objective In Western Australia the cancer nurse coordinator (CNC) role is unique, state wide and situated in nursing. It requires the domains of clinical expert, resource consultant, educator, change agent, researcher and advocate to facilitate seamless coordination of care for patients across metropolitan, rural and remote geographical areas of We...

Introduction The number of major joint replacement procedures continues to increase in Australia. The primary aim of this study is to determine the incidence of falls in the first 12 months after discharge from hospital in a cohort of older patients who undergo elective total hip or total knee replacement. Methods and analyses A prospective longit...

Purpose: To identify validated measurement tools to assess the informational and practical concerns of leukaemia and lymphoma survivors. Cancer nurses have the potential to lead the way in providing quality post-treatment survivorship care. Method: This systematic review utilised a search of electronic databases for eligible articles published to M...

Objectives: Despite palliative care being standard for patients with chronic and/or life-limiting conditions, a perceived lack of clarity regarding the definition and scope of palliative care persists. We aimed to identify health care professionals' (HCPs) perspectives, education, and support needs related to palliative care provision in a large p...

Introduction Lymphoma is the sixth most common cancer diagnosed in Australia and internationally. Owing to the aggressive nature of the disease and intensity of treatment, survivors face long-term effects that impact on quality of life. Current models of follow-up post-treatment fail to address these complex issues. Given that 74% of patients with...

Aim: We sought to ascertain the nursing and midwifery research priorities at a large private tertiary hospital in Australia. Design: A modified Delphi technique with two rounds of questionnaires. Methods: The first round survey was distributed to 448 nurses and midwives with a 19.2% (n=86) response rate. Due to a low response rate in some spec...

p> Introduction To identify and measure paramedics’ perspectives and educational needs regarding palliative care provision, as well as their understanding of the common causes of death. Methods All St John Ambulance Western Australia paramedics were invited to complete a mixed methods qualitative and quantitative survey using a tool previously...

We report outcomes of a clinical audit examining criteria used in clinical practice to rationalize endotracheal tube (ETT) suction, and the extent these matched criteria in the Endotracheal Suction Assessment Tool(ESAT)©. A retrospective audit of patient notes (N = 292) and analyses of criteria documented by pediatric intensive care nurses to ratio...

Psychosocial assessment and depression screening are recommended for all pregnant and postnatal women in Australia. However, women who give birth in private maternity settings remain less likely to participate in psychosocial assessment programs, making it difficult to comment on the potential resource implications. To describe the psychosocial pro...

The primary aim was to investigate staff experiences and attitudes towards palliative care provision in a public metropolitan ED. Using a previously validated survey tool, data were collected from ED clinical staff using Likert-type, open-ended and dichotomous items asking about perceptions of palliative care and education needs. Comparisons were m...

Biospecimens for cancer research are commonly sought from people who undergo surgery for a new diagnosis of cancer, and the demand for these biospecimens is increasing. The objective of this study was to explore the perceptions of people with colorectal cancer regarding the impact of an opt-in model of consent for biospecimen donation. The qualitat...

Survivorship care plans (SCPs) and treatment summaries (TSs) have been recommended by the Institute of Medicine as ways to facilitate the delivery of holistic survivorship care. An integrative literature review was undertaken to identify current use of SCPs and TSs to meet the needs of survivors of hematologic cancer. . Databases searched for elig...

Increasing numbers of haematology cancer survivors warrants identification of the most effective model of survivorship care to survivors from a diverse range of haematological cancers with aggressive treatment regimens. This review aimed to identify models of survivorship care to support the needs of haematology cancer survivors. An integrative lit...

The use of newer targeted cancer therapies, including tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI) and epidermal growth factor receptor inhibitors (EGFRI) in the solid tumour groups can often result in a complex suite of cutaneous side effects. Whilst not systemically as toxic as some traditional chemotherapy agents, their cutaneous side effect profiles may ha...

National Stomal Therapy Awareness Week (NSTAW) is a designated week in June designed to both acknowledge and provide support to people living with a stoma, and recognise those health professionals and support agencies involved in the care of people living with a stoma. As part of this year's NSTAW, held 15-21 June 2015, stomal therapy nurses (STNs)...

Objective Understanding the reasons patients decide to attend a particular acute care service, and their expectations of that service, is important in providing optimal patient care. The present study aimed to determine factors influencing patient decisions to attend a private Australian ED, an issue that has not been previously addressed in the li...

To evaluate the effect of a new post-operative bowel protocol in total hip and total knee replacement patients. Up to 65% of total hip and total knee replacement patients experience some degree of constipation post-operatively. A lack of robust evidence to guide bowel management and reduce constipation in this cohort was the impetus for this study....

Objective The primary aim of the present study was to investigate Australian ED staff perspectives and needs regarding palliative care provision. Secondary aims were to assess staff views about death and dying, and their awareness of common causes of death in Australia, particularly those where a palliative care approach is appropriate.Methods All...

Critical decisions and interpretation of observations by the nurse caring for the paediatric intensive care (PIC) patient can have dramatic and potential adverse impact on the clinical stability of the patient. A common PIC procedure is endotracheal tube (ETT) suction, however there is inconsistent evidence regarding the clinical indicators to guid...

Aim: This paper is a report of the comparison of perceptions of family-centred care by hospital staff (nurses, doctors and allied health staff) and parents of hospitalised children in 2 Australian tertiary paediatric hospitals. Background: Family-centred care is an accepted approach to caring for children and their families in hospital. Previous pu...

Ageist attitudes have been identified across different industries. The nursing profession has a high proportion of older workers. As this facilitates regular contact with, as well as exposure to, older nurses, it may be expected to show less ageism. This study investigated 163 Western Australian nursing recruiters' attitudes toward older nurses. Re...

Aim To review the literature relevant to palliative care of the ventilated infant and their family. Background Impeccable symptom assessment and management is necessary to ensure the optimal quality of life for the ventilated palliative infant and their family. There is a plethora of literature regarding symptom assessment and care when a decision...

Given the variety of palliative care settings within which symptom distress must be assessed, development of a valid and reliable clinical tool that can be simply applied in every day practice is needed. The Symptom Assessment Scale (SAS) uses a 0-10 numerical scale with zero being no symptom and 10 being the worst possible. The key symptoms includ...

This four-phase mixed method study developed an evidence based "Endotracheal Suction Assessment Tool" (ESAT) as a guide for nurses undertaking "endotracheal tube" (ETT) suction within "Paediatric Intensive Care" (PIC). Phase 1 involved a comprehensive literature review to determine the most commonly used criteria for assessing the need for ETT suct...

This paper presents the first of a three-phase study exploring the experiences of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA) in Northern Thailand. The principal aim of the study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the factors contributing to adherence in patients taking highly active anti-retroviral therapy (HAART). These insights were used in phase...

A systematic review of the literature on predictors of complicated grief (CG) was undertaken with the aim of clarifying the current knowledge and to inform future planning and work in CG following bereavement. Predictors of CG prior to the death include previous loss, exposure to trauma, a previous psychiatric history, attachment style, and the rel...

People living in rural areas who have a diagnosis of cancer have poorer outcomes than people living in urban centers. The reasons for this are unclear. Little is known about the impact that living in a rural area has on the diagnosis and treatment decisions of these people and how these may in turn impact on care outcomes. This study explored the r...

To identify the perceptions of parents of children who died from cancer regarding the palliative and supportive care they received in hospital and in community settings. Face-to-face or telephone questionnaires. Setting Tertiary paediatric oncology centres in Western Australia, New South Wales, Queensland and Victoria. 69 parents. Parents indicated...

A recent study undertaken by the authors (2007) highlighted that undergraduate nursing students were subjected to varying experiences in clinical practice, which were mediated by a number of factors. Mediating factors included continuity of preceptors, student attitudes, the clinical setting environment, student and preceptor expectations of the cl...

There is a paucity of literature examining the context of leadership within the clinical preceptor/undergraduate nursing student relationship and the relevance of this to the clinical learning environment. This study used a mixed methodological survey approach to explore the leadership qualities in nurse preceptors that are considered desirable and...

To obtain feedback from parents of children who died from cancer about their understanding of palliative care, their experiences of palliative and supportive care received during their child's illness, and their palliative and supportive care needs. A qualitative study with semi-structured interviews. 24 parents from Perth (n = 10), Melbourne (n =...

To obtain feedback from families of children receiving palliative and supportive care about their care needs in hospital and in community settings. A two-phase combined quantitative and qualitative study. Western Australia. 134 parents and 20 service providers. Analysis indicated the concept of palliative care is poorly understood by health profess...

This paper is a report of a study to develop and evaluate a childbirth educational programme for Malawian women. Providing parent education is integral to the midwife's role. Malawian midwives face a challenge in fulfilling this role, with no existing childbirth education programme to facilitate this process. A mixed method approach was used for th...

This paper reports a two-round Delphi study undertaken to identify the research priorities of midwives at five public maternity hospitals in Western Australia's metropolitan area of Perth. In round one, 117 midwives identified 64 different problems or issues for research. Using thematic content analysis, these problems were grouped together and the...

This study tested the reliability and validity of the refined Family Inventory of Needs-Pediatrics (FIN-PED), the FIN-FED II, a 17-item instrument structured to measure care needs of parents of children with cancer. The instrument comprises three rating scales. The first rating scale measures the importance-of-care needs, the second measures the ex...

This study explored the experiences and needs of nine parents who had received hospital-based bereavement support following the death of their child from cancer, in Western Australia. Six prominent themes emerged from thematic data analysis: personal grief, personal coping, concern for siblings of the deceased child, hospital bereavement support, c...

This article sets the scene for the current debate on the concept of complicated grief. Issues identified with diagnosis of individuals with complicated grief include concerns about misuse of the term, distinctions between normal and complicated grief and fears regarding stigmatisation associated with potential DSM-V classification of complicated g...

This study tested the reliability and validity of the refined Family Inventory of Needs-Pediatrics (FIN-PED), the FIN-PED II, a 17-item instrument structured to measure care needs of parents of children with cancer. The instrument comprises three rating scales. The first rating scale measures the importance-of-care needs, the second measures the ex...

This paper reports phase II of a pilot study that aimed to determine whether self-insertion of a speculum by women undergoing a pap smear would be more comfortable and lead to an improvement in satisfaction and a decrease in anxiety associated with this procedure. Research demonstrates that pelvic examinations are considered by most women to be unp...

Neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses are often faced with complex clinical and ethical problems. Little is known about the role of the NICU nurse in ethical decision-making, or processes that inform decision-making in this setting. The purpose of this study was to explore and describe nurses’ perceptions of their role as patient advocate, cli...

The impact of childhood cancer on the patient and family is devastating and results in significant emotional and physical effects on the child and family. An increasing awareness of the role of health care professionals at this time has led to the development of hospital-based bereavement support services. However, many services are not evidence ba...

Princess Margaret Hospital for Children, Perth, Western Australia, is a pediatric bone marrow transplant center. This center has both laminar flow and HEPA- (high-efficiency particulate air-)filtered rooms for children undergoing allogeneic and autologous transplantation. HEPA-filtered rooms on negative pressure are used to nurse oncology children...

To determine the effect of a postural support nappy and/or a postural support roll on neuromotor function in very preterm infants when nursed prone to term equivalent age. A randomized observer blind controlled trial of 123 very preterm infants was conducted in the neonatal intensive care unit of the sole tertiary referral centre in Western Austral...

To provide a comprehensive literature review of neuromotor development and related physiologic effects of positioning in very low birth weight infants. MEDLINE, CINHAL, Health Star, Current Contents, and the Australian Medical Index (1966-2000) databases were searched. Unpublished studies (e.g., dissertations, conference proceedings) and all releva...

Objective To provide a comprehensive literature review of neuromotor development and related physiologic effects of positioning in very low birth weight infants. Data Sources MEDLINE, CINHAL, Health Star, Current Contents, and the Australian Medical Index (1966–2000) databases were searched. Unpublished studies (e.g., dissertations, conference pro...

A Delphi study was undertaken to identify paediatric cancer nursing research priorities at the sole paediatric tertiary referral centre in Western Australia. Thirty one responses were received from the first Delphi round and 22 from the second round. The top 10 priorities identified were different from those identified in prior North American Delph...

A Delphi study was undertaken to identify paediatric cancer nursing research priorities at the sole paediatric tertiary referral centre in Western Australia. Thirty one responses were received from the first Delphi round and 22 from the second round. The top 10 priorities identified were different from those identified in prior North American Delph...

To determine whether absorbent liners used in posturally supportive cloth nappies influence temperature stability in infants < 31 weeks gestation. Randomized cross-over trial conducted at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, Perth, Western Australia. Twenty-three infants nursed in incubators on Infant Servo Control were randomly assigned to wea...